The Indianapolis journal., 1897-09-16
OLD GANGS OF CoUNTERFErTERs.
David Powell Captured Lyle Levi in
the Seventies.

the Seventies.
In 1863 David Powell, rather of ex-super-
intendent of Police George Powell, was
chief of the Indianapolis police, and after
being succeeded in this office was for ten
years, off and on, a deputy United States
marshal, and during this time he had many
and varied experiences with counterfeiters
operating in the southern part Of the State.
Capt. David Rowell so called during his
career as police chief and deputy marshal,
arrested many members of the Reno and
Johnson gangs of counterfeiterS, and in the
seventies brought to Justice Lyle Levi,
counterfeiter, one of the five men lynched
in the Versailles jail.
During Mr.. Powells time the hunting
down of counterfeiters was one of the chief
duties of a government officer and, owing
to his ability in this sort of work, he was
especially assigned to hunting down such
criminals. In speaking of the various gangs
of counterfeiters, Mr.. Powell said last
night:
''The Lev: gang, and in fact, all of the
gangs operating in that section OF late
years might be termed offsprings of the old
Reno gang. for the Reno gang was the
parent of them all. The Reno gang began
its operations about the time of the break
ing out of the civil war. and at that time 1t
was in the heyday of it's existence and was
noted for the desperate acts Of its mem
bers. The operations of the gang educated
the younger gangs of later years. They
were all desperate men, and would stoop to
any crime to gain their point or to avoid
arrest. Peter Mccartney. whose criminal
career is known to every police officer or
detective in the United States, was the en-
graver and plate maker for the Reno gang
He was the acknowledged leader, and in
1868 lived on Noble street, in this city He
was suspected by the government officers
but it was difficult to entrap him and ef-
feet his capture / finally entrapped him
by means of a decoy letter. and placed him
under arrest as he was leaving the post
office in this city At the time Of his arrest
Mccartney had upon his person a steel
plate used for printing 50-cent pieces (pa-
peri, known in those days as shin plasters.
Mccartney was an artist in his line, and
made plates that produced bills almost i'm
possible to distinguish from the genuine
All told. he served thirty-one years in
prison, and died there while serving his
last term.
I'm 1870 1 had a warrant for Simeon Reno
and one for the purpose of searching his
fathers house. located about four miles
south of Seymour. John Browning, who is
now conductor on the Monon Railroad,
accompanied me, and his prompt action on
this expedition saved my life. AS we ap-
preached the Reno homestead we saw
Simeon and his father at work In field.
AS we entered the field and approached the
men the father, surmising who we were,
pointed to the house and said, Go, Simeon.
Simeon started to leave the field, and his
father leVeled shotgun at my head, but
while he was taking deliberate aim Brown
ing sprang upon him and dashed the bar
rel of the gun into the air it was dis
charged. But for this prompt action l am
certain | would have been dead man. We
made a thorough search of the house and
found $500 in counterfeit bills under large
hearthstone. The entire Reno family was
composed of desperate characters. and they
did not hesitate to commit any crime. Two
of the Reno boys were lynched at Seymour
several years ago. and another met death
at the hands of a mob in Kansas City.
MISS BURNS THEIR FENCE.
I'm 1865 the operations of these counter
feiters extended as far at Frankfort, and
John Kimble. of that place. assisted them
by bringing the queer money to this
city. Miss Molly Burns, a daughter of old
John Burns, who at that time lived on St.
Mary street, was the confederate who re-
ceived the money and distributed it here. /
arrested Kimble during one OF his trips
here in '65. Miss Burns was also arrested
and q search made OF the house but the