2022 Fall Newsletter

In the time before the automobile, a major source of transportation and income for the public was the horse, a very versatile animal. It was used to pull a buggy so that people could go to town from the farm or go town to town to see relatives, friends, or run errands. An other use was to work the farm by pulling wagons or farm implements. Back in the 1800s, I am sure that ev erybody valued their horses deeply. Theft of horses was definitely frowned upon. That is why the “Anti-Horse Thief Association” was formed. It’s motto: “Protect the Innocent: Bring the guilty to Justice”. Here in the Midwest, the first chapter was started by Major David McKee of Clark County, Missouri due to horse theft being a particular problem. Clark County was located on the border of Iowa, Missouri, and Illi nois. Someone could steal a horse, cross the Mississippi River or Des Moines River and be out of state in no time. Due to the fact that it cost more to go after a horse thief than what the horse cost, few if any were ever re covered. David McKee and some friends formed the Anti-Horse Thief Association in 1853 to deal with the problem. The first big hurdle was the start of the Civil War. Most of the members, including McKee, enlisted in the army. With the chaos of the war, horse thievery got even worse. People got more desperate and reckless by stealing horses and cattle. Due to a disability, Major McKee was discharged from the army in 1863. At this time horse theft was greater than ever. He started up the AHTA again and it had great success. It grew and spread to many states. In 1916, it reached a membership of 50,000 members. THE ANTI-HORSE THIEF ASSOCIATION

By: Vincent Thorpe

A. H. T. A. official stamp made with this embossing device.

It was a secret organization, but just about anybody could join. To be a member you had to be at least 18 years old and be a good citizen. Women were not ex cluded. Many were widows that continued their mem bership after the husband died. Membership was in expensive since there were no salaried positions and everything was done on a voluntary basis with only expenses paid. If you were a member and had a horse stolen, you would notify the group president to start the wheels in motion. By using the telegraph other chapters would be notified with a description of the horse and/ or thief. When the thief was caught he or she would be turned over to the Vigilance Committee to determine if there was sufficient cause for prosecution. After this, the thief was turned over to the authorities. This was not a vigilante group. The AHTA had a publication which listed stolen hors es and property. In the publication was listed the steep sentences that were given out to convicted thieves. See ing these harsh sentences was hopefully a deterrent to any future horse theft. One reason that the organiza tion was so successful was that it did not have to deal with extradition orders. If a thief was chased out of the state, part of the group chasing him would stay behind and not cross the state line. When the pursuing group caught the thief, they would bring him back to the state line and tell him to get out of the state and don’t come back. He would cross the state line without knowing the other part of the group was going to grab him and take him on back.

The association was not a group of vigilantes who would chase a thief, catch him, and hang him from a tree. They got their jus tice from the courts, not from the limb of a tree. They did not want to break the law, but they did support the law. They worked with the law, gathered evidence, and brought witnesses to tes tify against the thieves.

Vincent Thorpe

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