hi. the renos were really the first train robbers. they lived in
Rockford, IN. they are buried in
Seymour, IN.
The first train robbery took place at 6:30 p.m. on October 6, 1866. An
Ohio &
Mississippi train left the depot at
Seymour. It slowly traveled east out of town. Three
Reno Gang members — most likely John and
Sim Reno, along with Frank
Sparks — had boarded the train at the station. Once the train was a few miles out of town, the trio of men made their way from the coach, across the platform to the
Adams Express Co. car. They forced their way inside. Messenger
Elam Miller gave up his keys at gunpoint. The masked robbers opened the small local depot safe, which contained the packages picked up at the various stations en route. They obtained, according to
Jackson County Court records, ‘one safe the value of Thirty Dollars, Three Canvas Bags of the value of One Dollar Each, Ten Thousand Dollars in Gold
Coin and Thirty Three Dollars in Bank Notes.’ They attempted to open the larger safe, containing valuables shipped from St. Louis, but failed. When the terrified
Elam Miller told the outlaws that he was unable to open it, the robbers slugged him and then rolled the large safe to the door of the express car. One of the gang members pulled the bell rope to signal the engineer to stop the train. When the train had slowed down, they pushed the larger safe out the door. A little while later, the robbers jumped off. One of the gang members yelled, “All right!” and the train picked up speed. They backtracked to where they pushed the safe out of the train. Waiting there was Frank
Reno, William
Reno, and some other member of the gang with the getaway horses. Try as they might, they couldn’t pry open the safe. Some sources say that the safe had $35,000 in gold.
