I seem to recall seeing a meeting notice in a local Rensselaer County newspaper - the Sand Lake Advertiser - perhaps 20 years ago for the Anti-horseTheft Committee, which (as I understood it) was a modern civic club derved from the mid-19th century organization in the area.

Philip Lord, Jr.
Director, Division of Museum Services
New York State Museum
Albany, NY

>>> [log in to unmask] 06/19/00 02:19PM >>>
> Ian McGiver wrote:

>> Is any one on the list familiar with "vigilance committees" operating in
>> mid-nineteenth-century New York State?

I don't think anyone has suggested horse (and cattle) theft yet. There were
local anti-horse theft associations operating at this period.

Chris Densmore, University at Buffalo