Waseca County, Minnesota - Chapter 48: Waseca County Horsbthief Detectives, 1905

This mutual protection organization is one of the oldest in the state, having been organized in 1864. In every sparsely settled farming community, horse stealing is almost a profession. The summer of 1862 revealed the fact that we had in our midst a gang of horsethieves. In the month of June, Orrin Pease, who had just settled in the town of St. Mary, had a pair of fine horses stolen. After considerable search by Sheriff Whipple and others, the horses were found in the possession of three men named Erno, Beatty, and a colored person called Anderson, all three of whom were convicted of larceny, but, pending an appeal to the supreme court, broke jail at Wilton and made their escape. The stealing of these horses, the escape of the thieves, and the expense attending their arrest and trial, created a strong feeling of indignation on the part of our people against thieves in general and against horsethieves in particular, and was the primary cause of the organization of the Waseca County Horsethief Detective Society that still exists. The names of the Pioneers who brought forth this organization are as follows: W. L. Wheeler, Eri G. Wood, Henry Watkins,

The minutes of the first few meetings will be of interest. The first, or preliminary, meeting was held at Wilton, in the court room, February 16, 1864. The minutes read as follows :

"A meeting of citizens of Waseca county was held at the court house this date for the purpose of organizing an anti-horsethief association. William Brisbane was called to the chair and E. A. Smith elected secretary. Motion was made and carried that the chair appoint a committee of three to draft and present a constitution. The chair appointed as such committee D. L. Whipple, B. A. Lowell, and E. B. Stearns. The committee presented a constitution which, after slight amendments, was adopted and reads as found on pages 1, 2, 3, and 4 of this (record) book. On motion a temporary organization was effected by electing Dr. M. S. Gove president, Wm. Brisbane vice-president, and B. A. Smith secretary. The following named persons then each paid one dollar to the secretary and signed the constitution, thus becoming members of the association." (Then follow the names hereinbefore given, and the record continues:)

"On motion, the society proceeded to ballot for four temporary riders, which resulted in the election of Henry Watkins, D. L. Whipple, W. L. Wheeler, and E. G. Wood. The riders-elect then chose D. L. Whipple captain. The following persons were elected viva voce as a vigilance committee, viz.: B. A. Lowell, .1. K. Myers, A. G. Sutlief, and Joseph Bird.

Evidently several men that did not have a dollar with them that day took an active part in organizing the soeii't.v. But they paid in their dollar at the next meeting. Portions of the constiution, as adopted, are given, as follows :

"We, the citizens of Waseca county, to secure our property against thieves and marauders, do form ourselves into a company to be known as the 'Waseca County Horsethief Detectives,' and will be subject to the following rules and regulations:

"Art. 1. Any resident of Waseca county, being recommended by five of his townsmen that are members of this society, may be admitted to membership by a vote of the company upon signing this constitution and paying into the treasury one dollar." (At the next meeting this was amended to read "two dollars.")

"Art. 2. The officers of this association shall be a president, a vicepresident, and a secretary, who shall be ex-offlcio treasurer. These officers shall be elected annually on the Tuesday following the third Monday in February, at Wilton." (This was afterwards changed to Waseca.)

"Art. 0. There shall be twelve riders elected from among the members of this company, who shall be elected for the Uvm of one year, or until others are elected. * * *

"Art. 7. One of the riders shall be elected captain. He shall be the leader of the riders and shall control and direct all their operations."

There were twenty-one articles of the constitution as originally adopted, and within the year three others were added, making twenty -four in all.

At the adjourned meeting, held February 27, 1864, eleven more members joined. The temporary organization and officers were made permanent, and the following additional riders were elected: W. H. Yoimg, Sen., L. S. Wood, E. Plummer, J. K. ]\Iyers, Jos. Bird, Peter Vandyke, Wm. Roddle, Sen., and Austin Vinton.

The meeting then adjourned until the third Saturday in March, 1864. At the March meeting John Anderson, L. F. Peterson, Chas. Johnson, Edw. Schmitt, and 0. Powell joined the association.

A meeting was held Nov. 27, 1864, for the election of a secretary in place of Mr; Smith, deceased. Dr. Gove presided, L. S. AVood served as secretary pro tem., and James E. Child was elected secretary to fill the vacancy. John G. Greening was elected a member at this meeting.

Evidently, from the records of the society up to the annual meeting in February, 1900, many persons had been elected, had paid their fees, and yet had neglected to sign the constitution. The membership was carried along in this loose condition until the annual meeting in February, 1900. At that meeting, upon motion of IMr. Adam Bishman, it was ordered that all the names of the members of the association, residing in the county and in good standing, be published in the Waseca County Herald as a part of the report of the meeting. In accordance with this motion, the secretary, Mr. E. P. Latham, gave a list of the members of the Waseca County Horsethief Detective Society, in good standing and residing in said county, Feb. 17, 1900:

During the forty-one years of the life of the organization only one horse has been stolen from any member of the organization and not recovered - and even in that case it was a question with some Avhether or not the horse was the property of one of the members. The thieves probably thought it was not. In that case the most strenuous efforts were made to find the property and the thief or thieves.

"While the horse then stolen was never recovered, it is a wellknown fact that at least two families then stopping in this vicinity foiind it convenient to move out of the county a short time afterwards on account of the close watch put upon all their movements. It is believed that the gang has not tried to operate in this county since.