Tomorrow's

Grantville Day 2002 will include an unusual activity -- a re-enactment

of the famous robbery of the Bank of Grantville which occurred in 1932.

There are also some unusual matters concerning the robbery itself, which

is one of the most interesting heists I have ever heard of.

These constitute

the "Four Ts": the Teller, the Trail of Coins, the Typewriter

Repairman, and the (Mythical) Tacks.

The first astonishing

thing I learned about this robbery is that the bank teller, Mr. Ed Brasch,

is still living: he is now 96.

He resides

in Grantville near the building which housed the bank. The robbery was

quite a traumatic experience for Brasch because the robbers bound and

gagged him and then locked him in the vault, where he remained for several

hours until the combination could be found.

Finally, one

of the bank officials, Stewart Colley, who was located in Newnan,called

in the combination by telephone to the bank.

You would think

that if a band of robbers went to the trouble of robbing a bank that they

would be careful to secure the loot.

But the robber

holding the bag in the getaway car was so careless that he spilled the

coins onto the floor where some of them fell through a hole out onto the

road during the escape.

It is unlear

precisely where this trail of coins ended, but it is clear that it began

in Grantville.

Rozelle Glanton,

who was then 14 years old and is now 84 years old, saw the falling coins

while standing in her yard, went over, and picked up seven silver dollars,

which she then turned over to the bank.

Glanton is

the sister of Tom Glanton, who also is still alive, and was the principal

of the Grantville High School for many years, and in whose honor the Grantville

Municipal Complex was named.

The robbers

exited from Grantville via Lone Oak Street, which then turns into Lone

Oak Road.

After passing

through Lone Oak they proceeded to Greenville in Meriwether County where

they were captured.

One of the

robbers, R. P. Garvey, who was apprehended after the chase ended in Greenville,

served a prison sentence and then became a typewriter repairman.

And, believe

it or not, he returned to Grantville and succeeded in getting a contract

from the City Clerk, O. E. Smith, Jr., to repair the city's typewriters.

I learned this amazing fact from conversations with Smith's nephew, David

Wilson, and with Smith's widow, Evelyn Smith, who is now 91 years old

and resides in an "assisted living" facility in LaGrange.

Another interesting

thing about the robbery is a legend which was generated about it, namely

that Fanny Smith spread tacks onto the street in front of the getaway

car to try to give it a flat tire.

According to

Gene Wilson (nee Smith), Fanny Smith's daughter, this did not happen.

It is a myth.

However, some of the accounts which have reported this legend do contain

a fact about Fanny Smith, namely that she was well known for the delicious

taffy pull candy she made.

In the chase

in the murder publicized by Margaret Barnes' book "Murder in Coweta

County," the chase went from Meriwether County to Coweta County where

one of the criminals did the killing.

The Grantville

bank robbery chase reversed this: the chase went from Coweta County to

Meriwether County where one of the criminals was killed, and the other

two apprehended.

The robbers

wisely selected for their getaway car one of the fastest automobiles of

that time -- the whippet. The name was quite appropriate because the dog

breed called the whippet is one of the fastest of all racing dogs; it

is similar to a greyhound.

Although the

whippet was fast, it did not look like a "hot rod" or have any

such connotations but was owned by very respectable people. An owner of

a whippet will bring his car to Grantville for it to be used in the re-enactment.

The bank robbery

re-enactment will be staged at the same building which originally housed

the bank: No. 7 Griffin Street in Grantville.

It will be

conducted like a theatrical performance with the scripting, casting, and

directing handled by Grantville resident Caroline A. Carr, who is a professional

actress and playwright.

Carr will consult

the appropriate documents and knowledgeable persons to insure that the

re-enactment is historically accurate.

To help create

verisimilitude for the re-enactment, the nearby streets will be lined

with old model cars, and, as already mentioned, the getaway car will be

a whippet.

Grantville

Day is tomorrow and will include other activities, such as the celebration

of Grantville's sesquicentennial, which will be announced later.

The time during

the day when the re-enactment will occur will also be announced later.

Anyone wishing

further information about the bank robbery re-enactment or of the other

activities of Grantville Day or of becoming a corporate sponsor can contact

Darwin or Patti Palmer at 770-583-3090.