Phillipsburg, Kansas, is a pivotal stop in Perry Smith’s account of his early travels: there, a proposed burglary led to his first arrest in this sequence, a jail escape, and, months later, his return to custody. The town’s small jail became a repeated waypoint in a journey that ended in a five-to-ten-year sentence at Lansing.

Arrival and burglary

In July 1955, while traveling east toward Worcester, Massachusetts, Smith reached Phillipsburg with a temporary companion who also used the name Smith. They stopped to consult a map on what Smith remembered as a Sunday, when the stores were shut and the streets quiet. His companion suggested breaking into the nearby Chandler Sales Company, and Smith agreed. They took office equipment, including typewriters and adding machines.

Arrest and escape

Several days later, the pair were stopped in Saint Joseph, Missouri, after ignoring a traffic signal. The stolen equipment was still in their car, and inquiries led to their return to Phillipsburg. Smith described the local jail as a place with an open window: within forty-eight hours, he and his companion climbed out, stole a car, and drove northwest to McCook, Nebraska. They soon separated, and Phillipsburg temporarily receded from Smith’s route.

Return to custody

After spending the winter elsewhere, Smith was arrested at a hotel on a March morning by two FBI agents and extradited back to Kansas. He was taken to Phillipsburg and lodged in the same jail from which he had escaped. The return turned the town from a temporary interruption in his travels into the site of renewed confinement. Smith received a sentence of five to ten years at Lansing for larceny, jailbreak, and car theft.

Significance

Phillipsburg’s importance in Smith’s account lies in this recurrence: a burglary brought him into the town, an escape carried him away, and his arrest months later brought him back. The jail links those episodes and marks the point at which a string of travels and temporary jobs gave way to a substantial prison sentence.