Kane County, Illinois - Chapter 12: Banditti, 1908

The history of northern Illinois in pioneer days is not unlike that of other sections of our country. The lawless element always seeks the frontier, as thev are generally freer from detection and are brought to justice with greater ditficulty than in older settlements. In this section of the countrv- in the later '30s and early '40s, all through this state and eastern Iowa were organized bands of thieves. Some of these were desperate men, who were driven from their homes in the east because of crimes committed. As there was but little property in those early days and horses were extremely valuable as a means of travel, and in fact w-ere the only means of communication, the desperadoes' work was largely horse stealing. It is due largely to the men of Kane. DeKalb, Ogle and Winnebago counties that this rascalit}' was brought to a close east of the Alississippi valley. The story has been frequently told and it is with considerable care and after personal investigation that we state the facts that appear below. Great injustice has been done in the different accounts of the stories of the banditti, which has been a severe infliction to those who survive and were entirely innocent of the crimes committed. Mob law is never justifiable and in many cases had the law taken its course and the men been put on trial it is claimed their innocence could have easily been established. As it is, even the excitement of that time, when prairie pirates were thirsting for blood, no real proof was ever established against the men so hastily and cruelly executed at \\'ashington's Grove June 29, 1S41. In Brodie's Grove, which is west of the present township of Malta, was a rendezvous for the banditti. Air. Benjamin \\'orden. one of the early pioneers of DeKalb county, discovered what was known as the "sink hole" while in search of some cattle. Into this the horses were taken and secured during the day and at night were removed to stations further north, the horse thieves finding an excellent market for their stolen property in the lumber districts of Wisconsin. The line of tra\el was usually from Brodie"s Grove to Gleason's at Genoa. Henpeck, now Old Hampshire, in Kane county, thence north through McHenry county into \\'isconsin. It was sometimes very difficult to detect the parties who were in sympathy with the banditti. In almost every instance when they were brought to trial they had representatives who were on the jury and conviction seemed almost impossible. After several trials, with the thefts of horses increasing, the citizens who were law-abiding organized themselves into what is known as the Regulators or Lvnching Clubs.

yh. Burton C. Cook, state's attorney 1846-52. wrote as follows: "During the term of Mr. Fridley as prosecuting attorney, and for a part of my term, the northwestern part of the state was infested by a most dangerous and wicked association of outlaws, thieves and counterfeiters, such as are often found upon the frontiers of civilization, having grips, signs and passwords whereljy they could identify each other, and bound by oaths to protect each other. They were the enemies of society, unscrupulous and brutal. The citizens of DeKalb and Ogle counties organized bands of regulators to protect themselves and their property. Mr. Campbell, the captain of the regulators, was shot at his own house at White Oak Grove, and then the citizens followed, capturefl and shot some of the more notorious of the gang and it was finally broken up in this section. The able and efficient prosecution by my friend. Mr. Fridley. was greatly appreciated by the bar and by the citizens generally at the time and was greatly instrumental in freeing the country from the presence of the evil-doers. The indignation excited by the torturing to death of Colonel Davenport at Rock Island caused such persistent and hot pursuit of the rascals, and the execution of so many of them, that the gang was wholly suppressed.

"The main trouble with these desperate outlaws was in the region Iving along the Rock river and its tributaries, which was settled by a much less desirable class than that which for the most part peopled the Fox River valley. But the records show that even in Kane county there was more or less difficulty with them. Their principal acts of outlawry consisted of horse stealing and they were adepts at the business. At the April ( 1848) term of the circuit court two men. Ames and Holmes, were convicted of stealing a span of horses from William Lance, of Blackberry, and sentenced to eight years" imprisonment in the penitentiary at Alton, whither they were taken by Sheriff Spaulding. The county commissioners, in September of the same year, passed an order offering a reward, not exceeding $50. for the apprehension and conviction of each person found guilty of stealing a horse, mare or mule, within the limits of Kane countv."