The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-04-11
THE RED-HANDED RENOS
.~nu,NAuY CAREER OF FAMOUS
FAMILY or CRIMINALS.
raw They Used 80 0verawe the state OF
IudiaHa--A Fearful Dass OF Lynch Law
Administered ~ the Gang M sey-
,nsllr-The commandments i 'ne VIZ
a1nuCe Committee.
[RtnnklEn SUNDAY EnRle.l


.,.,,r The pror,u NJ & aMent0 III the Wig
ilance Committee. r....--s#
IBrooklyn sunday Eaglel
The assertion that family Oh ORGANIZE"
professional thieves could hold Whose s,aVe
III awe. and iii with terror the inhabitants On
ihe terders Of neighboring States, Is apt 10 De
Regarded, az a reckless exaggeratlon. but =
a,,rl,m abatement should be lntehsllieu SOME
what by saving that a famtlyot thieves an"
THAR connections could hold in their grasp
nIl tha political power Of the State, from the
f,nvernor to the constable; that the judges on
cha bench. ~ well as the representatives In
Aha halls of legislation, are under the Influence
M s,,oh n family; that even the power OF their
hands IA falt I'LL the United States Senate at
Washington and that the property OF mer-
shapts, az we'll as the parcels of the Treasury
Department cannot pass through that par
facular State without yielding heavy tribute
or disappearing totally at the hands of the
N thieves alluded 10, the story would be pro
nounced Incredible And yet, although the
national love of fair play Ia such as to dis
ire it the existence of such state or affairs
IN any comm onwealth In America, 1t must be
admitted as .. TACT. m
THE RENos Or INDIANA.
The Reno family, who leurished In crimes
Of every kind In Southern Indiana for a se-
ries of years. amounting ~ nearly the hali ~
generation, furnishes history which is lit
IN characterized by the statement just made.
Az the time when their despotic and destruc-
tive career was brought W an abrupt conclu.
sion. men, women and children had learned
10 despair of breathing the air Of liberty
anywhere within the blighting influence Of
the Renoa Merchants hesitated to transport
their goods by certain lines of railroed, fear
Inn the depredations OF the bandits and rob
bers The agents Of the Treasury Depart
ment sent out packages by trustworthy ex-
nress companies without fear, because the
carriers assumed the risk, but were almost
sure to be robbed. Policemen and detectives
cent out to track the robbers were watched,
suspected, threatened and chased for their
/ livep Spots which had been selected AZ the
elites III towns and which promised fair for
growth and prosperity, II left to the legiti l1
ate offices Of fair play, were bllkhted,,, ihe q
five lives of suilerance; they dared not re.
ceve or invite friends from % distance, and
they had not the courage to imperil the
safety Of their homes by. going away. The
Renos were not respected, but. they were
feared. Their presence cast shadow upon
every nreside Grand jurors who had the
temerity to indict any Of the thieves who
were captured calculated upon such sacrifice
as the head Of the gauge chose 70 call TOR. lt
required courage Oh the part Of petit juries
TO declare for conviction, for the men were
marked who dared to express opinions con-
GTnHy8 10 Llla polley Vi Tile AeH6ss JMhRtS
were perhaps the most plant, for they readi-
ly granted CONTINGENCIES, and with the aid
oil cunning aud unprincpal lawyers succeed
ed Lii helping the powerful Renos 10 battle
Justice. Were new laws needed or old ones to
be wiped out for the purpose OF increasing or
securing the immunity of the thieves, then
the Renos had their humble servants In the
Legislature. Did the extradition treaty be-
tween this country and Great Britain or her
provinces stand III the way of thieves reach
Ing their scity of refuge" the Secretary of
State must be influenced. and to this end
United States Senators and Representatives.
from Indiana were invoked by the friends of
the Renos to besiege the State Department
Tor such help as was demanded.
NEW ALBANY AND SEYMOUR.
Men OF means, large or small, upon in
quiry, found that the country anywhere
within many miles Of New Albany or Sey-
mour was very undesirable for settlement.
The soil was good enough. the air was healthy
enough, railroads were adjacent, abundant
facilities existed for the prosecution Of farm
life, for the investment OF capital, but the
moral atmosphere was full Of apprehension;
every man and every family We're filled with
terror and forebodng. TO punish these per
petual depredators was impossible. To legis-
late SO that the laws would be against crimi-
mails was out of the question. Mere. social
Ostracsm OF the best part of the Reno family.
owing to the crimes Of the worst, only pro-
voked assault, for the sympathy between the
best and worst elements N the family was
one and completes. There did not seen to be
any possible way of removing the cloud which
OyershadOwed more than half OF the State
and begloOmed the families On the frontier.
Organization In the interest OF law and good
order required secrecy, which was hardly TO
baAsApscted and who would TO the first to
move In such u directionp Where all were
equally terror-strieken, who would venture to
propose to his neighbors the idea 81 the sup
preston Of crime in their midst? But the
s day came and the man was found, whoever
hu ygac An rraniyatipn Gnrnnr into ayiGt-
Dnce, performed its work speedily, and as
speedily dissolved again, and no man outside
of 1t knows to this day who stamped out
Renoism In Southern Indiana In December,
1865 tthe aggressions Of the Renos were
brought to an end by the dire workmanship
of a resolute, well-organized aud thoroughly
disciplined vigilance committee.
The village OF Seymour IL situated at the
gs crossing of the Ohio and Mississippi Rail
road with the JeffersonviIle, Madison and In
dianapolis Railroad. Unfortunately for Sey-
mour, the town OF Rockford about two miles
north Of it, on the j., NJ and |. Railroad, was
Inhabited by a band of outlaws horse thieves
and burglars Rockford was the home Of tht
Reno family.
THE FAMILY OF OUTLAWS.
The mother Of the Reno family was o
Swiss origin, and the father was Pennsylva
MIA Dutch The father gave to his tamil,
indomitable will and courage, accompanied
by brute force. From the mother they In
herited cunning, astuteness, mechanical powe
and ability, SO that by mere GLANCE at tn
strongest and best constructed safe IN tn
world, they were able to contrive plan t,
open it and despoil 1t of its contents.
The old man had been all his life desper
ado. The old woman, Mrs. Reno who died Ii
the summer of 1868, used to supply the brain.
for the whole crowd. Shortly after her deatt
one of her sons, John Reno, was caught II
Missouri convicted and sent to the Peniten
tiary. The other members of the family
We're Frank Reno, Clinton Reno Simeon
Reno, VIM. Reno, Laura Reno and a younger
one known as Trick" Reno.
The result of the operations of the outlaws
was that in the event of indictments thu
names OF witnesses were divulged, and theI
followed their death, for the outlaws haC
boasted that mo man should live who woule
, become witness against Them A gentle
man admirably qualified to know the situa