June 10, 1921 was an embarrassing day for the Talmer family.
Early that morning, police came to the family’s home in Hamilton, Alabama to arrest Ralph Talmer. Ralph’s mother, Mrs. George Talmer, answered the door.
The police told Mrs Talmer that her son was suspected of participating in the robbery of the Marion County Banking Company the day before. Mrs. Talmer, far from attempting to shield her son, told the officer that her son Ralph and his cousin Russ Talmer had come home the night before with “a lot of money.” Russ Talmer. she said, stayed until after midnight. He had ridden away on a mule, taking all the money with him. Her son was asleep in the house. She made no protest as police arrested him.
A posse was sent out to track Russ and, at press time, they believed they had him surrounded in a swamp about four miles from Hamilton.
Why did Mrs Talmer give the police information that would be used against her son? Perhaps the police told her details that enraged her. The Talmers apparently held up Miss Mae Dunn, the assistant cashier, and fled the bank with $2,097. Their getaway car was stolen from Mr. George Nelson earlier in the day. They had beaten Mr. Nelson viciously and attempted to make him jump from a 99-foot bridge. After holding up the bank, the bandits abandoned the car and fled to the swamp on foot.
Or maybe Mrs. Talmer was just an honest soul.
old spirituals 
Alabama was and still is part of “The Bible Belt” of America. Mrs. Talmer was likely a “church going” woman who lived by the tenants of the Bible and believed her son sinned. She surely felt he had to be repent and do his penance.
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She was looking out for the welfare of his eternal soul
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I certainly agree with Jax. Those two young men were headed into much worse crimes and she probably saved a few lives. I wish families today would stop harboring criminal family members. We would have a much better society. Families do know.
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Good point, Judy! Where would they have wound up without Mrs. Talmer’s intervention? Probably much worse!
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The story is funny because of the references to the swamp and the mule, but the underlying story is timeless and there’s a profound question: what do you do when your own people are doing wrong and hurting other people? Many moms would find it hard to do what Mrs. Talmer did but I agree with Jax and Judy. She did right!
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Hm.. that is a good question. I agree with you all but I bet a lot of moms couldn’t bring themselves to do it!
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