In the spring of 1888 notorious Alabama outlaw Rube Burrow took refuge in Baldwin County and waited for the right moment to emerge from hiding.  He and his partner in crime, Leonard Brock, had recently travelled through Mississippi from Burrow’s home county of Lamar, Alabama seeking asylum from the pursuit of justice.  Prior to and after that brief interlude in Baldwin County, Burrow managed to create a reputation as one of Alabama’s most colorful bandits; a modern-day “Robin Hood.”  Two years later Burrow was shot dead in a gun fight leaving behind a legacy akin to that of Jessie James or a more modern Clyde Barrow.

Reuben “Rube” Houston Burrow started life innocently enough in Lamar County, Alabama in 1856.  His parents Allen and Mary Caroline Terry Burrow raised ten children, including Rube, in rural Lamar County just as so many other farmers in the region did.  Soon enough, however, Rube’s future was foretold in an incident where he robbed a neighbor at the early age of fifteen.  He was caught up with, though, and forced by his father to return the money.  As time passed Burrow married and moved to Texas to ranch and farm.  Burrow married a second wife in 1880 after his first wife died of yellow fever and attempted to continue, what would seem to be, a normal life by late 19^th century standards.  It was, however, in Texas that he first formed a group of outlaws that began a crime spree that lasted for the next ten years.

By 1886 Burrow and his gang had robbed their first train; it would not be their last.  For the next twelve months, Burrow and his band; aided by his brother Jim, alternated robbing trains and working on their farm as a cover.  They successfully made away with several thousand dollars with each bold attempt.  Near the end of 1887 the brothers made the trip home to Alabama to visit family and, as they travelled through Arkansas, they robbed a train which carried the funds that had been destined for the Illinois lottery.  As a result, the national investigative organization the Pinkerton Agency, became involved and soon tracked down a member of the outlaw crew.  William Brock who was caught near Dublin, Texas informed the Pinkertons that the Burrow brothers were involved and how they might possibly find them.  The detectives traced the Burrow brothers to their Lamar County home where they managed to capture Jim, even though Rube escaped.  It was at this point that Rube stole a horse and made his way to Baldwin County.

In the spring of 1888 Burrow briefly stopped in Baldwin County to wait out the pursuing authorities and to plan on a means of freeing his brother, who was imprisoned in Little Rock, Arkansas.  An unsuccessful attempt was then made to free Jim by Rube and his new partner Leonard Brock in August 1888.  It most likely would not have made much difference in Jim’s life, as he died two months later of what was believed to be tuberculosis.

Burrow soon melted back into Lamar County, after the death of his brother, where he hid out once again after robbing another train; this time in Mississippi.  At Duck Hill, Mississippi Burrow killed a passenger that attempted to stop the robbery.  This mistake put the Pinkertons back on the trail of the remaining Burrow brother.  Burrow, Brock and a new associate Rube Smith robbed yet another train in Mississippi and sneaked away to Flomaton in Escambia County.  Meanwhile, the detectives were closing on the group.  Burrow was finally captured in Marengo County where he had fled after the Mississippi incident.  On the morning of October 9, 1890 Burrow made an escape attempt from his captors by using a hidden pistol on the guards holding him.  He forced his way to the front of the jail in Linden, the Marengo County seat, where he found himself in a shoot out with local businessman Jefferson Davis Carter.  Davis was hit with a shot from Burrow’s gun, but managed to return fire killing Rube with one shot.

It has been remarked that Burrow never stole from the poor thus garnering him the comparison to Robin Hood.  Whether that analogy is correct or not remains to be seen.  We do know, however, that for a brief period of time Burrow made a substantial living stealing from the railroads in Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas.  We also know that he met a quick end as a result of his activities.