Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 December 1868 — The Hanging of ths Benos. [ARTICLE]

The Hanging of ths Benos.

On the night of the 11th inst., stv-enty-live or a hundred men in dis- - guise, armed and observing the discipline of well drilled troops, left Seymour on a special train and-came to New Albany. Here, posting their men to prevent surprise or interfer,j encc, tjiey proceeded to the Floyd ' county juil, surprised the Sheriff and ■ officers on duty, captured the keys ,of the cells in which 'Frank Reno, ■ Simeon Rvxo, William Reno and i <’hahi.es Anuehs >n were confined, on a charge of complicity with the extensive express robberies in the vicinity of Seymour in the early part of last'sununcr, and led them out and hung them to tjie iron railing or posts supporting the waik around tho outside of tile cells. The victims ~WjbSß placed on chairs which were removed from under them after the ropes hud been adjusted about their necks. After the “Regulators,” us they are caliid, were satisfied their "errand was accomplished, they called hi their pickets, wen( back to the ears an-1 returned to Seymour. Who the men were, or who their i leader was, has not yet transpired. Tlie whole transaction was done so quietly anil so successfully that there can be no doubt that the plan and its details were the result of determinate counsel. »No outrages were perpetrated upon property or person except what was.absoiutely necessary for the success of their object—the hanging of tiie desperadoes.. Nobody who loves law and order can do less than deprecate the ncces- ; sities which culminate in such awful tragedies. That al times these sum- , mary proceedings draw about them an air of necessity and are salutary in their results, no one who has knowledge of the days of “Vigilanct Committees” in California, or who lived in Jasper county in this State ten or twelve years ago, can reasonably deny. Without in the least justifying or palliating the course of the Seymour Regulators, it is a fact I that when villains become so rich i and powerful, courts so corrupt, or the State Executive so sentimental that justice is disregarded and the lives and property of the masses are rendered insecure and left to the caprices of such useless Ishmaels, that these awful volcanoes will break forth. The cheapest and most satisfactory method of treating disease is to" prevent it, and if we would be spared the sickening details of horrid lynching let our courts mete out the prescribed punishment for crimes and let our Governors cease granting pardons upon the representations of feed attorneys.