490     HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
            ==================================
 
  
Seymour several years ago, the records of which have not been
preserved. In 1872 a brick church house was built in Seymour,
and dedicated to the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The
present congregation is quite large, and services are held regu-
larly.
 
The African Baptist Church was organized here some three
years ago. Rev. Benjamin Hines is the present pastor. This
organization has not yet erected a church, but are at present solic-
iting donations to that end.
 
  
                     THE "RENO GANG."
 
A history of Seymour would be far from complete without
more than a mere allusion to the dark days of 1865 to 1868,
inclusive, and the scenes of lawlessness that were enacted in and
about the town during that period.
 
Situated at the junction of two great railways, connecting four
of the largest Western cities, namely Cincinnati, St. Louis, Louis-
ville and Indianapolis, it was of easy access to the camp follow-
ers, thieves, counterfeiters, garroters and confidence men who
gathered at all railway centers to entrap the unwary soldier
returning to scenes of peace.
 
Here, too, was the home of the long famous - or infamous -
Reno gang, whose daring feats of robbery have taken front rank 
in the pages of the criminal history of our country.
  
Frank Reno, the recognized leader of the gang, was the oldest
of five brothers; three of whom met their deaths at the hands of a
mob; another has but recently begun his second term in prison, 
while the fifth has at all times been adjudged innocent of crime.
The family was reared on a farm near Seymour, and, previous to
the latter days of the war, were highly respected and prosperous.
Frank was a strange compound admixture of good and evil, the
latter trait predominating. Among his neighbors and every-day 
associates he was very popular, was strictly honorable in business