Violent Legend of Rube Allyn the Man who Murdered Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel 100 Years Ago Murder Weapon Found in Bayou Basis for a Movie

UPDATED Aug 28, 2022 The Legend of Rube Allyn: Information that I am providing in the investigation of the unsolved murder of former Sarasota Mayor Harry Lee Higel that took place on the north end of Siesta Key Fl on Friday January 7th, 1921 sometime between the time of 8:10 am and 8:30 am when Mr Higel was found bleeding profusely from his head and face at the corner of Siesta Dr and Higel Ave is true and factual without embellishment. The results of a years long investigation into the unsolved pistol whipping murder of Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel, REPORTS have been obtained from written interviews of Mr Higel's brothers George Higel and Frank Jr Higel taken by crime beat reporters who were on the ground in Siesta Key on the day he was murdered and in the days following. The crime beat reporters were from well known and established newspapers like The St Pete Times, The Tampa Daily Times, the Tampa Tribune and the Miami Herald all link Rube Allyn to Higel's murder. All of the newspapers were published daily with morning and evening editions and provided updated information on the Higel murder case and the process of arrest, incarceration and Manatee Grand Jury investigation of the only true suspect in Mr Higel's murder, newspaperman Rube Allyn. The mishandling of unsolved murder of Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel by Manatee County Grand Jury caused split form Bradentown Politicians. Sarasota mayor Harry Lee Higel was murdered by newsman Rube Allyn during a pistol whipping on Friday morn Jan 7th, 1921 at the north end of Siesta Key Fl.

In the early 1900's a photo was published of an assortment of local Sarasota men in front of the Bay Island Hotel on Siesta Key Fl. In the photo murder suspect Rube Allyn is seen at the far left, he hardly ever wore a hat. In the same photo, on the far right 3rd from the end is Mayor Harry Higel, he almost always wore a straw hat and had a mustache in later years. The photo depicts the big difference in size and height between the 6' 2" Rube Allyn and the 5' 4" Mayor Harry Higel.

HARRY HIGEL MURDER TIMELINE: On Friday morn Jan 7th, 1921 at about 7:30 AM Bill Reed a carpenter driving to work on a Key house saw Rube Allyn near where Harry Higel's body was found on Siesta Key, he knew Rube. Rose Allyn, Rube's wife, later confirmed Rube was out of the house sometime before 7:30 am. Campers Charles Rodman and Herman Rosener had set up tents near the beach and were able to see and identify Rube Allyn as the man they saw a few minutes before 8:00 AM walking in the vicinity of where Harry Higel would be found at 8:30 AM. Campers Rodman and Rosener also spoke about a car parked in the vicinity near the beach, that most likely belonged to Rube Allyn. Manuel McMullen a worker at the shell pit near Mangrove Ave (Siesta Dr) spoke directly to Harry Higel at 8:10 AM, he was to deliver wood to the Higel house at 8:30 AM Friday January 1921. Rube Allyn most likely murdered Harry Higel during a pistol whipping with his Colt revolver and then drove down to the Givens Street bridge and threw the bloody Colt revolver into Bayou Louise and then returned home.

Colt Revolver found in Bayou near Givens St Bridge on Siesta Key Used in Pistol Whipping Murder of Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel by Rube Allyn. The 1920's Era Colt Revolver Found Buried on Siesta Key was Verified by Sarasota County Sheriff Cold Case Detective as Possible Link to Murder of Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel. Get real here, nobody buries a perfectly fine, loaded gun with a broken grip on Siesta Key in the 1920's unless it was used in the bludgeoning murder of former Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel on Friday January 7tth, 1921. The Colt revolver went into the muck and mud of salt water wetland on Siesta Key in 1921 looking real shiny and pretty as seen in the top photo and came out of the ground 100 years later a rusty mess. But 6 live bullets remained in the cylinder of the Colt revolver, I gave it to the Sarasota County Sheriff Dept..

The 100 year old Colt revolver found buried in the mud on Siesta Key that most likely links to the pistol whipping murder of Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel on Jan 7th, 1921 had deep gouges and scratches and a piece missing on the bottom of the hard rubber grips. The deep gouges and scratches and the missing piece would strongly indicate the Colt revolver was used to hit a hard, sharp, jagged object like the skull and teeth of Sarasota mayor Harry Higel. According to Dr Halton's medical report the multiple blows to Harry Higel's head fractured the bones in his head thus most likely leaving marks on the weapon, especially if it was the hard rubber Colt revolver's grips.

The Violent Legend of Rube Allyn the Man who Murdered Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel on Siesta Key FL His life Exposed. The most infamous unsolved mysteries in Sarasota history, the murder of Harry Higel on Siesta Key. The evidence was circumstantial but telling. People remembered a history of antagonism between the two men and a footprint found in the sand next to Higel's body appeared to match one of Allyn's size 13 canvas shoes. The size 13 footprints in the sand next to where Harry Higel's body had laid, led in the direction of the 6' 2" tall Rube Allyn's house at the north end of of what is now Gulfmead Dr and 'Fishery Point'. Manatee County Deputy Sheriff D. R. Brown and Sarasota City Marshal Leon Davis Hodges (L. D. Hodges) were first on the scene, they appear to have arrived at the Siesta Key crime scene at about 10:00 AM on Jan 7th. The footprints, tracks in the sand near the where the body of Harry Higel had laid at the cor of Mangrove and Higel Ave on Friday morn Jan 7th 1921 leading in the direction of Rube Allyn's house are very significant as Rube Allyn was one of the few men on Siesta Key who wore a size 13 shoe. A search of Rube Allyn's house on Friday January 7th 1921 at about 11:00 am found a pair of trousers belonging to Rube Allyn Sr that had been recently washed and were still wet. When examining Rube Allyn’s house the Deputy Sheriff noted a pair of canvas shoes with a rubber sole that appeared to be similar to those that left tracks at the scene of the crime. This was enough evidence for Rube Allyn Sr to be arrested. Apparently no photographs of the size 13 footprints in the sand next to where Harry Higel's body had laid were taken to match with Rube Allyn's size 13 canvas shoes. This would have been direct evidence that Rube Allyn was at the crime scene.

Large newspapers in Tampa and St Pete had daily editions and often had morning and evening editions. The Sarasota Times was a weekly newspaper published only on Thursdays. When a big story broke over the AP newswires in New York City, like Harry Higel's murder on January 7th, 1921 (see above), an extra edition was printed that day Friday Jan 7th 1921 by the Tampa Daily Times and delivered to your house and to the corner newsstands.

The mark of the weapon was clearly shown with multiple holes in the skull of Harry Higel made by the pointed end of the weapon (Colt Revolver). Rube Allyn murdered Harry Higel in cold blood on Siesta Key 100 years ago on Friday Jan 7th, 1921, I have no doubt. The murder weapon has been located, a loaded Colt revolver was found buried off of Higel Ave near the Givens Street bridge with 6 live bullets on Siesta Key Fl back in November 2019, it had one broken grip. Nobody buries a loaded gun unless it was used in a crime.

FLORIDA NEWSPAPER DELIVERY SYSTEM IN 1920's WAS HANDS ON: In the US the heyday of print newspapers was during the early 20th century, (1920's). The 'paperboy' was often a young person's first job, perhaps undertaken before and/or after school. Most large newspapers like the Tampa Tribune and St Pete Times had an early AM delivery and an evening PM delivery directly to your house. There was also the newsboy or newspaper hawker who would sell newspapers to passersby on the street in urban areas, like in Tampa or St Pete in 1921, with very vocal promotion. 'Newsboys' were common when multiple daily papers in every city and as many as 50 in New York City alone competed in the 1920's. The number of 'Daily Newspapers' in Florida was 33 in 1921. The St Pete Times was/is the largest daily newspaper in Florida it began publication as a twice daily in 1920. In 2012, the St. Petersburg Times changed its name to the Tampa Bay Times to more accurately reflect the geographical area it served. Then, in 2016, the Tampa Bay Times bought its long-time rival, the Tampa Tribune, which then ceased publication. The Sarasota Times newspaper in 1921 was a weekly published on Thursdays and then mailed by USPS to your house with subscriptions of $2.00 per year, not very timely news reporting.

According to Frank Higel Jr he surmised that Rube Allyn left the scene of the crime on the corner of Mangrove Ave (Siesta Dr) and Higel Ave at about 8:25 am and waded across Bayou Louise to his house at very north end of Siesta Key washing out the blood on his canvas shoes and his pants in the salt water. The 1915 Kodak Vest Pocket Autographic is/was a "vest pocket" folding camera advertised as "The Soldier's camera" during WWI. It was manufactured by Kodak from 1915 to 1926 and available just about everywhere in the USA, reporters used them. Why were no photographs taken of Rube Allyn's size 13 shoe prints next to where Harry Higel's body has laid in the sand? He came as a humorist and entertainer. He left as an accused, but never tried, murderer. Rube Allyn's decade in Sarasota was one of great contrasts. Who was Rube Allyn? Newsman, stage star, and outdoors-man Rube Allyn had a violent criminal history, he shot a young guy in the back with his shotgun just for walking too close to his cottage in Ruskin Fl. Rube Allyn was arrested for Attempted Murder in Jan 1918 in Philadelphia PA, a 'Hate Crime'. Rube Allyn was arrested for Murder of Harry Higel on Siesta Key Fl Jan 7th, 1921. Rube Allyn arrested for Attempted Murder May 21, 1929 Ruskin Fl with a shotgun blast for a Ruskin teenager. In April 30th, 1930 Rube Allyn was run out of St Pete Fl for plot to kill newspaper columnist James Ravenscroft with a shotgun blast, details below:

1). On Feb 20th 1918 Rube Allyn gleefully told a Senate Congressional Committee investigation of the US Naval shipyard at Hog Island where he was working, that he threw two Jews off the moving trolley into the cobblestone street on his way to work just because they were Jews and in his way. Rube Allyn was arrested for Attempted Murder and what would be additional charges today for a "HATE CRIME", outside Philadelphia PA. The charges were dropped later after the victims disappeared when Hog Island fired all the Russian Jews. Rube Allyn hated and despisd all the German speaking Russian Jews at Hog Island shipyard, his words. Russia, at the time, controlled now-independent countries like Poland, Ukraine, Latvia and Lithuania. The Russian Jews who came from the slums of Philadelphia and New York City were not equal to Rube Allyn and the other Irish and Italian workers, so claimed Rube. Between 1915 to 1920, 480,000 Russian Jews made up the largest foreign-born group in New York City while in 1920 Philadelphia, a city of more than 1,823,000 residents, 400,744 were foreign-born Russian Jews. Fifty years earlier the Irish were the largest group of immigrants in Philadelphia and New York City.
2). On Jan 7th, 1921 Rube Allyn was arrested for the Murder of Harry Higel, grandson of German immigrants, the Manatee County Grand jury failed to indict, no "True Bill". A Grand jury indictment is a constitutional right in felony cases. A couple of Rube's newspaper pals were on the Manatee Grand Jury.

3). FRONT PAGE NEWS TAMPA DAILY TIMES: On May 21, 1929 Rube Allyn shot a young man, Brooks Brewer, 19, who was walking on the road near Rube Allyn's secluded cottage in Ruskin Fl. Rube was charged with Attempted Murder with a shotgun, Rube shot the young guy in the back. Charges eventually dropped by Brooks due to pressure from his father (somebody got to him). Dad said "Brooks wasn't hurt that bad, we need to get along in Ruskin", what the hell?
4). In April 1930 Rube Allyn was arrested again, this time in St Petersburg were he had been living at his mother-in-law's house. Rube plotted with ex-Mayor Noel Mitchell of St Pete to shoot and kill newspaper columnist James Ravenscroft with a shotgun blast. James Ravenscroft was a columnist for the Tampa Tribune. Rube had been living directly across the street from the Ravenscroft home. Rube was eventually released from jail on April 30th, 1930 and driven out of St Petersburg via the Gandy Bridge by former mayor Noel A. Mitchell to Ruskin Fl. Ruskin is where private detective Noel A. Mitchell aka 'Sandman Mitchell' and Rube Allyn owned land, they were followed out of St Pete by a police escort of two City detectives, Bob Black and J. B. King, don't come back Rube.

In Sarasota Rube Allyn hated 3 time Mayor Harry Higel, he could never beat him. Siesta Key was sparsely populated from 1917 to 1921 only about 40 people lived there full time. When Harry Higel's Higelhurst Hotel burned to the ground (arson) on Friday morn March 30th, 1917, Rube Allyn was there and living nearby on Siesta Key, he was a person of interest.

When Harry Higel was beat to death on Friday morn January 7th, 1921 on Siesta Key Fl, Rube Allyn was there and living nearby. Rube was the correct suspect and arrested for murder. Veteran newspaper guy Rube Allyn took no part in the manhunt on Siesta Key looking for Harry Higel's murderer. Rube stayed home and hid in his Gulmead Dr house until the Manatee County Deputy Sheriff came to his front door, “That's all too coincidental to be a coincidence.”

photo credit screenshot Pach Bros 841 Broadway New York NY at this location 1885-1890

Rube Allyn aka William James Allen was born on January 1st, 1866 in Mt Forest Ontario Canada just 8 months after the end of the American Civil War, the North vs the South. Rube Allyn was a Canadian by birth, he started in the newspaper business in the 1880's working as a apprentice type setter in Ontario Canada in the office of the 'Mount Forest Representative', later as editor at the 'Daily Times' Crookston, Minnesota in 1898, editor at the 'Reporter' in Rapid City Canada and editor and publisher at the Sarasota Sun from 1913 to 1916. Rube Allyn grew up working as a type setter for the small newspaper in Mt Forest Canada but the draw of the big cities of Philadelphia and New York City was too much for Rube, so off he went in 1889 when he was in his 20's. Rube took up drama classes and public speaking, he had professional photos taken at Pach Bros 841 Broadway New York NY, SEE ABOVE, and gave them out to talent agents, Rube wanted to be a star. Ironically the Pach Brothers was a family-run photography studio by German-born brothers Gustavus and Gotthelf Pach, Rube hated Germans. Rube wanted to be  a star. 

Rube Allyn wanted to be on the stage and in movies, he wanted to be famous, he wanted to be a star. Rube Allyn devolved a stage act in New York and hit the road in 1892 with his long suffering wife Rose and their son in tow. Rube Allyn loved to see his name in the papers with a review of his stage act. One of the first reviews of Rube Allyn's stage act, when he was 26, was in the Manitoba Free Press Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on March 15 1892, see above.

Rube Allyn loved the spotlight, loved being the center of attention, became a media darling of the press. Rube Allyn fired up crowds of men at the Hog Island shipyard outside of Philadelphia to buy war bonds during WWI. Rube was called to speak on behalf of the 30,000 workers at Hog Island PA before a 1918 Senate Congressional Committee Investigation, and yet on Friday January 7th, 1921 Rube avoided the press on Siesta Key. Rube Allyn avoided the crowds and hid in his house will hordes of men scoured the north end of Siesta Key looking for Harry Higel's killer. Rube had nothing to say that day!

A Minneapolis Journal newspaper columnist wrote a piece about Rube Allyn on September 10th, 1906 after viewing one of his "shows", Rube was 39 1/2 now. It appears Rube Allyn had a bizarre way of doing things in his supposed comedy routine. He would tell very sad depressing stories to the audience and then hit them with the "jokes". It appears that sometimes members of the audience would heckle and cat call Rube during his "show" and it was Rube's response to go down from the stage and beat the hell out of the heckler no matter how big he may be, supposedly the audience loved the show. Rube Allyn was a big strong man at over 6' 2" tall, with long arms and big fists. Rube was farm tough, supposedly he did work on a farm during the summer months. Harry Higel would have been no match in a street fight with an experienced bar-room brawler like Rube Allyn who was bigger and stronger in what appears to have occurred at the cor of Mangove Ave and Higel Ave on Friday morn Jan 7, 1921.
 

photo credit screenshot sarasota historical society
Rube Allyn shows up in Sarasota in late 1911 with his traveling Chautauqua circuit show modeled after activities at the Chautauqua Institution of western New York where Rube Allyn hung out with Elbert Hubbard in East Aurora NY (East Aurora is in Western NY near Buffalo). Rube Allyn was kind of minor celebrity on his way down. October 1911 the Sarasota Times ran a notice that Rube the “screwball” Allyn humorist and impersonator was in town. Sarasota High school officially opened in early 1913, one of the first entertainers at the school hall was Rube Allyn the murder suspect in former Mayor Harry Higel's death on Jan 7th, 1921. In June 1911 Rube Allyn and his wife purchased property in Palmetto Fl. In October 1911, the Sarasota Times ran a notice that Rube Allyn would be entertaining at the school hall. Tickets were 25 cents, 15 cents for children. 

In 1912 Rube Allyn made known his plans to publish a second newspaper for the Sarasota community. During 1912 Rube published a semi-monthly called "The Bay of Sarasota". Rube Allyn's Sarasota Sun finally debuts in Feb 1913, it bombed and shut down in early 1916. Rube Allyn was a bad guy, a drunk, he had multiple arrests, before and after the Harry Higel murder incident for attempted murder. Harry Higel served on the Sarasota town council in 1902 and served as Mayor of the city of Sarasota when it was incorporated. In a 1912 memo as mayor of Sarasota, H. L. Higel encouraged more funding for Sarasota schools. It was in the elections of 1916 and 1917 that Harry Higel had a bitter battle for the office of Mayor against well-known editor Rube Allyn, who published the Sarasota Sun. Rube lost the Mayor race, Higel won.
  photo credit screenshot Tampa Tribune newspaper Jan 1921
Some time after Feb 1913, Rube Allyn Sr his wife and 6 children moved to Siesta Key from Palmetto and made a home in the old Sarasota Yacht Club building on the north end of Siesta Key on what is now Gulfmead Dr across Bayou Louise from Harry Higel's home on Higel Ave. Rube Allyn Sr had purchased his printing press from the White Springs Messenger (on credit) and moved it into the building at the end of a dock off North Gulf Stream Blvd Sarasota and later he moved the newspaper operation right next to Harry Higel's Higelhurst Hotel on Sarasota Key in 1915.

photo credit Sarasota Historical society Sarasota Fl
In 1912 Sarasota was not big enough for Rube Allyn and Harry Higel who fought often and even ran against each other for Mayor of Sarasota Fl. Rube Allyn came to Sarasota in 1912 with his family, Higel was already there and well established. Rube Allyn and Harry Higel were about the same age. Harry Higel was born December 31st, 1867 in Philadelphia. Rube Allyn whose birth name was William James (Rube) Allen was born January 1st, 1866 in Mt. Forest, Ontario, Canada. Interestingly both men are Capricorns on the Zodiac chart and exhibited similar traits such as independence, intelligence, focused, determination, ambitious and able to lead, manage or control many people who work or associate with them at any time, that was Higel and Allyn. The first issue of Rube Allyn's weekly Sarasota Sun appeared on Saturday, February 6, 1913. In 1912 Higel quarreled with Allyn over an unpaid debt. Higel had issued a loan to Allyn, who was known for erratic behavior and a short temper, for a house on Siesta Key near H. L. Higel's Hotel Higelhurst.
   photo credit screenshot Tampa Tribune News from Florida Historical
According to the 1920 US Census 2,149 people were living in Sarasota Fl and Siesta Key was reported to have about 3 dozen people (36) living full time on the Island including the Higel Family and the Allyn Family who were all there on Friday Jan 7th, 1921 when Harry Higel was attacked, small world eh? During 1920 and 1921 there was a lot of pressure on Rube Allyn Sr to come up with the money he owed Harry Higel for the Allyn house loan on Siesta Key and back rent of the office for the Sarasota Sun newspaper. Rube Allyn was responsible for his wife and it appears 6 children ranging in age from 11 to 21 living at the Allyn cottage on the north end of Siesta Key in 1921. Where would they all go if Harry Higel evicted them for Rube's non-payment of the house loan on Siesta Key?

 photo credit screenshot Tampa times newspaper.
The size 13 shoe footprints, tracks in the sand near the body of Harry Higel at the cor of Mangrove and Higel Ave on Friday morn Jan 7th 1921 leading in the direction of Rube Allyn's house are very significant as Rube Allyn wore a size 13 shoe. Rube Allyn was a big man at 6' 2" tall with long arms and wore a size 13 shoe, he was much larger that Harry Higel who stood about 5' 7" tall and would have worn a size 9 shoe. Very few people lived on Siesta Key in 1921, at most 40 people lived there full time, there were only 2,100 people in the 1920 census in the City of Sarasota Fl. So how many of the 40 people who lived full time on Siesta Key wore a very big size 13 shoe when at least half of the 40 people were women.

  photo credit Sarasota Sun newspaper rube allyn publisher
Rube Allyn Sr was the Editor and Publisher of the SARASOTA SUN NEWSPAPER at 120 Gulf Stream Ave Sarasota Fl (1st issue Sat June 28, 1913) that came out every Saturday, it appears it was mailed via USPS. You could purchase a one year subscription to the SARASOTA SUN NEWSPAPER for just $1.00 as seen in the Saturday June 28, 1913 issue above, it only lasted a couple of years. Rube Allyn Sr would have been aware of the mass marketing of the Colt firearm company products via newspaper ads and sporting goods catalogs in the 1900's. The Lakeland evening telegram, March 10, 1914, Rube Allyn Sr. of the Sarasota Sun, attended the recent Gasparilla festivities in Tampa and for the first time met some of the big men of Florida.

Harry Higel's Hotel HigelHurst on Siesta Key opened its doors on March 9, 1915, with more than 200 people attending the grand opening reception. Since the bridge to the key was not finished, ferry boats provided transportation to the hotel. The Higelhurst Hotel on N Siesta Key was overlooking Big Pass with an unobstructed view of the Gulf of Mexico directly across from Lido Beach.

Map of Siesta Key as of 1916 that shows the Higelhurst Hotel  towards the far north end of Gulmeade Dr Siesta Key Fl. The Higelhurst Hotel was on the beach less than 50 yards to the Gulf and Big Pass waters. The very north end of Bayou Louise was behind the Hotel. The Hotel was burned down on Friday morn March 30th 1917, Rube Allyn was a person of interest in the arson. The caretaker Mrs Mueller left the Hotel on Thursday afternoon March 29th 1917 for Sarasota where she spent the evening with friends. The Hotel was empty and vacant, Rube Allyn lived nearby and hated Harry Higel. Rube was there on Siesta Key in the early morn of Friday March 30th 1917 when the hotel was torched.

  photo credit screenshot rube allyn newspaper photos
The information that I have compiled concerning the murder of Harry Higel and the actions, statements and arrest records of Rube Allyn spans a 60 year period from 1887 when 22 year old Rube Allyn was in Philadelphia and then New York City to 1947 when 81 year old Rube Allyn died penniless and alone in Ruskin Fl. I have chronicled multiple newspaper accounts of the time that show Rube Allyn as exhibiting sociopath tendencies, an extremely violent person, a pathological liar, a fraud, a racist, an imposter, a con man's con man and a falling down drunk. Sarasota's Rube Allyn Sr appears to have been the poster boy for someone with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED). Rube Allyn Sr was a hot tempered, erratic, hard drinking Irishman whose eccentrics were condemned in Sarasota where he was well known. Rube Allyn was known for fierce outbursts of temper. Rube was venomously bitter when confronted or disagreed with and frequently drunk in Sarasota. Rube had been in bitter disagreements with Harry Higel for years, ever since 1911 when Rube shows up in Sarasota. Everybody knew Rube Allyn in Sarasota for at least 10 years before the Higel murder. 

photo credit screenshot salt lake herald-republican
Rube Allyn became more of a 'War Hawk' after his friend Elbert Hubbard was killed by the Germans on May 7th 1915. Rube Allyn wrote disparaging and very critical articles about foreign governments that sided with Germany during WWI (1914 - 1918) in his Sarasota Sun newspaper that shuttered it's doors in 1916. World War I had a devastating effect on German-Americans like Harry Higel and their cultural heritage. German ancestry became a liability and gave rise to anti-German sentiment in the United States. On March 30, 1917 the Higelhurst Hotel on Siesta Key was burned down, it was owned by Harry Higel a man of direct German heritage who Rube Allyn had numerous violent arguments with. Rube Allyn was there on Siesta Key (when there was no bridge open to the Island) and nearby when the Higelhurst Hotel was torched. Two days later on April 2, 1917, President Wilson went before a special joint session of Congress and asked for a declaration of war against Germany, America's entry into WWI. Hard drinking Irishman Rube Allyn claimed he had no hand in the murder of his neighbor H. L. Higel on the corner of Mangrove Ave (Siesta Dr) and Higel Ave on Siesta Key Fl at about 8:30 am on Friday Jan 7, 1921. Harry Higel was of direct German heritage, Rube hated Germans. Rube Allyn used a mocking affected German accent in most of his comedic routines on the Chautauqua circuit, in Tampa and St Pete.
  photo credit screenshot congressional record feb 1918
Rube Allyn hated Germans so much that he tried to join the Army in 1917 when the USA entered WWI. Rube wanted to go to France and kill "Prussian Savages". Rube was too old at age 48 for the Army so Rube Allyn left his large family on Siesta Key in Nov 1917 and traveled to Philadelphia to work at the Hog Island shipyard building docks at .75 cents an hour to assemble Merchant Marine ships for the war. It appears Rube Allyn Sr gave up his newspaper gig in warm Sarasota Fl in November 1917 to build wooden docks and shipways for the US Government at Hog Island PA, about 12 miles from Philadelphia. Rube worked for 2 years outside in the dead of winter and the heat of summer at the Hog Island shipyard, eight hours a day for .75 cents an hour when he was in his 50's, why? Rube Allyn Sr was making about $25 to $30 a week at the Hog Island Shipyard, which was the average weekly salary in 1917 to 1919 for a working man, but not ideal for a guy living in Philadelphia PA and providing for a family of seven in Siesta Key Fl, 1,200 miles away. Rube choose his idealistic, obsessive "patriotic duty" and hatred of the Germans over the needs of his own large family. 

"Congress to investigate the goings on at Hog Island". Rube Allyn Sr indicated his permanent home residence as Sarasota Fla to the Senate Committee investigating the U.S. Naval shipyard Hog Island PA. Rube Allyn Sr was choosen to speak for the 30,000 workers at Hog Island, Rube came across as a white nationalist who hated the German speaking Jews working at Hog Island or anyone speaking German. Rube Allyn Sr testified that he was arrested for attempted murder after he threw two German speaking Jews off the trolley and into the cobblestone street on his way to work at Hog Island PA, it was a 'Hate Crime'. 

Rube Allyn Sr testified he worked a bit as a night watchman at Hog Island PA and had a firearm, Rube claimed he had the authority to kill somebody. Rube Allyn testified he hated hearing the German language spoken at the U.S. Naval shipyard Hog Island PA. Rube Allyn Sr testified to the Senate Committee in Feb 1918 that the German speaking Jews, the 'foreigners', who came from the slums of New York City and Philadelphia were not suitable or equals as workers for the U.S. Naval shipyard Hog Island PA, not like himself an 'American Patriot' and the 30,000 Irish or Italinan men. Rube Allyn's testimony before a US Senate Committee February on 20th 1918 revealed a racist, bigoted man who hated Jews and German speaking people. READ IT HERE.
  photo credit screenshot congressional record feb 1918

Russia, at the time, controlled now-independent countries like Poland, Ukraine, Latvia and Lithuania. The Russian Jews who came from the slums of Philadelphia and New York City were not equal to Rube Allyn and the other Irish and Italian workers, so claimed Rube. Between 1915 to 1920, 480,000 Russian Jews made up the largest foreign-born group in New York City while in 1920 Philadelphia, a city of more than 1,823,000 residents, 400,744 were foreign-born Russian Jews. Fifty years earlier the Irish were the largest group of immigrants in Philadelphia and New York City. Rube Allyn acted violently and impulsively and was arrested for Attempted Murder during the commission of a Hate Crime in Philadelphia in 1918. Someone with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) could destroy property, react way out of proportion to things that happen and could attack or kill another person. Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) involves repeated, sudden episodes of impulsive, aggressive, violent behavior or angry verbal outbursts in which the affected person reacts grossly out of proportion to the situation (Rube Allyn Sr.). It is my opinion based on all the evidence that I have compiled and the discovery of the 1920's era Colt revolver with the broken grip found buried on Siesta Key, that Rube Allyn killed Harry Higel on Friday Jan 7th, 1921 during a pistol whipping near the edge of the shell pit at the corner of Mangrove Ave (Siesta Dr) and Higel Ave on Siesta Key Fl.

One more notch on Rube Allyn's loaded gun for his hatred of Germans was the plot to blow up the Hog Island Naval shipyard by two German spies, while Rube was working there. Hog Island near Philadelphia became the world's largest shipyard during WWI and also became a target of espionage. On March 15th, 1918 Stanley Lockavitz and Martin Pushkofki of Camden NJ are arrested for the Hog Island Naval shipyard bomb plot. Stanley Lockavitz and Martin Pushkofki had planted 245 ponds of dynamite hidden all over the Naval shipyard, but found before it all could be detonated. NYPD documents also led investigators to a New Jersey–based group that had been manufacturing “rudder bombs” for saboteurs to attach to the sterns of outgoing ships, most likely at nearby Hog Island shipyard. The rotation of the propellers mixed certain chemicals and thus ignited the bombs, which disabled or sank the ships. As many as 30 vessels might have been damaged or destroyed by the plot before it was uncovered. Coming in the wake of public anger over the May 1915 sinking of the British liner Lusitania by the German submarine U-20 and killing Rube Allyn's best pal and mentor Elbert Hubbard and his wife, these charges ratcheted up Americans’ fear of German activity within their own borders. Rube Allyn hated for Germans intensified after these actions. By the time Rube Allyn got back to Siesta Key in late November 1919 he had a simmering motive to kill his long time adversary Harry Higel who was of direct German heritage.

Newsman Rube Allyn was a bigot and a racist who hated Jews, Germans and black people. Allyn published an article in his Sarasota Sun Newspaper in August 1915 about a black man he came across in Tampa on his way to a meeting at the South Florida Chamber of Commerce and Rube had no problem calling him a "common nigger" in print.

  photo credit Tampa Times Florida Historic
RUBE ALLYN 1929 ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGE: According to the Tampa Times on May 21, 1929 Rube Allyn shot a young man, Brooks Brewer, 19, who was walking on the road near Rube Allyn's secluded cottage in Ruskin Fl, Hillsborough County. This Attempted Murder Charge for Rube Allyn is 8 years after he was arrested and acquitted of the murder of Harry Higel on Siesta Key Fl. Rube Allyn apparently felt it was no big deal to fire a shotgun at Brooks Brewer, he claimed he had problems with the 'young bloods' in Ruskin and you never know what they could be up to. Rube Allyn admitted to the Tampa Times that he fired his shotgun into the night to scare away the Ruskin boys. Brooks Brewer claimed that after Rube Allyn shot him in the back with the shotgun, from distance, Allyn came up to him as he was lying in the road, told him to get up with his hands held high and then Rube marched him off down the road. Brooks Brewer's 'bird shot' wounds in his back from Rube's shotgun were supposedly minor. Brooks Brewer dropped the charges 2 1/2 days later upon pressure from his father J.F. Brewer. The father, J.f. Brewer, said "Ruskin is a small place and we want to be neighbors there. Brooks was only peppered with a few bird shot in the back and not hurt much, we ask the court to drop the charges", what the hell? Rube was released from jail, Rube got away with it again.

Rube Allyn murdered Harry Higel in cold blood, I have no doubt. Photo above: loaded Colt revolver found buried with 6 live bullets on Siesta Key Fl it had one broken grip. Nobody buries a loaded gun unless it was used in a crime. I have traced the manufacturing date of the Colt .32 caliber Police Positive revolver with black hard rubber grips between 1907 to 1923. Colt revolver grips were hard black rubber from 1907 to 1923 then checkered walnut wood with silver medallions after that. The Colt revolver possibly was used in pistol whipping murder of Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel. The remains of the rusted .32 caliber 6 shot Colt Police Positive revolver seen above could have gone into the ground on January 7th, 1921 the day Harry Higel was murdered on the north end of Siesta Key Fl. The rusted 1920's era Colt revolver that contained 6 live bullets was turned over to the Sarasota County Sheriff Dept on November 26th 2019, case number is 19-95201, a cold case detective was assigned to the case.

The 1915 era Colt revolver grips found buried on Siesta Key (photo on L) show extensive abuse to the bottom or butt part of the grips when compared to the 1919 era Colt revolver grips and firearm (photo on R) that I purchased last year, the 1915 era Colt grips were stained from being in the ground for 100 years. The original color of all Colt revolver hard rubber grips is BLACK. The 1915 era Colt revolver rubber grips were well worn, it appears the Colt revolver was manufactured in about 1915 and most likely went into the ground in Jan 1921. Harry Higel's head had been battered and the skull fractured in multiple areas as well as his face bludgeoned beyond recognition by a "blunt weapon" as per Dr. Halton's medical report on Jan 7th, 1921 in Sarasota Fl. 

 

TALL MAN MUST HAVE HIT HIGEL: Tampa Times Jan 14, 1921, Newspaper front page headlines of the times screamed "A Tall Man Must Have Hit Harry Higel". Rube Allyn was a tall man at 6' 2" with long powerful arms. Harry Higel was short at 5" 4' tall. Rube Allyn hated and despised Harry Higel. Rube Allyn had a history of violent outbursts and uncontrollable fury. Rube Allyn was there on Siesta Key the morning Harry Higel was killed. Rube Allyn had established motive, intent and the ability to kill Higel, it's all too coincidental to be a coincidence!

  photo credit Image: Wm. Hartman Gallery

Note photo above of a group of fisherman at the Bay Island Hotel, Bay Island Fl, Rube Allyn (L) towered over diminutive Harry Higel (R). Harry Higel is seen at far right in photo with straw hat and bow tie, he is the shortest man of the 13 men standing. Newsman Rube Allyn was a fisherman (and never missed a photo op) and very tall at 6' 2", he appears to be the man without a hat on the far right in photo above. Rube Allyn never wore a hat, there are no photos seen of Rube Allyn wearing a hat. Harry Higel was about 5' 4" tall and always wore bow ties and straw hats on the Island, he was much shorter that Rube Allyn at 6' 2" tall. Harry Higel's height was heredity as his father Frank Higel Sr was only 5' 0" tall. Harry Higel had wounds on top of his head from the pistol whipping given by Rube Allyn on Friday Jan 7th, 1921. The Coroner's Jury heard witness testimony as to a tall man fitting the description of Rube Allyn being near the crime scene early on Friday morn January 7, 1921. Size 13 canvas shoes worn by Rube matched prints in the sand near where Harry Higel was found on the corner of Mangrove Ave (Siesta Dr) and Higel Ave on Siesta Key Fl at about 8:30 am January 7th, 1921.

The marks, scratches, gouges on the bottom of the hard rubber grips on the 1915's era colt revolver found buried on Siesta Key possibly caused by fracturing the skull and breaking the teeth of Sarasota Mayor Harry Higel on Jan 7th, 1921 during a pistol whipping. The mark of the weapon was clearly shown with a hole in the skull made by the pointed end of the weapon, said Dr Halton in Sarasota. The human skull can withstand 6.5 GPa of pressure while oak holds up under 11 GPa. Frontal bone: this bone comprises the forehead and the upper orbit of the eye. It joins the parietal bones at the coronal suture. Two temporal bones: These bones are located at the sides and base of the skull, and they are the hardest bones in the body. The fourteen bones at the front of your skull hold your eyes in place and form your facial features. Your mandible, or jawbone, is the largest, strongest bone in your face. 

TALL MAN MUST HAVE HIT HIGEL: Rube Allyn was a big strong man at over 6' 2" tall, with long arms and big fists and he wore a size 13 shoe, almost always canvas shoes (sneakers) with no socks. Rube was farm tough, supposedly he did work on a farm during the summer months. Harry Higel would have been no match in a street fight with an experienced bar-room brawler like Rube Allyn who was bigger and stronger than the much smaller Harry Higel at 5' 4" tall, in what appears to have occurred at the cor of Mangove Ave and Higel Ave on Friday morn Jan 7, 1921.

MANATEE COUNTY GRAND JURY TANKS ON RUBE ALLYN MURDER CASE: Rube Allyn was arrested for murder of Harry Higel after Coroners Jury examines the evidence and Mr Higel's body on Jan 7th, 1921. At least 4 witnesses corroborated on the fact that Rube Allyn was near the murder scene on foot before 8:00 am. Rube Allyn was sent to County jail in Bradenton and spent 61 days there awaiting the Manatee County Grand Jury to Convene on Wednesday March 9, no bail was allowed. Grand juries have more of an advisory role to the prosecutor. They help to determine if there is enough probable cause in a case for an indictment for criminal charges. Grand juries do not determine guilt. They only ascertain if there enough evidence for a trial and a conviction. If you’ve ever sat on a grand jury, this may not be a surprise. The grand jury’s job according to prosecutors is simply to decide whether there is reason enough to bring an indictment, this includes any circumstantial evidence and witness statements. Jurors generally agree there is enough to indict. As the saying goes, "most grand juries will indict a ham sandwich". Yet in the case of Rube Allyn the Grand Jury deliberated for only 10 minutes after 6 1/2 hours of evidence put before them including witness statements and failed to indict with NO TRUE BILL.

If a Movie was ever cast for the Unsolved Murder of Harry Higel on Siesta Key Fl, Leonardo DiCaprio would be a shoe in for the tall, erratic, hard drinking Irish newsman Rube Allyn character. Rube Allyn's alibi was that he was back at home the morning of the Higel murder by 8:00 am on Friday Jan 7 as confirmed by his wife Rose and could not have done it as Higel was killed sometime between 8:10 am and 8:30 am. Interestingly Rose Allyn did not show up Wednesday morn March 9th to be questioned by the Grand Jury, she sent a statement instead. Appears Rose Allyn was too busy getting Rube's 'Florida Fisherman Magazine' ready for press over in Tampa, what the hell? In 1921 a felony conviction for Murder in Florida meant the death penalty and the execution method was hanging. In 1923 a bill was passed in Florida and placed all executions under State control instead of County and changed the method from hanging to electrocution. It appears to me that this Manatee County Grand Jury was nothing more than a "Kangaroo Court", a court held by a legitimate judicial authority which intentionally disregards the court's legal or ethical obligations and evidence. According to the Tampa Tribune on March 9th, 1921 the Manatee County Grand Jury was made up of 19 men; M. C. Davis, George N. Brown, J. A. Howse, J. A. Henry, T. B. Gallup, C. A. Rowlett, C. F. Edwards, Carl Hendrix, Guy Jones, C. L. Davis, W. O. Edwards, H. T. Glazier, Iron Ross, E. P. Lloyd, H. D. Horney, E. J. Bright, James G. Foster and Frank Kennedy. J. A. Howse was chosen Foreman. The murder case of Harry Higel by supposed suspect Rube Allyn was not carried forth to trial due to a tainted Manatee County Grand Jury as claimed by (Harry Higel's brother) George Higel who said: "One of the members of the Manatee Grand Jury investigating the murder of Harry Higel and the suspect Rube Allyn was a fellow newspaper man and personal friend of Rube Allyn".

For a fictional quasi historical book telling the story about the murder of Harry Higel based on a 100 year old .32 caliber Colt Police Positive Pocket revolver just like the one I described in all my articles and actually found on Siesta Key, see Tony Dunbar's The Story of the Sarasota Celery Fields & Other Mysteries, Blind Pass Publications" https://blindpasspublications.com/Books/index#celery The FBI or “Bureau of Investigation” should have been contacted by the remaining Higel brothers in Sarasota to investigate the very obvious rigged Manatee County Grand Jury that allowed newsman Rube Allyn to get away with murder on Siesta Key Fl in Jan 1921.

Leonardo Dicaprio and Martin Scorsese block buster new movie 'Killers of the Flower Moon' takes place in the same time period as the unsolved murder of Sarasota mayor Harry Higel, the 1920's. Martin Scorsese's attempts an epic Western and ends up with a violent, riveting crime story. “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, tells the real story of the brazen murders of Indigenous people of Osage County, Okla in the 1920s to rave reviews. In the 1920s, members of the Osage Native American tribe of Osage County, Oklahoma, are murdered after oil is found on their land, and the FBI decides to investigate. Killers of the Flower Moon is a New kind of Scorsese masterpiece. The Osage Indians lack political and social power—or more accurately, the freedom to exercise that power, since many holders of underground mineral rights, including Mollie and her family, require white “guardians” to access their own money. Partly as a result of this legal setup, marriages between Osage women and white men in the territory are not uncommon. Two of Mollie’s sisters already have white husbands, so it’s no family scandal when Mollie marries her hired driver, Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio), newly arrived in town, 1917, after military service in World War I. Late in the film, an officer from the United States’ newly formed “Bureau of Investigation” (FBI) shows up at the Burkharts’ door to ask questions about the unsolved murders in Osage country, and what has for two-plus hours been a love story embedded in a portrait of organized crime suddenly morphs into a heart-pounding courtroom drama, as the weak-willed Ernest flails between his fear of his powerful uncle and his real, if twisted, loyalty to his broken, bereaved, but still trusting wife.

According to an article published in the Tampa Tribune on September 9th, 1945 Rube Allyn lived out his final years in a hermit like existence/lifestyle in poverty at his shack in Ruskin Fl. Rube Allyn's appearance had changed dramatically, he now sported and full, long white beard down to his chest. Rube had no automobile, no telephone, no electric lights and no refrigerator. Rube Allyn had no mortgage to worry about, as his shack and 40 acres are his, all his. He claims to have bought the acreage in 1921 (after the murder of Harry Higel in Siesta Key). It was a long way from anything or anybody to Rube Allyn's shack in Ruskin Fl where he lived all alone, no wife to deal with. In the 1945 Tampa Tribune interview, Rube Allyn Sr would not give his place of birth to reporter J. A. Murray, Rube was born in Ontario Canada and does not appear to have ever become a US citizen. Rube Allyn, 79, told Tampa Tribune reporter J. A. Murray in the 1945 interview at his shack in Ruskin Fl that he had written a book, in his head, he called it "Little Willie Allyn" by Rube Allyn. Rube Allyn said they used to call him "Willie" when he was a boy. Rube's actual birth name was William James (Rube) Allen.

Rube Allyn Sr died October 23rd 1947 after a brief illness he was survived by his long-suffering wife Rose Evelyn Knestrick Allyn, his 2 sons and 3 daughters, and a sister in Mount Forest Ontario Canada. William James 'Rube' Allen aka Rubert Royce Allen aka Rube Allyn Sr was born Jan 1st 1866 in Ontario Canada and died Oct 23rd 1947 in Bradenton Florida, he had been living in Ruskin Fl, he was 81. Rube is buried in Manasota Memorial Park, Bradenton, Manatee County, Florida, USA. Rube Allyn Sr Family Members include Spouse Rose Evelyn Knestrick Allyn 1868–1957. 

 

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