Indiana White Caps
Encyclopedia
White caps was a general term used to refer to several groups operating primarily in southern Indiana
in the late 19th century. They became common in the state following the American Civil War
and lasted until the turn of the century. They lynched numerous people; in all recorded cases, the victims were either criminals or suspected criminals. Several members of the Reno Gang
were lynched in 1868, causing an international incident
. Some of the members had been extradited to the United States from Canada
and were supposed to be under federal protection. Lynchings continued against other criminals, but when two possibly innocent men were killed in Corydon
in 1888, Indiana responded by cracking down on the white cap vigilante groups beginning in the administration of Isaac P. Gray
.
Governor of Indiana
James A. Mount
belonged to one of the white cap groups, and reversed state policy of trying to stop the groups. His successor, Winfield T. Durbin
resumed the policy in 1900, two years after the Indiana General Assembly
passed a strong anti-lynching law. When a lynching occurred in Vincennes
in 1902 Durbin removed several law enforcement personnel from their position, to show that he expected locals to cooperate in stopping the lynching. His plan worked, and when a lynching was threatened in the following year local police notified Durbin who called out the state militia to guard the prison. When the white cap groups attacked the prison, the militia opened fire killing one and wounding at least eleven.
The show of force effectively brought an end to vigilante lynching in Indiana. Only two recorded lynchings have occurred since then, the 1930 murders of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith. Lynching in Indiana was not explicitly racial, but tended to occur against anyone suspected of murder. Between 1860 and 1910, at least 68 people were lynched, twenty were African-Americans and forty-eight were whites.
, southern Indiana experienced several high profile criminal events. The Reno Gang
began to terrorize the region in the immediate years after the war, becoming the first gang in the nation to begin robbing trains. They sacked rural towns, murdered and robbed travelers, and carried out numerous acts of indiscriminate violence against people. The state police were unable to bring the group under control, but the Pinkerton Agency was hired by one of the robbed train companies to pursue and capture the group. It took a year for the Pinkertons to capture the gang leaders and the towns people had already grown wary of the gang and had formed the “Jackson County Committee of Vigilance” in 1868, one of the first of the white cap groups in Indiana. Most likely made of up Civil War veterans, they attacked the jail where the men were held and lynched three of them. Four more gang members were captured in Canada and were extradited to the United States. The same group of hooded men traveled by night, marching in formation as they attacked the New Albany
jail where the prisoners were held, wounding the county sheriff, and lynching the men.
Their murders caused an international incident with Great Britain
, who demanded to know why they had not been adequately protected and threatened to cancel their extradition treaty with the United States. Given the severity of the gang’s crimes, and the near certainty they would have suffered the same fate after a trial, the state government did not take any action against the white cap group.
and Crawford
Counties. Many of the groups started as enforcers of morality. They were known to target alcoholics, people believed to be idle, and men who did not provide for their families. Such people were often abducted and flogged.
They soon began to target women who were not believed to be adequately caring for their home and children, children who were truant from school, and people who shirked from civic duty like working on road projects. By the late 1870s, the groups were beginning to target criminals for punishment, and continued to carry out sporadic lynchings.
sparked an outcry for something to be done about the vigilantes. Two men suspected of attempted murder were being held in the county jail when a group of men dragged them from their cells and hung them from a nearby bridge. The guilt of the men was not widely accepted, and many believed they had been killed unfairly and deserved a trial.
In 1889, Governor of Indiana
Isaac P. Gray
was the first to begin attempting to put an end to the white cap’s activities. He did so primarily by offering increased police support to local officials in southern Indiana. The measure proved ineffective though, because many of the local sheriffs were themselves members of the organizations and turned a blind eye to the activity. Governor Alvin Hovey, an American Civil War
general who had campaigned in part on the white cap problem, was the next governor to combat them. He continued his predecessor’s attempt to have local law enforcement play a role in stopping the white caps, but ratcheted up the rhetoric by making threats to remove local law enforcement from office and declare martial law in towns where lynchings occurred. His threats were somewhat successful, and only two lynchings occurred during his term.
Governor Claude Matthews
took another step in dealing with the groups, primarily by attempting to identify and prosecute leaders of the groups. His attempts were mostly unsuccessful in capturing anyone of merit, but did add another level of suppression to the groups. When James A. Mount
came to office though, he stopped most of the anti-white cap policies. He himself had been a member of one such organization. During his term the groups became increasingly active, leading to numerous incidents of vigilante justice and a rise in lynchings. The Indiana General Assembly
attempted to force the governor to action by passing a law in 1898 that required local sheriffs to petition the governor for support in the event of a threatened lynching. They also authorized the governor to call out the militia to protect prisoners, and granted him the power to remove local officials from office if they did not notify him of a threatened act of violence. Despite the law, Mount took not action against the groups during his term.
Winfield T. Durbin
succeeded Mount in 1900 and began a vigorous campaign to put an end to the white caps. In 1902 he invoked new anti-lynching the law after a lynching in Vincennes
. He removed from office numerous law enforcement officials and put the militia on patrol, and launched a host of investigations into local government.
In 1903, a police officer was murdered in Evansville. The sheriff, fearing the same fate as the sheriff in nearby Vincennes, sent word to the governor requesting assistance in protecting the suspect in custody. Durbin quickly dispatched a company of militia to protect the jailhouse from any potential danger. A mob of hooded white caps soon surrounded the jailhouse and the militia and began taunting them. After several hours, the crowd began to become increasingly hostile, demanding that the militia let them past to get at the suspect. Someone in the crowd fired a shot at the soldiers, who responded by opening fire on the crowd. The crowd quickly fled away and the militia wounded eleven and killed one. The show of force began the end of the white caps activity in the state.
began to rise in the following decade, drawing many former white caps into their numbers.
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
in the late 19th century. They became common in the state following the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and lasted until the turn of the century. They lynched numerous people; in all recorded cases, the victims were either criminals or suspected criminals. Several members of the Reno Gang
Reno Gang
The Reno Brothers Gang, also known as the Reno Gang and The Jackson Thieves, were a group of criminals that operated in the Midwestern United States during and just after the American Civil War. Though short-lived, they carried out the first three peacetime train robberies in U.S. history...
were lynched in 1868, causing an international incident
International incident
An international incident is a seemingly relatively small or limited action or clash that results in a wider dispute between two or more nation-states...
. Some of the members had been extradited to the United States from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and were supposed to be under federal protection. Lynchings continued against other criminals, but when two possibly innocent men were killed in Corydon
Corydon, Indiana
Corydon is a town in Harrison Township, Harrison County, Indiana, United States, founded in 1808, and is known as Indiana's First State Capital. After Vincennes, Corydon was the second capital of the Indiana Territory from May 1, 1813, until December 11, 1816. After statehood, the town was the...
in 1888, Indiana responded by cracking down on the white cap vigilante groups beginning in the administration of Isaac P. Gray
Isaac P. Gray
Isaac Pusey Gray was the 18th and 20th Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1880 to 1881 and from 1885 to 1889. Originally a Republican, he oversaw the forceful passage of the post-American Civil War constitutional amendments whilst he was a member of the Indiana Senate...
.
Governor of Indiana
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
James A. Mount
James A. Mount
James Atwell Mount was the governor of Indiana from 1897 to 1901. His term coincided with the economic recovery following the Panic of 1893, and focused primarily on industrial regulations and advancement of agriculture...
belonged to one of the white cap groups, and reversed state policy of trying to stop the groups. His successor, Winfield T. Durbin
Winfield T. Durbin
Winfield Taylor Durbin was the 25th Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1901 to 1905. His term focused on progressive legislation and suppression of white cap vigilante organizations operating in the southern part of the state...
resumed the policy in 1900, two years after the Indiana General Assembly
Indiana General Assembly
The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the state of Indiana. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Indiana Senate...
passed a strong anti-lynching law. When a lynching occurred in Vincennes
Vincennes, Indiana
Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 18,701 at the 2000 census...
in 1902 Durbin removed several law enforcement personnel from their position, to show that he expected locals to cooperate in stopping the lynching. His plan worked, and when a lynching was threatened in the following year local police notified Durbin who called out the state militia to guard the prison. When the white cap groups attacked the prison, the militia opened fire killing one and wounding at least eleven.
The show of force effectively brought an end to vigilante lynching in Indiana. Only two recorded lynchings have occurred since then, the 1930 murders of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith. Lynching in Indiana was not explicitly racial, but tended to occur against anyone suspected of murder. Between 1860 and 1910, at least 68 people were lynched, twenty were African-Americans and forty-eight were whites.
Reno Gang
In the years following the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, southern Indiana experienced several high profile criminal events. The Reno Gang
Reno Gang
The Reno Brothers Gang, also known as the Reno Gang and The Jackson Thieves, were a group of criminals that operated in the Midwestern United States during and just after the American Civil War. Though short-lived, they carried out the first three peacetime train robberies in U.S. history...
began to terrorize the region in the immediate years after the war, becoming the first gang in the nation to begin robbing trains. They sacked rural towns, murdered and robbed travelers, and carried out numerous acts of indiscriminate violence against people. The state police were unable to bring the group under control, but the Pinkerton Agency was hired by one of the robbed train companies to pursue and capture the group. It took a year for the Pinkertons to capture the gang leaders and the towns people had already grown wary of the gang and had formed the “Jackson County Committee of Vigilance” in 1868, one of the first of the white cap groups in Indiana. Most likely made of up Civil War veterans, they attacked the jail where the men were held and lynched three of them. Four more gang members were captured in Canada and were extradited to the United States. The same group of hooded men traveled by night, marching in formation as they attacked the New Albany
New Albany, Indiana
New Albany is a city in Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River opposite Louisville, Kentucky. In 1900, 20,628 people lived in New Albany; in 1910, 20,629; in 1920, 22,992; and in 1940, 25,414. The population was 36,372 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of...
jail where the prisoners were held, wounding the county sheriff, and lynching the men.
Their murders caused an international incident with Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, who demanded to know why they had not been adequately protected and threatened to cancel their extradition treaty with the United States. Given the severity of the gang’s crimes, and the near certainty they would have suffered the same fate after a trial, the state government did not take any action against the white cap group.
Moral police
White caps groups began to spring up across the state over the next decade. By the mid 1870s, there were numerous such groups like the State Horse Thief Detective Association, which carried out vigilante justice against horse thieves. The groups operated in secret, and had an element of masonic influence in their organization. The groups were most prevalent in the southern part of Indiana, and especially so in HarrisonHarrison County, Indiana
Harrison County is a county located in the far southern part of the U.S. state of Indiana along the Ohio River. It is divided into twelve townships, and the county seat is Corydon, the former capital of Indiana. The county is part of the larger Louisville/Jefferson County, KY–IN Metropolitan...
and Crawford
Crawford County, Indiana
Crawford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 10,713. The county seat is English.-Geography:...
Counties. Many of the groups started as enforcers of morality. They were known to target alcoholics, people believed to be idle, and men who did not provide for their families. Such people were often abducted and flogged.
They soon began to target women who were not believed to be adequately caring for their home and children, children who were truant from school, and people who shirked from civic duty like working on road projects. By the late 1870s, the groups were beginning to target criminals for punishment, and continued to carry out sporadic lynchings.
Early measures
The 1889 lynching of Tennyson and Devin in CorydonCorydon, Indiana
Corydon is a town in Harrison Township, Harrison County, Indiana, United States, founded in 1808, and is known as Indiana's First State Capital. After Vincennes, Corydon was the second capital of the Indiana Territory from May 1, 1813, until December 11, 1816. After statehood, the town was the...
sparked an outcry for something to be done about the vigilantes. Two men suspected of attempted murder were being held in the county jail when a group of men dragged them from their cells and hung them from a nearby bridge. The guilt of the men was not widely accepted, and many believed they had been killed unfairly and deserved a trial.
In 1889, Governor of Indiana
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
Isaac P. Gray
Isaac P. Gray
Isaac Pusey Gray was the 18th and 20th Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1880 to 1881 and from 1885 to 1889. Originally a Republican, he oversaw the forceful passage of the post-American Civil War constitutional amendments whilst he was a member of the Indiana Senate...
was the first to begin attempting to put an end to the white cap’s activities. He did so primarily by offering increased police support to local officials in southern Indiana. The measure proved ineffective though, because many of the local sheriffs were themselves members of the organizations and turned a blind eye to the activity. Governor Alvin Hovey, an American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
general who had campaigned in part on the white cap problem, was the next governor to combat them. He continued his predecessor’s attempt to have local law enforcement play a role in stopping the white caps, but ratcheted up the rhetoric by making threats to remove local law enforcement from office and declare martial law in towns where lynchings occurred. His threats were somewhat successful, and only two lynchings occurred during his term.
Governor Claude Matthews
Claude Matthews
Claude Matthews was the 23rd Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1893 to 1897. A farmer, he was nominated to prevent the loss of voters to the Populist Party. The Panic of 1893 occurred just before he took office, leading to severe economic problems during his term...
took another step in dealing with the groups, primarily by attempting to identify and prosecute leaders of the groups. His attempts were mostly unsuccessful in capturing anyone of merit, but did add another level of suppression to the groups. When James A. Mount
James A. Mount
James Atwell Mount was the governor of Indiana from 1897 to 1901. His term coincided with the economic recovery following the Panic of 1893, and focused primarily on industrial regulations and advancement of agriculture...
came to office though, he stopped most of the anti-white cap policies. He himself had been a member of one such organization. During his term the groups became increasingly active, leading to numerous incidents of vigilante justice and a rise in lynchings. The Indiana General Assembly
Indiana General Assembly
The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the state of Indiana. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Indiana Senate...
attempted to force the governor to action by passing a law in 1898 that required local sheriffs to petition the governor for support in the event of a threatened lynching. They also authorized the governor to call out the militia to protect prisoners, and granted him the power to remove local officials from office if they did not notify him of a threatened act of violence. Despite the law, Mount took not action against the groups during his term.
Confrontation
Winfield T. Durbin
Winfield Taylor Durbin was the 25th Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1901 to 1905. His term focused on progressive legislation and suppression of white cap vigilante organizations operating in the southern part of the state...
succeeded Mount in 1900 and began a vigorous campaign to put an end to the white caps. In 1902 he invoked new anti-lynching the law after a lynching in Vincennes
Vincennes, Indiana
Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 18,701 at the 2000 census...
. He removed from office numerous law enforcement officials and put the militia on patrol, and launched a host of investigations into local government.
In 1903, a police officer was murdered in Evansville. The sheriff, fearing the same fate as the sheriff in nearby Vincennes, sent word to the governor requesting assistance in protecting the suspect in custody. Durbin quickly dispatched a company of militia to protect the jailhouse from any potential danger. A mob of hooded white caps soon surrounded the jailhouse and the militia and began taunting them. After several hours, the crowd began to become increasingly hostile, demanding that the militia let them past to get at the suspect. Someone in the crowd fired a shot at the soldiers, who responded by opening fire on the crowd. The crowd quickly fled away and the militia wounded eleven and killed one. The show of force began the end of the white caps activity in the state.
Aftermath
No more lynchings would occur in Indiana for more another thirty years until the deaths of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in 1930. Between 1865 and 1905, at least sixty-eight people had been lynched by the white caps. In all cases, the victims had been suspected criminals, almost all of which were in state custody when they were killed. Forty-eight of the victims were whites, while twenty were African-Americans. Although the white cap ended their lynching and more severe forms of vigilante justice, the Indiana branch of the Ku Klux KlanIndiana Klan
The Indiana Klan was a branch of the Ku Klux Klan, a secret society in the United States that practiced racism and terrorism against minority ethnic and religious groups. The Indiana Klan rose to prominence beginning in the years after World War I when rising levels of eastern and southern European...
began to rise in the following decade, drawing many former white caps into their numbers.