32. The Church Boys Who Went Bad
The parents of Frank Reno (1837 – 1868), who was raised in Jackson County, Indiana, were strictly religious types. They made sure that their kids observed all the strictures, never missed church and spent all day Sunday reading the Bible. It backfired with Frank and his younger brother, John, who rebelled and turned bad early on.
By their early teens, the Reno brothers were notorious delinquents, drinking, brawling, cheating travelers in crooked card games, and were suspected by the community of horse theft and of committing a series of arsons around the county. Things got so bad that, to escape a backlash, their father was forced to flee, taking Frank and John and two other sons, to live in Missouri for a few years. They eventually returned to Indiana in 1860, but their earlier shenanigans had not been forgotten.