On this date in 1917, newspapers across the country reported that heavyweight contender Jim Barry was shot and killed. He was in Panama for a title fight against Sam McVey, who later brought the news back to New York. Many differing stories have circulated about Barry’s life, death, career, ethnicity, year of birth, and origins.
The globe-trotting boxer had been described as both a "Chicago man of mixed heritage" and "a hard-hitting white cowboy from Montana." He was a bare-knuckle prizefighter and protege of legendary heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan.
In 1916, he told the Bismarck Tribune, "Jim Barry isn't my name at all, and I'm not Italian as everyone believes. My real name is Hugh Edgar Rogers. My mother was a full-blooded Sioux Indian." Genealogy records show he was baptized Louis Edgar Rogers. His mother, listed as "Indian" in the 1910 census, had mixed Chippewa fur trade heritage. His father was a hardy frontier mail carrier who made a 400-mile round trip on foot or by dogsled between Fort Abercrombie and Grand Forks.
Barry claimed he grew up in Drayton with his family, had six brothers all bigger than he, and rarely spent time in Chicago, though everyone wanted him to say he was from there.
He was reportedly shot in the back three times by Tex Martin in a hotel bar. Sources in Panama said the shooting resulted from a dispute over a gambling debt, not a saloon brawl or shootout as reported elsewhere. Barry was said to be in possession of a gold-and-silver-plated, diamond-studded championship belt entrusted to him by John L. Sullivan. It was estimated to be worth $10,000. The belt was never found at the hotel where Barry stayed.
Some years later, Sullivan’s belt—or a replica—was found and displayed at the Smithsonian Institution. The diamonds had been chipped off, and it was speculated that Barry or Sullivan may have sold them. Sullivan had pawned the belt from time to time, and in 1901, a jeweler created a replica for display at the Buffalo World's Fair. It remains unknown whether the belt at the Smithsonian is the original or a replica.
Louis Edgar Rogers, born August 12, circa 1885-1888, died March 12, 1917. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Walsh County, North Dakota.
Datebook written by Lise Erdrich
Sources:
- JIM BARRY IS REPORTED DEAD. Former East Grand Forks Boxer Claimed to Have Been Killed in Panama Brawl. Grand Forks Herald, March 24, 1917, page 3
- Panama Star & Herald, March 12, 1917
- Grand Forks Daily Herald, June 16, 1916, page 8
- The Bismarck Tribune, May 28, 1916, page 11
- The Tacoma Times, December 10, 1917
- "ROG." A Reminiscence of the Hardy Mail Carriers of 1868 - Rogers, Father of the late Jim Barry, Prize Fighter. Grand Forks Daily Herald, August 7, 1917, page 7.
- Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Boxing Trophy Belt, Given to John L. Sullivan. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_681093
- BoxRec Forum. https://boxrec.com/wiki/thumb.php?f=TT10Dec1912.JPG&width=200
