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THE POST-STANDARD THURSDAY, MAY 18:2006

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~ ,,_. _ _" - _ _" ','0, -*,_."".,.. '-,~. ..' - - ioII ~~-. I~~ : "_ _ __ __' _ _ _StephenD,~annerelli/Staffphotographer

" D~ROTI:!:VDeANCfELO,dressed, as Rhoda Mallet Lo0rr.is, the f~mily matri~rch,poses for a portrait in the Oran Cemetery. - ,, -,
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rhe. Loomis!Gong~ 'lV\od~rn~doy RODin Hoods ~",

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or.~thieves/JQunt~rfeiters;' (opists and myrderefs? ~-
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~Thl:irsday,.May 18,-2006":', ,MADISO~ THEPOST.STANDAR'DiNEIGHBORS "

...

TALES. OF THE "

LOOMIS,
t

GANG , . ..
"J1if!:r.90Mis~AI'4I1,.y
'"' . . /,.
f".:tl\l!was at()p aJiilJ o!:lt~~VI(estem edge of Nine l'v!ileSwamp.
"i,
lHustrationcourtesy ofPsBrown

Theclon,reporte.dly
~tole,
counte'ITi~ited,
Bribed,roped
'" erro(j?ing
opdmurdere.d~.<t .'"
.

" {entrolNewYark
duringthce~mid~]
800s' '. \i~'\7'
n~,~. _ h". ,_._~ ~t' ~':_.:;..~
ByDorkysRamos .~."
.. 0 . Contributing
writer
>'"'-'- . -'
fr.,
,§,

' ro;;' "

B
..
Ob '~ .s~ father Painte~"',
,... .
picture about iliefamily'heritage,
, .. , , . . .

,~l1arjng,stories ~f bfave men aDa ",

w~menwho strived to help",those !e~.~foJ;tti- ,.
nat~ than thdn,theRobiiiHoods of their >

time. "" ""

.~ Bribt was the stories that stolenl"ille,.,.
.~aJ%!J!~~~is~~a'"ysheep~a!:~een
Loonrls' ,fathe.r didn't"sh~e ,~~e~
ji)~iseyeT,,!f~rmef~ot'tc>g~the,r;t.o
fil1.i!.outwho
w~sbehind the:thefts;Hi~orial\ssay thelo0lrlis(3ang
_that h"elpexplam why Loomis, , ~aiJg6t'WiiidthaftHe farriferswere~eaaed their~ay
who livesln New Hartford, aHa.aedCjed te) J~iI11h!!i~roupsayiiig'the~.'too;'had
.", ",,-, ,fier *1!i(!f1lfeir herd~oJeiemiah Clark~a
and his older sistef'wereteased .i:I~iniitonsheep.thief. They told the group
in school and blamed when q.tfte be~g.were on Clark'sf.irm. ,.."'.
l:tfe~h~epwer.efo!lnd~J't!Je.far~, but tI~rk daim';:cU~
things went missing. that the Loo!,!lses haq,wldthe sheep t~ hlln.1:h~ ,'<
BobLoomis Itwasn't until Loomis no\l \1<' ,Loomises fbok~back theirSheep"'arlii Clark~ccu$ed. >
th~ri!:Ofstea1iiigi,TI)~.g~l)g thr!!atellecl Clark a,nc!.
7~,wasJnl1igh School ana his principai ac~. .~.
. kidriappedJ!im[but.h.e'!J'a~~ged
to "sc~~}!~
c~sed hi~ of steilihg. a b06lc that his father""
fmally)ol4 hipi~the tp.1l story of the Loomis
family. . i; ,I" '~!..
 'JIVII""""
~En>O~STAND)UtD7'NEIGHBOR-5'$'J;A;DIS'9~,
~. . go - -- :Tfi".frsClay;-I\ifay18~:ZlJOo.Lil.:.
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"
"p., )to 7: '.'.'
H. ~_~1 "I'"
.'{ -
" Loomis~mny fI:~
George Washi"gtonLoomls (1779-11351)'
RhOd.a MalietLOol11ls(lT73-1887f
7neir,children .,.
It is a story about the;Loomis gang, a clan that stole, horses,sell,theQland steal themriihtback;from those buy- tlarriet !,\melia Loomis ('8'5"'8'7)
counterfeited, bribed, raped and murdered, terrorizing Cen-. ers:The very ~ext daY"they'd sell them again. They're Calista AdeliaoLOOn1'ls.(181hI854)
tralNew York during the.niid-1800s. ~ blamed for setting ~fu the Morrisville courthouse to de~ William ~Vitalter Loi.>inl5'(1819-1896);
Loomis' great-great grandfath~r, George Washington stroy eviden(;!: agairist them, only to come back later arid ~~i1~S()'rr1e!ia LOorn!s (18a}rW,93)~~b.~ W!S ,
Loomis, the leader of the.notorious gang, was born in 1779 help the ~efighting' effort. . ... ,
vf.ry '!1Y~,h.,a
pa~ of th~ ga(lgand ~aJ1)C)pate!!il)
cnmes'along wlthher brothers, sometimes
into a presjigious 'family filled With successful judges, pro- And.to pay offll1~ir debts, they would use Loomis cur-
fessors and ministers in Windsor, Conn. His 'inother died dres$Jngas a'~ari.5he \youldStealwomer)'s
rency, freshly. printed. ,~ , '.nUffsby sllppjng them u[1der her dress. She
when he was Sand his father when he was 18. Loomis When the Erie Canal w.,as completed in 1825, the gang
moved in With one of his sisters in Vermont, where he took ,was among the:first to travel the east-west route With a fleet t~(J9,htscho()1i~ Utica fg( a ~I)jle: ... ,'. '
George Washington LoonusJr. (1823-1865).
to stealing other people's horses and selling them to unsus- of boats laden with stol~lJ, goods, according. to, historian~. Befwe he was'",urder~d; ;;Washntook:ovenli~
pecting buyers in Connecticut. , ' .ThiCheDallgo Canal,which opene~iI11837,nin through gang after his father died.
After several warnings from the local sheriff, Looms the village ofMadison,:siXIDiles froIil the LOOIpis,farm;al- Gro"e La""rel1ce'LOOmis(1825-1878fMost . .

was chased to New York in 1802 where he met his future loWing thelll to' take merchandise IloI1liand south. . daring of'l1egr,pup al)d.anexp'ertinhor5e$'~n,d
wife in San'gerfield. He and Rhoda had 17 children'in As much as the Loomises were feared, BOb Loomis said, womEm;survivedbrutal beatings and being set~
whom they instilled the~portance of being a part of the onfire. <. ..~, , '..
ther;ealso 'were good stoJies. For instance, there's tile one
colninimit)r. !>"" "," ~ . about how th~fanillY helped an Irish Widow raise her,,.I2 LL!C;laEI!,!"I.Qo,"ls (1828-1858) ... . " ".
L<>9misPinnacle,cthefamilyhome inSangerfield, near WJieelerTlJeodore Loomis (183H 911)
children: They'saw to it that her f3g1lw,1IS always plowed
Mary charlotte LOornis(1832,1870) ',\
the, Madison County border, was perfect for. thieves: They and harvested, thefrni~ were picked and the hay was
Amos Plumb loomis (1834-1903) Hew~s
could ste31.ft:om one cpunty ana sneak into the other; where stacked. '. ...,.. '"

authorities ,had nojllrisdiction.Their 385-acre, property was caught 1Ipdwhenvigilarites tried to:h~ng firm, .,.~!
George LooDJis was moWn t6 tlke good care. of h,is hE!'kept passil'lg o.ut.They would rev!.vehiip by.:
atop a I@.(?n the w~steg1edge of Njpe MileSwanip, which ncighbors- on the condition that they warn the.fa!IIily.jf spl~ishipgwater on him and tryin!) again, He is
e~te,Il~edggDl~aDgeJ:lie!d toIi\Jbbardsville, .pened for thesheiiffwaspnhisway. ,... . .' .. .. Bob Loomis"grea{graridfather. '. "' ~'
hiilliIg"stO!en loot and those Who~tole it. "
:Bob LOomis was imder striCt instnictions from his father ~Iram ~,enio L~mis (,836:,880) .
From arson to counterfeiliI1g and from ra~ to murder, '!1e~er,to discuSshis'ancestry.ln college, a profess,oren- l!a!!let-~mls (1838-1840)
thitgreul.' did it all; historians say. T4~Y woUld steal, '
,. ~ . LOO",IS, 6
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- . ~ THE'POST-STANDARP I.NEIGHBORS
- MADISON
Th~rsday,rviay18,2006-

' LOOMIS
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-'. ther. Loomis ~~ o';1lya boy, but
remembers a VISitfrom Walter.
,

! FROMPAGE5 \ Loomis said his father was de-

I couraged him to write a paper fensi,:e ~d refused to sh~dany
~

I about the Looniis gang, but Bob negative light on the, family be-
I Loomis turned him down when fore he asked Walter to leave.
. ~s father threatened'to disOWllWhen LOo~s shared the fam-
him. , .. .~ ily's history with his c!illdren,'
Mu~hla~er ill Ijfe, after Bob his sons didn't show much inter-
LoOIDIS
r~~d as an elementary est, he said. But his.wife, . .') .

scbool PnnC!pal,. be a~eed to Bomrie; could practically lecture

teach course
York a State about
Umversltyof N~w
the LooIDlS on ..the gang herself
. .' he said. .

Gang. DUring his research, hi: al- AndLoomis IJimself now

. most cried reading about t])e " fi. travels the region,leduririg
eruelthings"the gang did. He about his infamousancestors..,.
."

cautions aspiring genealogists to Loomis bas spoken in churches,

be ready for what they might
find out about their ances!,>rs.
.After his father diedin"1990,
. historical societies and libraries.
He hopes the lectureS'can send
out the.JI1essage that history is
Loomis fonulta scrapbookcon- alive'in Central New,y orJLHe .-

taining old letters that George said !batit's not all,terribly won-
William Walter, author of "The derful, put you can learn about it
,Loomis Gang," wi0t: to his fa- _,andJive withit.."
~.:' " ':.'.

StephenD.CannereililS~ff photographer
DAROTHY DeANGELO, dressed as Rhoda Manet Loomis. the fam-
i)y'm!1triarcli. poses for cl'portra]t iil the Orari C~metE!ry where
some of the Loomises
,'~ .
are buried. ff
c' ;~'"

Ma ..Loomis' Comes!Aliv~
O
.
. ne offue ~oomis family's_P.1o'tt!Dfamous charac-
ters has been co~g1:iack from the dead to m~e
appearancesaround,Madison and Oneida counties.
Uran resid~nt Darpthy DeAngelo,}4, Ii self-described
':!iving histopan," taJ,<.es
the personality 0!J~y .ma!I1"
arch Rhoda Mallet1.oomis on the road. She's interacted
~i~~ther historicarfigur~s at bicentennialeven!~,,~cross
the county, including the COUIIty'S.200th birthday party
in Wampsville. She dressesin blask, dons aJ?,onpeJand
\years.gloves.She'usesa caneto~et aroundaridisn't "

afraid to swat it at those who~ktoo many questions.

DeAngelo started researching)ocal history ¥ter~retir-
jrig fr~m. her c"are.eras a :;chool b)ls driver" ~g JJJ:U1sporta-
'tion supervisor. The Loomis'fariilly andJ!s'f6isty lJ.latri-
arc~.caughthe~ attention, right away. .
"You couldn't make up anything like.,that," she said.