William Ellsworth "Elzy" Lay was an outlaw of the Old West in the United States.
23 Facts About Elzy Lay
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Elzy Lay was a member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang, operating out of the Hole-in-the-Wall Pass in Johnson County, Wyoming.
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Elzy Lay was born in Mount Pleasant, an unincorporated community in Vinton County, Ohio, the son of James Landon Elzy Lay and Mary Jane Bellew.
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Elzy Lay had a brother, Encil Lay, and a sister, Maggie Lay Sprigg.
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At the age of 18, Elzy Lay left home looking for adventure with his childhood friend William McGinnis.
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Later, Elzy Lay used the name "McGinnis" as an alias when working as a ranch hand.
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Elzy Lay worked briefly on the ranch of cattleman Matt Warner, and it was Warner who gave Lay his first tip for a robbery.
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From Warner, Elzy Lay learned that a shopkeeper nearby had a large sum of cash.
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Warner, his nephew Lew McCarty, and Elzy Lay robbed the man and split the money.
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Elzy Lay then opened up a gambling house in Vernal, Utah.
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Elzy Lay remained there until Butch Cassidy was released from an eighteen-month prison sentence.
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Cassidy and Elzy Lay robbed a bank in Montpelier, Idaho, using the funds to secure an attorney for Warner.
13.
Cassidy and Elzy Lay began hiding out at what was called "Robbers Roost", in Utah.
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Girlfriends Maude Davis and Ann Bassett joined them there, Elzy Lay having ended his relationship with Ann's sister, Josie, who by that time was involved in a relationship with Elzy Lay's outlaw friend Will "News" Carver.
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Cassidy and Elzy Lay traveled to New Mexico, and by this time were calling their gang the "Wild Bunch".
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On July 11,1899, without Cassidy, Elzy Lay led Curry, Ketchum and Carver in the robbery of a train near Folsom, New Mexico.
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Elzy Lay was charged and convicted of the killings and the robbery.
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Elzy Lay received a life sentence which he served in the New Mexico State Penitentiary.
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Elzy Lay spent seven years in prison, where he became a trustee to the warden.
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Elzy Lay was able to convince the prisoners to release the women, and for this act he was pardoned by Governor Miguel Antonio Otero on January 10,1906.
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When Elzy Lay was captured, Cassidy, Kid Curry, and Bill Carver all left New Mexico.
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The loss of Elzy Lay deeply affected Cassidy, who for a time made attempts at getting amnesty from the Governor of Utah.
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Elzy Lay is buried at Forest Lawn in Glendale, California, near Los Angeles.