One of the first (and only, before I began researching our genealogy) things I learned from my father about Otto Willard was that he had been an inmate at Leavenworth prison in Kansas, convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to X years, serving time alongside such infamous characters as Machine Gun Kelly, Prohibition-era gangster, and becoming, upon his release, alumnus of a motley club that includes mob boss Whitey Bulger, controversially convicted American Indian activist Leonard Peltier, James Earl Ray (released from Leavenworth in 1958 only to assassinate MLK ten years later) and more recently, for leading a interstate dog-fighting ring, NFL star Michael Vick.
Otto’s mugshot, complete with requisite scowl, wooden-block numbers and dirty pinstripe suit, is one of those priceless relics of family history: hard evidence of a story that might otherwise be passed off as legend, whether from feelings of discomfort, disinterest or a desire to preserve the family name. Compared to some of the other spooks in our heirloom armoire, though, his felony is merely a footnote. Otto was obviously a man who cared about family: when I began asking more about him, I learned from my uncle Taylor that he had been given special dispensation from Leavenworth to attend the funeral of his mother, Christine, in Minnesota in 1928. Apparently he was accompanied on the train by an armed guard who also attended the funeral and then made sure that he returned to Kansas.
