The Davis Gang,
the Memoirs of Gean Kearns

A common thread runs through most crime stories.

Loyalty to family, addiction to the adrenaline rush of taking risks, and youth gave the Depression Era Criminal Rock Stars the strength to skip normalcy. For women exposed early to bad boys, they recognized an alternative to doing without. Bank robbers didn't want to kill. Morality existed and continued throughout the early years of Mafia and pot smugglers. While these men and women knew right from wrong, they believed what they were doing didn't hurt anyone. They willingly grabbed opportunity in an unfair world.

The Davis Gang, the Memoirs of Gean Kearns written by Vicki Welch Ayo traces Kearns' bloodline in the tale of an infamous quartet of 1930s bank robbing sisters, dubbed dangerous by the FBI but known to him as a loving family. Aunt Dorothy "Dot", Aunt Estelle, Aunt "Modie" Modelle, Uncle Dan "Boy" and his grandmother Beryle "Bebe" Davis Kearns rivaled Bonnie and Clyde in the Southwest according to a 1934 Abilene News article. The Davis sisters survived at a time when most criminals died during prison breaks, gun battles or by the States' hands.

Kearns grew up around a loving Texas family and listened to the many stories of bank jobs and outlaws including his grandmother's ancestor Jesse James. Kearns pulled together FBI records, newspaper articles, and chronicled his unusual family history he'd heard first-hand. The Davis Gang is a fascinating read detailing a time when people connected through stories of love, family and daring individuals who changed the world. The photos reveal ordinary sisters in ordinary situations able to morph into extraordinary bank robbers who braved the swamps, the gators and FBI along the Gulf Coast for the thrill of victory. If you ever questioned the strength and toughness of a woman after reading The Davis Gang you will understand why child-bearing was relegated to the weaker sex and why Kearns chose to keep his family's history alive.