A Farm Girl From the Ozarks
While some people thought of her as an everyday hillbilly, others know Ma Barker as the mastermind behind the entire Barker-Karpis Gang, who apparently stole more money than famed criminals John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and Vern Miller combined.
Ma Barker. Photo by New York Times Co./Getty Images
The gangster matriarch – a ruthless mother of four of the country’s most dangerous Depression-era criminals − started out as a simple farm girl. She was born in 1873 and raised in the boondocks of the Missouri Ozarks, specifically in Ash Grove – a makeshift sort of town. Her actual birth name was Arizona Donnie Clark, but she never liked the name and changed it to Kate.