January 2011
Phone: 260-463-4901 • Fax 888-439-6528 • The Hometown Treasure
Page 24
H
ometown
by Carol Anderson
In the early 1850’s, a wide-spread gang of horse
thieves made Haw Patch an unsafe area of LaGrange
County.
According to the book, 1882 History LaGrange
County, Indiana, these marauders and general outlaws
gave Haw Patch a reputation as a lawless locality
which took many years to overcome. Horses would
be taken and sent out of the county by regular lines,
along which the thieves and their harborers were
permanently stationed. Finally, the reign of crime
became unbearable.
The citizens organized themselves in police
associations and resolved to take the law into their
own hands. The Regulators for Haw Patch and vicinity
organized on March 1, 1858, at the residence of Francis
Ditman in Clearspring with the title of Clearspring and
Eden Detective Police. An immense crowd gathered
and one of the criminals was seized. Soon afterward,
the horse thief was hung near Diamond Lake in Noble
County and his body was taken back to his wife.
H
istory
The area outlaws were awed by the determined
spirit of the Regulators as more and more arrests were
made until the area was quiet again.
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