Posted on 12/12/2022 7:22:23 PM PST by CheshireTheCat
On this date in 1868, 60-plus masked and armed vigilantes took control of the New Albany, Indiana jail and executed four members (three of them kin) of a notorious train-robbing gang.
From the Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago Republican), December 13, 1868:
NDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 12.
The Seymour vigilance committee visited the New Albany jail this morning, about 3 o’clock, and hung the Reno brothers and Charles Anderson inside the jail, and left town before any alarm was given.
CINCINNATI, Dec. 12.
The following particulars of the hanging of the Renos at New Albany, has been received by the Cincinnati Times:
NEW ALBANY, Dec. 12.
Between 3 and 4 o’clock this morning, from 60 to 70 Seymour Regulators, masked and heavily armed arrived here via Jeffersonville Railroad, and immediately upon their arrival they proceeded by a direct route to the county jail, placing guards at every street to guard against surprise. Arriving at the jail one of the guards stationed outside took alarm and attempted to raise an alarm but was quickly taken in charge of and placed under guard.
They then entered the office of the jail, and after twelve or fifteen of them entered, Sheriff Fullclove, awakened by the disturbance, came to the door, and when they demanded the keys attempted to get away by dodging down a cellar way and coming out on the outside of the building, but here he was commanded to surrender, and by some means was shot through the arm. They had now complete possession of the jail and found the keys in the Sheriff’s bedroom, when they immediately proceeded to the cells and forced one of the guards to unlock the cells....
(Excerpt) Read more at executedtoday.com ...
FAFO nineteenth century style.
They hanged the train robbers but not the murderer named Clark.
Fascinating story. What I found striking was the quality of the writing in a small town paper compared to what is found from big wire services today.
This is one of your better threads: Lots of history/story detail and not in Shakespearean prose.
I found this story particularly fascinating since I used to live in Seymour.
Grew up in Seymour. Everyone knows the stories of the Renos. Supposedly there was a lot of money buried somewhere in the area. Most figured it was on the farm between Seymour and Rockford out by the river. I grew up just around the corner from the home of the sole surviving wife of the Reno brothers. Some thought the treasure was hidden in her house somewhere. It made for interesting thoughts for a young boy growing up and walking past the house every day on the way to school. The location of the beech tree at a railroad crossing just west of town is still to this day called “Hangman’s Crossing”.
so uncivilized
so much more civilized to let the criminals roam free and prey at will on the citizenry
Did train robberies slack off after that?
Dittoes to that comment. But then your average nineteenth century kid who made it through the sixth-grade was better educated than most HS grads today.
Don't be surprised when this tradition returns.
Wholesale rascality.
The Reno brothers never robbed another train for sure.
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