Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1904-03-10
ORIGIN OF WHITE CAPS.
There Were Organized Bands of Night
Raiders in the Early Days
of the Republic.

Inc term Wnlte caps mas COue u
be synonymous with bands of men
united by secret ties for the purpose Of
committing unlawful acts OF for the pur.
pose of taking the law into their OWL
hands and administering justice to Of
tenders against public morals who can
not be reached in the regular way. But
New England's earliest white Caps
and the first bearers of the name were
organized for a different purpose, says
the Boston Herald. Their origin dated
back to the days of Rainsford Rogers, an
impostor and vagabond whose villainies
outdid all the efforts of Henry Tufts.
Rogers was a sharper of the keenest
penetration and his plan was to take ad-
vantage of the credulity of the unsophis-
ticated New Englanders by the most dar-
ing and original of bunko games
Though illiterate, he was once a school
teacher. He pretended a deep knowl-
edge of chemistry and claimed that he
possessed the power to raise or to lay
spirits, good and evil, at his pleasure.
He began his career of operating or
the superstitious belief of people at Nor
ristown, N. j., in 1888, where he succeed
ed in %defrauding a large number of fol-
lowers out of a large sun of money by
the p%retense that through the agency OF
spirits he could secure for them a con-
cealed treasure. Then he disappeared.
He was soon depicting the pockets o.
the people in several of the southern
states by similar means. Under the
name of William Rice, with two confed-
crates, he reaped a rich harvest by oper-
ating various schemes in Adams
ty, Pa, making off with a considerable
sum yielded by his confiding dupes.
1t was soon after this, about 1900, that
he went to Exeter, bearing his true name
of Rainsford Rogers, which had not &C.
quired so bad an odor in eastern New
England as in some other quarters.
In a short time he formed the ac'
quaintance of a number of men of sub.
stance in the town, who were found sufh.
| GENTLY credulous to put entire faith il
him. To a dozen or more he confided
his belief that a subterranean treasure
of great value existed in the n%eighbor-
hood, which by his skill he could dis.
cover and appropriate to their common
benefit.
He repeatedly conducted them on dark
nights to out of the way places to dig
in the swamps with spades and other i'm
plements and frequently kept them at
work for hours delving for the hidden
prize. On these expeditions he insisted
that all must wear white caps, a cir
cumstance that afterward gave the name
to the company.
On one of these night excursions
there appeared before the eyes of the
awe-stricken diggers a figure all in
white, representing a spirit, which ut
tered some words that none could under
stand. One white cap" anxious to lose
nothing, said: "a little louder, Mr.,
Ghost; I'm rather hard of hearing"
But the silent diggers found no treas
ure and soon Rogers disclosed the rea-
son of their want of success. The golden
deposit was there beyond a doubt, but
they needed one thing more to enable
them to find it. That was a particular
kind of divining rod. 1t must be of cost
ly materials, but would be infallible. II
could not be obtained this side of Phtla-
delphia and would cost several hundred
dollars.
So infatuated were the deluded com
pany that they quickly raised the necss-
sary amount and delivered it to Rogers
who mounted his horse and with a sad
die and bride borrowed from one of his
dupes rode off to parts unknown, never
to return.
The white caps" had been watched il
their clandestine meetings. however
and o o they were the laughing stock
Of the town and the deaf mar who asked
the ghost to speak a little louder"
never heard the last of his speech.
The whole company fell under the
derisive cognomen of the white cap
which was the first heard of the lame.