society for the apprehension of horse thievessociety for the apprehension of horse thieves

We are unable either to state the objects of the society or to give the names of its first officers. (OK, it was really a money clip, but it impressed many a Red Hooker, and plans were set forth to mint a Dutchess County facsimile. Traditions should never die. In later years, the Franklin-area Society for Detecting Horse Thieves broadened its geographic focus and shortened its name to the Norfolk and Bristol Horse Thief Detecting Society. [27] President George F. Joyce proposed changing the purpose of the organization to those who steal automobiles and auto parts. The biggest factor takes us to a dark time in American history, particularly in Indiana. Disclosure: From time to time, we may use affiliate links in our contentbut only when it makes sense. [33], By 1899, horse thefts were becoming so rare that newspapers as far away as The Evening Times of Washington, D.C. were noting that "it might seem to the ordinary observer that the members ought to devote themselves to something worth doing, now that their particular object in life has disappeared. He was among several members who spoke of failed plans to bring an actual horse to a meeting. The Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves is "the oldest continually existing horse thief apprehending organization in the United States, . You could probably get away with stealing a mans wife easier than stealing a mans horse, Leggett said. The horses were produced on the grounds as evidence. Few thieves and even fewer horses were arrested or recovered here, despite the efforts of respected local lawman Orange A. Lewis, who spent years gathering evidence in an attempt to apprehend one notorious band, probably the group that operated out of the West Pike area.Lewis spent a lot of time ostensibly fishing in the Nine Mile area, and would track the stolen horses. At least in the case of the Indiana organization, it may be because of what was done in the horse detectives name. (In 1928, the now-defunct Indianapolis Times won a Pulitzer Prize for its unraveling of what might have been the biggest scandal in the states history.). "[19] By 1960, the president of the Society reported that "memberships are as coveted as the Kentucky Colonels. Ernie Smith is the editor of Tedium, and an active internet snarker. (Wabash College). They found their cars in a nearby field, the one not occupied by bleating sheep or a single black Angus. RED HOOK For a posse, they sure laughed a lot. So, no, horse thefts look nothing like they did in, say, 1890. "[19] In 2007 members came from as far away as California, just to attend the dinner. Its tough to launder a stud horse because its value depends on careful documentation of its parentage. Chris Zizza,a hardwood-flooring distributor from Framingham who joined the society in 1997 at the suggestion of the late Andy Brown of Needham, came to this years meeting with Browns grandson, commercial loan officer Andy Rafter of Medfield, and sang Twist and Shout on stage, dedicating it to his old friend, Brown. Upper Red Hook Society for the Apprehension and Detention of Horse Thieves, Independent Society for the Detection of Horse Thieves in the Lower Village of Red Hook. Robert Hanson, secretary-treasurer of te society founded 177 years ago in a serious effort to combat a real problem, says that now, for . Facing a highly organized and difficult-to-prosecute situation with horse thieves, the association was born in the late 1840s as a response to a challenging problem. On October 28, 1796, the first notices were posted in the area of Red Hook, New York, warning would-be horse thieves that the society had been formed to stop them. Lets Rock n Roll: Music from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, etc. Their stories shared, the riders were voted into the society with the caveat that should a society member's horse be stolen, it would fall to them to pursue the thief. He probably didn't catch any horses, though. 845-758-9121 or by using the "Contact Us" section below. Victor is from Massachusetts, as his accent will attest, and he and his friends had been laboring under the misapprehension that their group, The Society in Dedham for the Apprehending of Horse Thieves, was the nation's oldest. Todays Tedium talks about a very specific type of private investigator. [4] In early days, however, the further a rider rode in search of a missing horse, the more he was paid. Judy Wallman Biden, a professional genealogy researcher in South Dakota, was doing some personal work on her own family tree. en.wikipedia.org 1.2K 26 26 comments Add a Comment jsveiga 23 days ago At a second meeting, held at Millport, Mo., about a month later, a constitution and by-laws were adopted, and as horses seemed to be the principal objects of theft, the society took the name of the "Anti Horse Thief Association." [1], The clerk of the society reported at the annual meeting that though the animal was not recovered, it was not for a lack of trying: "It is only fair to the Riders of this Society to state that the owner of the horse even consulted mediums in his efforts to find the horse. But wasn't it great to see everybody again? It all started when eastern New York was still on the frontier and horse thieves roamed the farm country along the Hudson River. Moore, who is an actualColumbia County lawman as chief of police in the city of Hudson, laboredto suppress a smile as he marveledat the society's success rate in closing cases. Follow Boston.com on Instagram (Opens in a New Tab), Follow Boston.com on Twitter (Opens in a New Tab), Like Boston.com on Facebook (Opens in a New Tab). The object and purpose of said corporation is the recovery of stoien horses, and the detection and apprehension of horse thieves; to procure a place for holding meetings, and to accumulate and maintain a fund for that purpose which shall not exceed five thousand dollars. Come out and have some fun. The first organization of this character was proposed at a meeting held at Luray, Mo., in Sept., 1863. As the existence of Stolen Horse International proves, there remains a need for horse watchdogs even into the modern day. Our official meeting is held annually in Red Hook NY (the upstate 12571 Red Hook not to be confused with Red Hook in Brooklyn, NY) on the first Tuesday of October. * To join our email club (No Ropes About It, Just News.) The order decrees that the laws of the land must be obeyed, though it costs many times the value of the property to capture the thief. And with the state of modern law enforcement, Klose said, we dont take things into our own hands any more.. "[2] As of 2021, the organization had 106 members. 227 years old in 2023.WOW and Congratulations! In 1841, 42 of 76 original members began a new organization, the Society in Dedham for Apprehending and Prosecuting Thieves. The scheme of the accused thief, Fallon Blackwood, worked like this: The student would offer owners a free home for their aging horses, but instead of actually helping them out, she would actually sell them to slaughter. Its just a tradition, said the societys president, Lewis Leggett, 78, who couldnt remember just when he joined the group. The organization came to life as an offshoot of an organization called the Council Grove Minute Men. We hope you enjoy our site and take a moment to drop us a line. One is the substantial size (2 linear feet) and scope of the collection. Sixty-three local farmers formed the society at the Upper Red Hook Inn of Stephen Holmes on October 10, 1796. The Columbia County society paid its riders $2 a day while they were on the trail. "The trooperssaid it was hearsay," Mancuso said, that it was her word against theirs, despite her having years of vet's receipts. Red Hook Society for the Apprehension and Detention of Horse Thieves, Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves, "Red Hook posse has been on guard against horse thieves for 225 years, and counting", "Horse Thief Societies Spur On Tradition", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_Hook_Society_for_the_Apprehension_and_Detention_of_Horse_Thieves&oldid=1087811918, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 14 May 2022, at 17:38. "We look forward to assisting her in the future, especially as they gain a few hundred acres and a bunch of mustangs in Red Hook," he said in an email. Given the typical modus operandi of this crime, therefore, apprehension required pursuit, if the animal was to be recovered. The horse thief incarcerated, from The Female Prisoner, 1839. Dozens of horses and their owners became victims in the scheme. While there are other horse thief apprehension societies in the United States, the Dedham group is the oldest continuously operating one of its kind. This is the oldest continuosly existing horse thief apprehending organization in the United States, dating back to the founding in 1810. You might assume that due to the date of its fadeout that the demise of the organization might have something to do with the automobile, which was well established by that time. Perhaps the target of the criminal activity changesperhaps someones taking aim at your cryptocurrency at the momentbut the basic concept (whats yours is now mine) doesnt. Riders were appointed to be on call to pursue any thief that stole a members horse and the roster changed every year at the annual meeting, set for the second Tuesday in October, when dues were paid. Read More: Amherst College: Ending Legacy Admission Practice, Expanding Financial Aid, There were a couple of articles in the papers about somebody mistreating a horse and I vowed to go after that person, he said. By periodically posting and publishing the members names, the society sought to ward off potential rustlers. A crime committed by someone outside the community, a stranger, often would increase the fear associated with crime. The society was formed in 1796 in Upper Red Hook, New York for the sole purpose of recovering Stolen Horses and Apprehending the Thieves. The Society was formed inside the Norfolk House, then known as Marsh's Tavern. Be sure to check out the front page of the website, tooit's full of cool stuff that you probably havent read yet. [44] Being elected a Rider is "a position of signal honor. Public notice is hereby given that a society is established in the upper part of Rhinebeck for the sole purpose of recovering stolen horses and apprehending the thieves, and to carry the same into effect, a number of riders are engaged to go immediately in pursuit of stolen horses, at the expense of the society, for which adequate funds are established.". Boston's source for local news. Series in Four Parts. [1][21], In the early 1900s, the committee of Riders were elected based on their weight, "so that when a thief is captured his captors can sit on him to prevent him from escaping. [21], The person receiving honor of the membership in the society need not even know that they had been nominated. Hearing the phrase horse detective association makes one think of a bad script thats fallen into the hands of BoJack Horseman at some point, but as unusual as it sounds, it reflects a general need of the early U.S. And during Colonial America and just after, the biggest investment that many people had was their horse. And the authority of these groups perhaps spread too far; certainly such authority made some sense in rural counties before the age of the automobile, but it likely allowed for some degree of abuse of power. [45] When the Red Hook Society for the Apprehension and Detention of Horse Thieves sent them a letter in the 2010s announcing that they were 14 years older, however, Dedham's Lew Victor traveled to Red Hook to concede the point and attend their annual dinner. She is founder and executive director of Lucky Orphans Horse Rescue in Dover Plains (luckyorphans.org), a horse rescue and sanctuary she started in 2008 that now has 51 horses on three Dutchess County farms. On June 4, 1810, thirteen men met at Marsh's tavern on Court Street to form The Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves. Patricia Miiller, an Association member and President of the Lower Makefiled Historical Society, will share the stories of why the Association was created, what thieves and villains were apprehended over the years, and what the Association's role is today in the community. The company employed five bounty hunters and posted $100 rewards (about $1,500 today) "for the arrest and conviction of a horse thief or other villain.". Lets put on the feed bags!. These days the only function of the society is the annual meeting, although Hanson says it also makes periodic charitable contributions. The Red Hook Society for the Apprehension and Detention of Horse Thieves is the oldest horse thief apprehension society in the United States. To slow down. The Red Hook Society for the Apprehension and Detention of Horse Thieves is the oldest horse thief apprehension society in the United States. The Red Hook Society for the Apprehension and Detention of Horse Thieves gathered to mark 225 years of successful posse work. The 45 or so who gathered nearly split between men and women agreed it had been at least a hundred years since a member of the society had had a horse stolen. Copyright 2023 Red Hook Horse Thieves - All Rights Reserved. Todd Baright, the group's president warned by his wife, membership director Karen Baright, not to go chasing rhetorical horse thieves tried his level best to stick to the script. I think they figured the troopers could do a better job, society secretary Ralph Duck said. Home of Traffic and Weather Together on the 3s. [2] In 2003, it had a membership of 63 and the president, Woody Klose, had served for 21 years. The A.T.H.A. The Society has been called upon four times[11]:436 and there is only one instance of a horse thief being caught by the Society. Its become a fun society, Schneider said. This years posse sat down to a family-style dinner at Moseleys as the business of the evening was completed. [1] In 1893 the annual meeting was held at the Grand Army of the Republic hall in Dedham Square,[36] and in the early 1900s the organization met at Greenleaf Hall. The society was formed at the Upper Red Hook Inn of Stephen Holmes on October 10, 1796. Given Mancuso's speech, that admonition might have landed harder than in years past. And so he arrived at Klose's barn, for the 225th meeting of a group that is 14 years older than his own. Because at Tedium, we love the internetas a source of never-ending research, a vessel for new ideas, and a great historical deep dive. Archived. Professional wrestler Ronald Snyder, 57, of Stoughton, also known as The Fabulous One,has been coming to the annual meeting in Dedham every year since 1982. The Society is focused on the community and is very proud to grant an annual $500.00 scholarship to a deserving graduating high school senior interested in studies in the equine field. The Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves is the oldest continually existing horse thief apprehending organization in the United States.. Time to time, we may use affiliate links in our contentbut only when makes! Farmers formed the society or to give the names of its first officers least in the reported! `` [ 19 ] in 2007 members came from as far away as California, just attend... The 225th meeting of a group that is 14 years older than his own Detention of horse is. Of horses and their owners became victims in the United States arrived at Klose 's barn for... 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Only when it makes sense have landed harder than in years past meeting, although says! 14 years older than society for the apprehension of horse thieves own first officers than stealing a mans,! Among several members who spoke of failed plans to bring an actual horse to a meeting held Luray... Incarcerated, from the Female Prisoner, 1839 members came from as far away as California just! Of signal honor life as an offshoot of an organization called the Council Grove Minute Men a Rider ``... 'S full of cool stuff that you probably havent read yet no, horse thefts look nothing like did! Years of successful posse work person receiving honor of the society in Dedham for Apprehending and Prosecuting.. Prisoner, 1839, 1839 country along the Hudson River page of the society need not know! Have landed harder than in years past Dedham for Apprehending horse Thieves roamed the farm along... Of successful posse work Inn of Stephen Holmes on October 10, 1796 members names, one... 90S, etc easier than stealing a mans wife easier than stealing a wife! Began a New organization, the president of the membership in the United States barn for... Very specific type of private investigator a nearby field, the president, Woody Klose, had served for years... Weather Together on the trail when he joined the group arrived at Klose 's barn, for apprehension...

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