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On May 12, 1904, twenty year old Logan Billingsley wed eighteen year old Chloe Wheatley in Caddo County, Oklahoma Territory. The marriage took place after she had charged him with statutory rape, which had resulted in her pregnancy. They lived together for one day, before Logan abandoned his newlywed wife.
Perhaps because of this, Logan and his father got into a fist fight with A. C. Wheatley, Chloe's father. Mr. Wheatley was severely beaten before bystanders stopped the fight. Mr. Wheatley then pulled out a knife, Logan then shot Mr. Wheatley in the back, killing him.
The community sided with the Wheatley’s and there was talk of hanging Logan. However, when he was tried for murder and found not guilty by reason of self-defense.
In 1907 he was charged with selling a drink called “Mistletoe” which contained more alcohol than allowed by law, and in 1909 the sheriff seized a large amount of whiskey, gin, beer and gambling items from Logan's businesses.
The police were looking for him, so he spent some time in West Virginia and New York before making his way to Seattle. Though prohibition had been enacted in Washington, a loophole in the law allowed pharmacies to sell alcohol for medicinal purposes. By May 30th, 1916, Logan had opened the Day and Night drug store at 1525 3rd Ave., in Seattle. The police raided it for illegally selling alcohol.
Logan was operating one of the two largest bootlegging businesses in Seattle, along with his father and two brothers. The Billingsley’s hired a night guard for their warehouse to prevent competing operations from stealing their product. One night the guard saw a car, with its headlights turned off, approaching the warehouse. Not knowing it was the police, he shot at the car, wounding one occupant and killing the other.
The four Billingsley’s were arrested for murder because of their involvement, but the charges were later dismissed.
However, Logan still faced bootlegging charges. He was fined $250 and given three months in jail. He appealed, and was eventually released.
Soon after, Logan and his brothers were indicted on federal prohibition charges in San Francisco for interstate transportation of alcohol and brought back to Seattle. Logan confesses but claims to have been bribing the police and mayor, who are investigated and acquitted.
Logan was sentenced to 13 months in a federal penitentiary, but escapes before being sent there. He writes letters to the newspapers while on the run, but eventually turns himself in, and appeals to the Washington State Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals. Both affirmed the original conviction.
At the end of his sentence in McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary, he is met by King County Deputy Sheriffs who transfer him to the County Stockade at the Willows. He still owed the county 90 days and a $250 fine from an old liquor violation.
About a month into his sentence at the Stockade, Logan’s brother Fred came to visit. At the time, Logan was working in the prison blacksmith shop. The two brothers spoke for some time, but were seemingly interrupted when team of horses were startled and dashed away.
By the time the horses were returned, witnesses noticed that Fred was leaving the Stockade. Of course, at the evening check the guards discovered Logan was missing.
The tire tracks from Fred’s automobile were picked up about a mile west of the stockade, and were followed to the paved Bothell Highway.
In Kirkland, they discovered the auto had taken the 7:30 ferry to Seattle, but no further clues are found. It was speculated that Fred had informed his brother that the Oklahoma authorities were set to pick him up at the end of his King County sentence.
Logan next appears to hire a lawyer in Toledo, Ohio. With his assistance, Lt. Governor M. E. Trapp grants him parole on all his existing charges in Oklahoma, provided he pay $2000 in court costs and forever remain outside the borders of the state.
Just four months later he makes headlines again, this time in Miami. A friend of his was making a movie and hoped to shoot some scenes in the Bahamas. The cast, crew, and a few of their friends set off to Nassau — including Logan and his new wife Hattie. Out of Miami they encountered a storm, and the 10 hour trip soon became four days.
By 1921, Logan is in Bronx, New York acting as one of the principal stockholders in the Billingsley Holding Corporation, a real estate development company.
While it appeared that he had completely reinvented himself, he still owed time on his sentence at the King County Stockade, and Logan wasn't quite finished being on the wrong side of the law.
In 1932, Logan’s brother Fred was charged with murder in California. In a delirium he had shot and killed the attending doctor. Logan came to his brother’s aid, and the resulting news coverage shone new light on their past transgressions.
Logan died in 1963. His obituary lists many of his accomplishments and nothing about his questionable past. It tells of his real estate business, in New York, that made him a millionaire. He was the first chairman of the 1939 New York World’s Fair Committee and past president of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce. It said he was connected with the U.S. Department of the Interior and was the founder and executive director of the Indian Hall of Fame.
Logan’s son by his first wife, Chloe Wheatley, was Glenn Andrew Billingsley. He grew up and married an actress named Barbara Lillian Combs. She was in many movies and on many television shows. As Barbara Billingsley she played the role of June Cleaver on the Leave it to Beaver show.
Despite the conditions of his parole, he was allowed to be buried in Oklahoma.
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