Horse Stolen – $70 Reward
By Jim Potter
The oldest artifact we have in our home is 148 years old. It’s a postcard from 1877.
The Reward or Wanted postcard informs the reader that a horse was stolen June 5, 1877, from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and that a reward of $70 was offered for the arrest and conviction of the thief and the return of the bright bay (reddish-brown body and black points) mare (adult female horse).
| Four Requirements of the Constituion and By-laws | |||||||||
| 1. To be prepared to furnish an accurate description of the stolen animal. | |||||||||
| 2. To be able to furnish satisfactory evidence that the animal was brand with the Company’s Brand when missing, and that the brand was visible. | |||||||||
| 3. To immediately send out home riders with instructions to report to the President’s office on their return. | |||||||||
| 4. The owner of the horse to report in person to the President immediately after the home riders have been sent out, bringing with him a description of the missing animal and the evidence of it having been properly branded. |
| Pennsylvania | 1870 Census | 1880 Census |
| Mechanicsburg | 2,569 | 3,018 |
| Bridgeport | 1,578 | 1,802 |
| Goldsboro | 299 | 394 |
Instead of identifying the owner of the horse by name, the postcard refers to the Allen and East Pennsboro’ Society, Mechanicsburg, Pennyslvania, organized in 1836. The full-name of the organization was “The Allen and East Pennsboro Society for the Recovery of Stolen Horses and the Detection of Thieves.” (The area covered included the boroughs of Allen and East Pennsboro.) In the bylaws of the association, it stated, “the stealing of horses and mules having become more frequent and daring, and ordinary precautions for the secutity of other property found inefficient, impressed with these considerations,” this society was organized.
During the 19th century, a horse was valuable property and essential to a person’s liveilihood, especially in rural communities. Whether a person was traveling or hauling goods to market, the loss of a horse or mule and carriage was disruptive. No wonder so many people joined together for “mutual defense and assistance.”
The Society was ahead of its time in its willingness to open its membership to a cross-section of the population, stating: “in that neither age nor sex, wealth nor poverty, religion nor politics will prevent a person from becoming a member.”
Membership in the Society wasn’t free. In 1856 it cost three dollars, plus fifty cents for each horse or mule that was branded.
Members were provided with two brands containing the letters “A.E.” One was used to brand the right front hoof of the horse or mule and the other brand used on the neck, under the mane. Any member whose horse was properly branded and not recovered within three months could be compensated at 75% of the lost animal’s value, but not to exceed $200, as determined by a disinterested committee of three.
Each year the Society appointed several “riders” who would search for stolen animals once the crime had been reported to the association’s president. The owner would call upon members to search for the animal. If they refused to go, they were fined five dollars. In 1886, upon recovery of the animal, the rider received a reward of $50.
The Society’s membership grew from 110 in 1836 to 650 in 1886. In time, as law enforcement agencies and automobile ownership increased, associations promoting the recovery of horses and mules gradually became social organizations. That’s when the once active detectives and riders sat around spinning tales of their good ‘ole days eating dust and catching horse thieves.
Note: The details about the Society were found in the Cumberland County Historical Society Journal 18, no. 1 (Summer 2001). The historically valuable article by William Thomas is titled, “The Allen and East Pennsboro Society for the Recovery of Stolen Horses.” Thomas’ account is based on Constitution, By-Laws and Historical Sketch of the Allen & East Pennsboro Society for the Recovery of Stolen Horses and Mules, and the Detection of Thieves (Mechanisburg, PA, 1895) and a handbill Official Detective Police Force and Officers of the Allen and East Pennsboro Society . . . ([Mechanisburg, PA, 1907-08]).
Leave a Reply