The Not So Notorious Homer L. Van Meter

When DCGS member, Dan Hasch, read our blog of February 11th, 2015, he wondered about the Homer  Van Meter mentioned as attending school in Sherwood.  Dan knew about the Homer Van Meter who was a sidekick of gangster, John Dillinger.  So who was THIS Homer Van Meter and how or did he relate to the same family?  His research led to the story below:

The story of the Van Meter family began with Perry H. Van Meter, born in Putnam County, Ohio to Elzey S. and Mary Van Meter in Pleasant Township.  Perry's siblings were Isaac C., Mary E., Susannah and Nancy.  Perry, born in 1837, married Anna M. Hollis on January 14, 1858 and they settled in Allen County, Ohio, where they appeared on the 1860 census.

Apparently, the family lived in Indiana for a time because their first child Harriet, was born in Tippecanoe County in 1862.  Perry enlisted in Company D, 189th Infantry, to fight in the Civil War.  He was discharged in August of 1865 and by 1870, the family lived in Carryall Township, Paulding County, Ohio, near Antwerp.  Sometime after 1880, the family moved to Sherwood, Ohio, in Defiance County where Perry either owned or worked at a meat market. His death record listed his occupation as butcher.  He died on April 29, 1888 and was buried in the Sherwood Cemetery.

Perry and Anna had six children, one of which was son, Cary B, who was born in 1870.  While living in Sherwood, Cary met and married Julia Miller, the daughter of Christian and Wilhelmina Miller.  Cary was a brakeman/conductor for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad until he moved to Ft. Wayne later where he worked as a conductor for the Nickle Plate Railroad.  Cary and his wife, Julia, had three children: Harry, Helen and Homer V.  This Homer V. was in the gang with John Dillinger and was killed by police in a gun battle in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1934. He was buried in Lindenwood Cemetery, Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

Homer V. VanMeter, Dillinger's friend

Cary also had a brother named Homer...Homer L.  Homer L. Van Meter would have been the uncle of Homer V. Van Meter, the gangster. Homer L. born on August 29, 1872, near Antwerp, attended school in Sherwood, but eventually moved to Ft. Wayne where he became a successful real estate agent.  He died on April 23, 1924 and was also buried at Lindenwood Cemetery.

www.findagrave.com   A short biography of Homer L.Van Meter's life may be found there.

Dan went on to do a more extensive study of the Van Meter family, linking it to the Walter John Miller family of Sherwood and the Duerk family of Defiance, through marriage to two Miller daughters.  Stories have been written of Homer Van Meter and John Dillinger visiting Defiance, but this story by Jack Palmer, the late columnist for the Defiance Crescent-News, told the story well:
JOHN DILLINGER VISITED.