The enormous suite at the luxurious Dallas hotel where George Kelly and his bride Kathryn were spending their honeymoon was strewn with open boxes and empty shopping bags from several department stores. The floor, dresser, and chairs were cluttered with new dresses, high-heeled shoes, lingerie, silk stockings, fancy hats, and gloves. Kathryn pirouetted in front of an ornate floor-length mirror wearing nothing more than a formfitting, lace slip and a mink coat. Kelly watched her model the trousseau he’d purchased for her from the comfort of a wingback chair opposite an unmade bed. He was dressed in a pair of new trousers and a crisp white shirt with an attached soft collar unbuttoned to the nape of the neck. His appreciation for fine clothing matched that of his new wife’s.
The Kellys had been married less than a week and when they weren’t locked away in their suite or buying out the stores, they were dining in the city’s most expensive restaurants and visiting speakeasies. Kathryn didn’t ask her husband where the large roll of bills he frequently unfurled to pay for their lavish living had come from. She knew and she didn’t care. She wanted more and Kelly promised there would be.
On October 2, 1930, Kelly and Kathryn packed their belongings into a top-of-the-line Cadillac and drove sixty-seven miles to the town of Paradise in Wise County, Texas. Kathryn’s family was eagerly awaiting their arrival. The Shannon farm wasn’t much to look at. Three dilapidated buildings sat on the property. In addition to the main house there was a shed and a garage of sorts. Each one looked as if a strong wind would bring down the walls. Boss Shannon built the home four miles outside of Paradise on the acreage he purchased with his first wife, Icye. Boss and Icye had two children and she passed away at the age of twenty-five. Boss’s second wife was his deceased wife’s sister. They had three children together before she too died. The Shannon children helped their father work the farm and for a time they managed to eke out a meager living. The drought that struck the region in the late 1920s transformed the promising homestead. High winds and choking dust swept across the area and people and livestock were killed and crops failed. Add to that the crushing economic impact of the Great Depression and farms like the Shannons’ fell into disrepair. The Shannons’ earnings were derived from a variety of sources, the majority of which weren’t legal.
In addition to Kathryn’s mother and stepfather, Kelly would be meeting seventeen-year-old Armon, fifteen-year-old Otha, and nine-year-old Ruth, Boss’s children from his second wife, and Kathryn’s daughter, ten-year-old Pauline.
The Shannons stepped out onto the porch when they saw Kelly’s car approaching. Kathryn checked her look in a compact she produced from her purse and adjusted the mink draped over her shoulders. The newlyweds seemed out of place in their designer outfits and behind the wheel of their slick automobile. The contrast wasn’t lost on the pair. Outside of thinking how much his wife didn’t belong in the setting, Kelly was indifferent to the matter, but Kathryn relished it. Proving she was better than what she’d come from meant everything to her.
Kathryn emerged from the vehicle like a starlet arriving at a film premiere. After hugging her mother and daughter she stretched out her hand to Kelly. Smiling proudly, he took her hand in his and stood at her side as she introduced him to the family. Kathryn hadn’t informed her parents that she’d gotten married again so they were taken aback. Boss was quick to welcome Kelly to the clan and Ora was equally as inviting. After congratulating the couple, they were ushered inside to share the meal Ora, Pauline, and Ruth had prepared. It was a pleasant evening with lots of attention paid to Kathryn’s fur coat and the adults sharing a glass or two of Boss’s bootleg whiskey. Questions about how the pair met were happily answered but Kelly hesitated briefly when he was queried about his occupation. Kathryn tried to hide a grin when he announced he was in banking.
The Kellys’ visit with the Shannons concluded after two days and the happy couple returned to Fort Worth. They moved into a modest house on Mulkey Street that Kathryn’s third husband had owned and was passed onto her after his death. There was nothing typical about Kathryn and Kelly’s home life. They were constantly on the go. They liked parties and attending the theater and if the action became too tame for them in Texas, they would travel to Miami or Chicago. When Kelly’s portion of the money he helped steal from banks in Iowa and Minnesota began to dwindle, he briefly entertained the idea of pursuing a legitimate profession. He had an opportunity to purchase a Ford dealership but decided it wouldn’t provide the money he and Kathryn needed to live as they had been. Both relished shortcuts in life – robbing instead of working and stealing whatever they wanted instead of buying.
