Oprah claims racism and now recants

[printcraft]

No IC. It's a Swiss law.

Yeah, but Swiss law is full of holes.

 

[Que]

and 1,297 whites lynched during the same time frame....Speaking as a white guy and not knowing the circumstances of each individual lynching (of the whites) one could make the case that at least some of that number (whites lynched) may have deserved it...I.E. caught in the act of molesting a child or talking in the theater.

Unless the court of law deemed that to be the punishment, they did not deserve to be lynched. Vigilante justice is never the answer.

 

[Dirtebiker]

I would guess SOME of them (blacks AND whites) certainly deserved it, even though they didn't get their day in court!

 

[Que]

Many of the whites who were lynched during that time were killed for aiding and abetting activities that allowed or encouraged freedom or rights for black people. It's possible, but I don't think many people "deserved" to be lynched during that time, but I could be wrong. I guess it depends on what some believe is deserving of such a punishment.

 

[RedneckReject]

Yeah, but Swiss law is full of holes.

I see what you did there.

 

[PistolBob]

Someone explain this to me....was she whining because of racial discrimination, discrimination because she's a woman, discrimination because she is overweight, or discrimination because she's kinda homely?

I don't get it.

 

[N8RV]

...please don't think I am condoning or downplaying blacks being hung ...

Que ... seriously, can we really let that one slide?

Speaking grammatically, perhaps a distinction should be made.

 

[indiucky]

Many of the whites who were lynched during that time were killed for aiding and abetting activities that allowed or encouraged freedom or rights for black people. It's possible, but I don't think many people "deserved" to be lynched during that time, but I could be wrong. I guess it depends on what some believe is deserving of such a punishment.

One example I was referring to happened in Scott County Indiana. He did get caught molesting a child (I heard this from the local historian) and was lynched..The town was ashamed afterwords and even though it happened roughly 70 years ago the local historian had a hard time finding many older people that were willing to talk about it. He said he heard roughly the same story from three different people so the reason for the lynching does seem correct. I know in New Albany the Reno Brothers gang were hauled out of the Floyd County Jail and lynched in the street (they were taken from Seymour because...Surprise! They thought they would be lynched in Seymour)...I don't know how many white folks were lynched for helping Blacks during the Civil Rights struggles but I do know that a large number of lynchings in the US happened regardless of any racial issues going on at that time...We seem to be a Nation that gets quick with the rope, especially in our early days. From what I understand in the case of the Reno Brothers is that a passenger train of citizens left Seymour for New Albany with the sole purpose of lynching the gang members. From letters from one of my ancestors it is my understanding the the authorities in New Albany knew they were coming and put up very little (if any) resistance to the mob. From what I could figure out reading between the lines is that everyone (including the Reno's) knew they were going to New Albany and that they would get lynched by a mob from Seymour and the authorities in New Albany knew the train was coming...

Like you I believe in courts and justice but the times were different then. This was right after the Civil War and Southern Indiana was affected by the War (Morgan's Raid, Southern Sympathies, true "brother agin brother" family feuds, espionage, etc...) in many ways that the rest of the State wasn't. The Reno Brothers did not fit in to our post war plans and had to go...The best way I can describe the gang is a cross between the Mafia and the James Gang that took in the worse elements of the North and the South and incorporated them into a gang that incorporated straight up robbing (like the James gang) along with intimidation and shakedowns of local business people and farmers. I am not condoning lynching of anyone but I do try to shed my 21st century sensibilities when studying thse topics, not to justify but to at least get a grasp of how this could happen and be so easily condoned by the local newspapers and politicians...


Here is a little but of that history about the Reno's short visit to New Albany..

New Albany Weird - The Reno Brothers Short Visit in 1868

A friend has inspired me to dig up and recount some of the weirdest history and people of New Albany. We’re an old river town after all, and we had characters aplenty coming and going as often as a train pulled in or a steamboat tied up. Some put roots down here and went to procreating, providing us with a healthy dose of distinctiveness that carries through to today.

So begin several posts in which New Albany’s strange and little-known history will be shared and discussed.


The Night the Reno Brothers Hung Out in New Albany


Think of the wild American West and it’s doubtful that New Albany, or even Indiana, would be in your thoughts. Train robberies and shootouts just don’t seem to fit. However, if you are familiar with the Reno Brothers Gang then you know that would be a mistake.


You can read about the Reno Gang at their Wikipedia page. They were troublemakers, and damn good at it. They relished swindling travelers in shady card games and swindling the U.S. government by enlisting in the Army during the Civil War under multiple names, collecting enlistment bounties and then bolting. These scoundrels (from the Seymour area) are also credited with the first three peacetime train robberies in the United States.


My focus will be on the Reno Gang members who visited New Albany. It was the last place they visited.


The Gang appears to have robbed one train too many. They’d taken $96,000 in cash and bonds from a train in May 1868 and soon after had attempted to sell some of the bonds in Syracuse, New York. The railroad company was alerted and arrests were made. Gang members Frank Reno and Charles Anderson were tracked down across the border, in Canada. Simeon and William Reno were arrested in Indiana shortly thereafter. All were brought to New Albany, which was known to have the sturdiest jail in the region. A photograph of the jail is below – it was located at the northeast corner of State and Spring (current location of the PNC Bank).

Previous law enforcement failures to stop the Reno Gang had given rise to some vigilante justice in and around the Seymour area. A group calling itself the “Southern Indiana Vigilance Committee” had had some success in tracking other gang members down. Lynching was the justice they dispensed.

Having four Reno Gang members in New Albany was a juicy target the Committee could not pass up. At 3:30 am, December 12, 1868, about 70 members of the Committee arrived by train from Seymour. This was a business trip and their business was hanging the Renos.


Upon arrival, the Committee stormed the jail and shot Sherriff Thomas Fullenlove (not fatally) in the shoulder and got the cell keys. They were in and out in twenty minutes. The engraving below depicts how they dispersed around the jail while the deed was done.

The Reno Gang was hanged from the jail catwalk, one at a time. Frank Reno was first. Charles Anderson last. The mob then made their way down to the train station at the base of State Street and headed off back to Seymour. No charges were ever filed.

After the hangings, this simply delicious proclamation was issued by the “Southern Indiana Vigilance Committee.” Click the link to read the entire thing.


Do not trifle with us, for if you do we will follow you to the bitter end and give you a short shrift and a hempen collar. As to this our action in the past will be a guarantee for our conduct in the future.


So there you have it. The first train robbers in the United States had their butts hanged right here in New Albany, at the current location of the bank where I do my business. It’s some damn strange history and enough to give me the shivers when I visit the bank.

More Reading:

Reno Brothers on Wikipedia

A Reno Brothers Blog

Blogging with Roger Bloom, The Reno Brothers

The Reno Brothers Gang and the Floyd County Jail

Images provided by the Floyd County Historical Society

All offered IMHO ofcourse,

Indiucky

 

[indiucky]

Que ... seriously, can we really let that one slide?

Speaking grammatically, perhaps a distinction should be made.

Okay. I just got that one...When I got it all that could come to mind was Madeline Kahn in Blazing Saddles.."It's twue..It's Twue..IT"S TWUE!!!"

 

[N8RV]

Okay. I just got that one...When I got it all that could come to mind was Madeline Kahn in Blazing Saddles.."It's twue..It's Twue..IT"S TWUE!!!"

LOL! Normally I wouldn't make light of the topic. Racism is ugly, no matter who is under fire. I don't know how many INGO members are African-Americans, but I can't help but think that Que must sometimes feel like a swan on a lake full of geese. Or me at Black Expo. Personally, I try to be colorblind as much as possible. I am much more impressed by the content of one's character than the color of one's skin. But ...

... it just sat there, begging for comment. I couldn't help myself.

 

[rhino]

Yeah, but Swiss law is full of holes.

What you did there? We saw it.