My Connection to infamous John Dillinger

This morning while I ate a little breakfast, I decided to watch an episode from the newest season of Expedition Unknown (a Discovery Channel show). The episode was about John Dillinger - who of course I'm not unfamiliar with. We've all seen documentaries, movies, television shows. This morning was the first time, though, that I guess I was listening intently enough to hear mention of the crime that set Dillinger on his path of crime. 

While living in Mooresville, Morgan County, Indiana; he had befriended a guy about ten years his senior -- Ed Singleton. Supposedly Ed was a distant cousin of Dillinger's on his step-mother's side. Ed was the town's pool shark, and apparently, led John into his first crime of robbing a grocery store ran by Frank Morgan. 

Anyway -- what stood out to me was the last name Singleton. I have that in my tree and it's not THAT common of a last name, honestly. So I decided to go to Ancestry and search this 'Ed' Singleton - his full name being William Edgar Singleton. Sure enough, he was born in Lincoln County, Kentucky...the home place of my Singleton's.

It didn't take me long until I pieced him into my tree. He's my 5th cousin 3x removed. Ed Singleton was killed on August 31st, 1937, by being hit by a freight train. Wikipedia incorrectly states he was shot down.. but his death certificate clearly says a train accident, as does a newspaper article I found. 

I wonder if Lincoln County, KY, was a breeding place for men who'd eventually get into trouble. My 2x Grandfather, Frank Bastin, was born in Lincoln County in 1878, and when he was just 13 years old (newspaper article says 12 years old), he stabbed an older boy and was run out of town - or rather, 'left town before he could get good and proper into trouble.' The boy he stabbed, Joe Henry, did survive; so Frank, thankfully, wasn't a murderer. 

Coincidentally enough it was Frank Bastin who married Ilena "Lena" Singleton on October 17th, 1895, in Campbell County, TN. In the 1900 census, they've made their home in Pittsburg, Laurel County, KY. Then by 1910, they've taken up residence in Central City, Muhlenberg County, KY. 

Lena was the daughter of Rufus Franklin Singleton and his first wife, Rhoda Elizabeth Goff. Thanks to DNA, I finally got a good idea of this side of my family tree. Before DNA, the best we knew was that Lena's mother was "Lizzie Goff," and she died between 1880-1900 as Rufus remarries to Laura Ping (who was actually Lizzie's cousin). Thanks to DNA, I made the connection that she was Rhoda Elizabeth Goff. 

My Bastin's and Singleton's -- or rather their collateral lines were in the Crab Orchard, Lincoln County, KY area for generations.. I'm surprised none of our family had made the connection between Ed Singleton (Dillinger's friend) and our family before. I guess it took the family genealogist to figure that out. 

Thanks for reading my coffee fueled morning ramblings.