Hoosier State Chronicles | The Reno Gang

[Music] the Wild West tales of it abound in our cultural imagination especially when it comes to robberies Jesse and Frank James Billy the Kid and the Dalton Gang are just some of the most famous examples from history however one of the wild West's earliest and most infamous robbery syndicates wasn't from Arizona or Texas but from Jackson County Indiana the Reno gang often credited with the first train robbery in America where a band of outlaws that roamed the Indiana and Missouri countryside in the 1860s stealing loot from banks and county Treasuries at their peak the Reno's and their copycats stole nearly half a million dollars within a span of two years while their crimes became a legendary the community's response proved equally in notorious local sheriffs Allan Pinkertons men Canadian detectives in the Jackson County vigilance committee all strove to exact justice on the Reno's and their accomplices in this first episode of Hoosier State Chronicles we will uncover the trail of destruction left behind not only by the Reno gang but by those who punish them hi I'm Justin Clark I'm a publicus Torian here in Indianapolis Indiana I work on Hoosier State Chronicles our statewide historic Digital newspaper program in this youtube series I'll share stories from Indiana's history ripped straight from the headlines join me as I tell our state story one page at a time our tale begins with a sprawling family in a small frontier town Wilkinson Reno the patriarch arrived in Jackson County as an upland southerners for Kentucky he and his family settled on a 1,200 acre farm in a Rockford a town slightly north of Seymour Wilkes as he was called married Julie Ann Reno in 1835 a woman sprung from the Pennsylvania Dutch they had six children five boys Frank John Simeon Clint and William and one girl Laura Clint never involved himself in his brother's criminal activities which gave him the nickname on a story no Laura proved more of a sympathizer than an accomplice and defended her brothers honor her entire life growing up the boys caused trouble by playing crooked card games to build travelers and allegedly involving themselves in a series of town fires during the Civil War some of the Reno brothers gained a reputation for bounty jumping joining the Army for recruitment money deserting the post and pocketing the cash well this seems bad enough the Reno brothers were just getting started after the war they returned to Rockford formed a gang with other bounty jumpers and carried out a series of petty robberies in the community however they took their thievery to the next level by blooming a safe at Azalea Bartholomew County Indiana but which they got ten thousand dollars this all culminated in the first major robbery of the Reno gangs career the Ohio and Mississippi Express robbery on October 6th 1866 jean reno simeon reno and frank sparks robbed the Ohio and Mississippi Railway Express car on its way out of see more as the Indianapolis Daily Herald reported two men entered the conductor's car from the front platform presented revolvers at either side of his head took his key opened the local safe and rifled out of all monies they then through one of the safes out pulled the bell cord and escaped as they had entered they were arrested five days later after a vigorous search was immediately commenced by citizens and detectives eventually Wilkes Reno also faced arrest for his involvement in the robbery though his exact crime remained unclear in the newspapers Simeon Reno and Frank sparks posted bail at $2,500 each while Wilkes and John Reno also posted bail for $8,000 and $1,000 respectively within two days the gang committed another robbery this time at the Hendricks County Treasurer's Office they made away with a cool $900 that belonged to the County Agricultural Association over the next few months the Reno's attempted a few more robberies of county Treasuries and local banks and Elkhart County they blew the doors off of the treasure safe only to find it empty County officials growing wise - the gangs antics remove the money and deposited in the local bank they left the office with only a measly $50 however their break-in at Muncey's Exchange Bank on November 12th proved a massive success making off with $12,000 in greenbacks and $6,000 in the United States bonds before escaping into the night however they ended 1866 in failure after a botched attempt at blowing open the safe at the white County Treasury the Indianapolis Daily Journal published a warning just days after the white county attempt taking a swipe at the robbers burglars are operating extensively in all parts of the state County Treasury seem to possess great attraction for them though their success in realizing any large amount of greenbacks by such raids is anything but flattering despite the warnings County Treasury's felt the wrath of the Reno gang well into the spring of 1867 Ripley county's Treasury lost 500 dollars in a break-in but fortunately the inner safe kept and saved $30,000 from being lost DeKalb at Jackson counties proved more successful for the Reno's where their treasury break-ins resulted in seventy thousand dollars worth of stolen assets the journal published another warning to County Treasury's pithla commenting that the funds on hand would be as secure if thrown into an empty box or barrel in the treasurer's office as they are in water for Cecily termed fireproof and burglar-proof safes the Reno's and their accomplices caused much trouble but they're copycats proved to be the beginning of the gangs unraveling on September 28 1867 copycats Walker Hammond and Michael collaring robbed the Adams Express on the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad almost a year after the Reno's attempt and made off with $10,000 Hammond and Collard in' while successful in their robbery weren't successful in their escape the Reno's knew their plans and watched the holdup from afar and as the copycats attempted their getaway the gang cut them off and relieved the robbers of their plunder in an even Brasher move the Reno's left Hammond and colorin to the authorities where they served time while the gang got away with their cash this appeared to be the last straw for the community and for the Adams Express Company as a response to constant terror Adams Express employed Allan Pinkerton the famous private detective and his band of mercenaries to hunt down the Reno's Jackson County locals also form their own vigilance committee hoping to exact their own brand of justice on their community's most notorious criminals some of the gang began to feel the heat jean reno and frank sparks fled to Missouri where they carried out another series of robberies in Daviess County upon returning to Jackson County Indiana Pinkerton and his men surrounded Reno's train in Indianapolis and arrested him Sparks was also arrested near Seymour authorities sent John Reno back to Davis County where he faced charges of safe robbing and summarily sentenced to 25 years in prison his days with the Reno gang were over the gang continued under the leadership of Frank Reno well into the summer of 1868 on May 22nd the gang successfully robbed the Adams Express on the Jeffersonville line in Marshfield 17 miles south of Seymour the Reno's pocketed approximately ninety six thousand dollars from cracking three safes the Indiana daily Sentinel provided great detail on how the Reno's pulled it off quote while the train was thus watering on Friday night six men approached it suddenly and at once commanded an assault on the engineer and fireman with a view to the capture of the engine one of them struck him the messenger a terrible blow with one of the crowbars over the right side of his head crushing in the skull and inflicting a terrible wound transversely from near the top of his head to the temple this done the robbers at once commenced at their work all the safes were either broken open or robbed or thrown overboard at designated places to be robbed by Confederates of the six on the train they were most likely robbed however before they were thrown off the car unquote this attempt proved to be the Reno's last successful train robbery they tried it again on the Ohio and Mississippi Line on July 10th 1868 but were met with a volley from the pistols of the guard inside the robbers were driven off leaving one of their number very badly wounded the Terre Haute Daily Express reported that quote a party of men who were hunting the thieves chased the gang into a thicket near Rockford Indiana and succeeded in capturing one named Charles Roseberry it's likely that the party of men described in the piece were Pinkertons because they brought rosemary into town for medical treatment and questioning gang members John Moore Henry jor-el and Frank sparks also suffered intense injuries the citizens of Seymour had had enough the express also reported that the citizens of seymour met last night and formed a vigilance committee they fervently believed that Frank Reno was at the head of the lake robbery and that his accomplices were petty thieves whose amateur mistakes resulted in injured citizens and plundered treasure the daily Sentinel minced no words when it declared that the best thing that could be done for Seymour would be to hang the leading scoundrels and drive the others away which we are glad to see the citizens are now likely to do the sentinals prophecy occurred far faster than anyone could have predicted on the night of July 20th 1868 just ten days after the Reno's last train robbery the Jackson County vigilance committee lynched Reno gang members Thomas of only Elliot Charles rose berry and Frelinghuysen Clifton near seymour when the train reached a point two miles west of Seymour the Terre Haute weekly expressed noted it was stopped by a mob of about 200 men from Seymour and vicinity the guard was overpowered and the prisoners were taken out and hanged as he faced his inevitable fate and wept like a child swore that he was innocent of all crime and implored them to spare his life as for the others rosemary said not a word and Elliott railed against the captor saying confess hell I'll tell you nothing you've got me here a thousand of you now do your worst they were strung up to a beech tree struggled greatly and died hard Frank Reno by contrast made his way to Windsor Canada and started a new life as a fugitive the Adams Express company offered a reward to anyone who brought him back either dead or alive gang members Frank sparks John Moore and Henry Durrell also fled the state but were captured by authorities in Coles County Illinois on July 24th they were then transferred to brownstone and kept under surveillance at the Adams express wagon office until their transfer to Seymour however like the first three they didn't make it as the express were counted on July 25th 75 men noiselessly surrounded the wagon overpowered the night guards and in turn placed them under surveillance the wagon was driven back under the faded beach and in less time that it takes to tell it upon the same three limbs as the others Frank sparks Henry Jarell and John Moore ended their lives of crime within days of the second lynching by the vigilance committee Simeon and William Reno were arrested in Indianapolis subsequently jailed in New Albany and then transferred to the Lexington Jail in Scott County authorities rightly believed they would be safer there than in Jackson County the end of the Reno gang kept coming closer to fruition while many view the actions of the vigilance committee as honorable the grand jury of Jackson County thought otherwise the New York Times reported that the grand jury would make the most rigorous examination in regard to acts of the seymour mob and had diked those whom it can be ascertained were engaged in the recent hangings for murder in the first degree as for specific charges elsewhere a number of the persons engaged in this outrage have been indicted for murder by the grand jury of Johnson County and are now under $10,000 bail each to answer to the circuit court the courts continued to emphasize that despite the Reno gangs crimes the murderous acts of the vigilance committee could not be justified the Indianapolis Daily Journal used it as an opportunity to be brazenly partisan to put it concisely wrote the journal three more gray outlaws have received their deserts by an illegal process and the Republican Party ver by incidentally deserves a net gain of six meanwhile Windsor constable Sam port and his team finally arrested Frank Reno and associate Charles Anderson for the robbery of the Adams Express and the attempted murder of its messenger Thomas Hawkins upon arraignment the courts dropped the initial charge of attempted murder against Hawkins mainly from a lack of evidence however they were rearranged on another charge the assault and attempted murder of America's Holden the conductor of the Adams Express Chief Justice William Henry Draper upon reviewing the evidence and arguments for this new charge ruled in favor of the state and ordered Reno and Anderson to be extradited to the United States and tried they're the two criminals possibly weary of what awaited them back home attempted to break out of jail unluckily for them detective Pinkerton and his men prepared for the thieves antics under two failed assassination attempts and successfully carried out their cause by the US government to bring them back to the states as Pinkerton and his men brought the two fugitives back to Indiana the Jackson County vigilance committee sought to continue their own brand of justice in mid-september of 1868 the vigilance committee caught word that Simeon and William Reno were jailed in Lexington a cadre of 85 men traveled from Seymour to Vienna made the 8 mile trek to Lexington on foot and barnstormed the local jail however the Reno's weren't there a messenger alerted the mob that the brothers might be travelling by train some stayed in Lexington while the others stayed in Vienna when the train arrived consequently about 6 o'clock a.m. the daily Sentinel reported the platform of the Depot was crowded with strange men whose faces were unfamiliar to the citizens of the village and passengers on the cars they searched the Train and found that the Reno's weren't on board sensing a problem local law enforcement returned to New Albany discouraged the members of the vigilance committee in Vienna took another train home to Jackson County the Reno's escaped their clutches one last time by December of 1868 Frank Reno Simeon Reno William Reno and Charles Anderson all faced trial for their crimes in New Albany they would be tried there in an attempt to stave off the vigilance committee despite all the precautions and stopgap measures the local authorities took to stop the bloodshed the vigilance committee got exactly what they wanted on the night of December 12th 6270 seymour regulator's masked and heavily armed walked out of the New Albany station of the Jeffersonville Railroad and proceeded towards the jailhouse they barged in demanded the keys from the sheriff and completely surrounded the premises Frank Reno fought the regulator's knocking three of them down but was beaten to a pulp William and Simeon also tried to fight them off but to no avail Anderson sensing the end asked if he could say a prayer but was denied the mob hung all four within an hour commandeer to train and left by 4:00 in the morning within a span of six months the vigilance committee lynched ten men of the Reno gang including three of the four brothers after the carnage the brothers bodies were returned to Seymour and buried in City Cemetery wilts Laura John and Clint Reno were all that was left of one of Seymour's and most notorious families as for Anderson his remains were buried in New Albany newspapers decried the mob violence wracked upon the Reno's this high-handed and murderous deed deeply concerns every citizen of Indiana it is a reproach upon the state which it will take years to a face wrote the Evansville Journal the vigilance committee felt literal Morse for their actions going so far as to publish a warning to criminals in the Cincinnati Times which was later were printed in the New York Times we deeply deplore the necessity which called our organization into existence but the laws of our state are so defective that as they now stand on the statute books they all favor criminals going unwept of justice despite their initial moralizing more ominous intention appeared towards the end do not trifle with us declared the committee for if you do we will follow you to the bitter end and give you a short shrift and hempen collar as to this our actions in the past will be a guarantee of our conduct in the future jean reno the last surviving member of the gang and the last surviving brother finished his prison sentence in February of 1878 after receiving a commutation by governor Benjamin gratz Brown after his release Reno spoke to the Indianapolis news about his future I'm a rattlin good stone cutter and have put up a shed and see more where I intend to go to work he said unfortunately stone cutting wasn't the only work he was doing Reno was sent back to prison in 1885 for passing counterfeit money in Indianapolis and served another three years little is known of what happened after his second release from prison he died in 1895 with his death the Reno Gang finally gave way to legend you the Reno brothers and their gang perpetuated a crime wave in Jackson County the likes of which had never been seen their infamous status served as an inspiration for the pioneering short film The Great Train Robbery 1903 it also directly inspired two feature films rage at dawn 1955 starring Hoosier force Tucker as Frank Reno and most known Love Me Tender 1956 with Elvis Presley as honest Clint Reno however in a historical sense the Reno Gang story is more than just the films and inspired and it's heart these men were some of the first modern criminals in American history using technology and organization to steal great fortunes with skill and ease law enforcement appeared wildly unprepared to handle them as a result a vigilance committee took justice into its own hands committing horrible violence against the gang and leaving order up for grabs in their eyes the law couldn't contain men like the Reno's so they had to do it themselves the acts of the vigilance committee tell us as much about the period as the Reno's do in an era of vast economic social and political change criminals took advantage of an antiquated system of law enforcement that was never designed to suppress them when the system didn't evolve the citizens forced it through vigilantism and lynching while no one would ever deem the Reno's innocent their gruesome deaths paralleled the very crimes they were killed for in that sense the crimes of the Reno gang and the violence they instigated along in the legendary mythos of the Wild West [Music] thanks for watching give us a like if you enjoyed the video also subscribe to keep up on all the new videos if you want more content check out our blog the link is in the description box below explore Hoosier State Chronicles at Hoosier State Chronicles org you can also follow us on twitter at HS underscore chronicles until next time this has been Justin Clark and this has been Hoosier State Chronicles Hoosier state chronicles is a part of the National Digital newspaper program or chronicling America to learn more about chronicling America visit chronicling America loc.gov [Music]

Channel: Hoosier State Chronicles

Views: 9,013

Keywords: History, Indiana History, Reno Gang, Historic Newspapers, Hoosier State Chronicles

Id: EOYngWSMYwc

Length: 23min 18sec (1398 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 28 2017