The Harpes were a pair of brothers or cousins (historical records aren't particularly clear on their exact relation) that joined a loyalist "rape gang" that terrorized Patriot aligned settlements during the American Revolutionary War. Like with the more famous Caribbean Buccaneers, "rape gangs" were essentially bandit gangs that were commissioned by the British Crown to terrorize enemies, but royal authorities had very little control of them. Their rather unsavory nickname was more in reference to how the gangs despoiled patriot villages, though plenty of literal rape occurred. Indeed, the Harpes themselves were known to have abducted and assaulted at least four teenage girls during the war. After the Revolutionary War ended, they still continued to attack continental settlements. Initially, the pair joined a Cherokee tribe and raided rival tribes and colonial settlements with them. In their time with the Cherokee, the Harpes kidnapped a few women to be their brides (including the younger sister of a militiaman that saved one of their previous captives). They lived among the tribe for about a decade, and then abandoned them when they were about to wiped out by a settler militia. Afterwards, the Harpe Brothers fled with their captive wives and hid out in the remote outskirts of the Appalachian mountains and the Mississippi river. They flipped back and forth between acting out on their own and joining Samuel Mason's river pirate gang. However, their sadism allegedly proved to a bit much for Mason. Supposedly, Mason expelled the brothers after witnessing them tying a man to a horse, and then pushing the horse and "rider" off a cliff. The two lived by ambushing and robbing random travelers and farmers. In their attacks, the victims would often be raped, murdered, and then mutilated. Men, women, and children (including, reportedly, their own) alike were targeted by the brothers. Like with any career criminals, the Harpes lived by a "snitches get stitches" code. They once killed an informant's 13 year old son, and dumped the mutilated corpse on his family's doorsteps to retaliate against his father ratting them out. They also had an extremely volatile temper and killed for the pettiest of slights. In one occasion while staying at a cabin, the brothers killed a fellow guest for snoring too loudly. Later in the morning, one of the Harpes also killed the cabin owners' infant son to silence his crying, and followed up with the boy's distraught mother to suppress her screams. Dozens died by their hands, which painted a target on their backs. One of the Harpe brothers was lynched after the aforementioned "cabin murder incident" by a posse led by the husband/father of the mother and child, forcing the surviving one to permanently join the Mason river pirate gang. The husband/father beheaded the first Harpe, put his head on a spike, and used it to decorate the exterior of his cabin. Their wives were detained by authorities after the first Harpe was killed and then quietly sent away to live new lives. A few years later, Mason was mortally wounded during a prison escape. The surviving Harpe brother either murdered him or beheaded his corpse after he died (what exactly occurred isn't known), and tried presenting his head to collect the reward money. His plan badly backfired as he was recognized and arrested on the spot. He was then executed shortly afterwards. Due to scant documentation and difficulty discerning fact from folklore, the total number of their victims is uncertain. Scholars estimate that they probably killed at least 39 people (I don't know if that includes their time in the Revolutionary War and amongst the Cherokee), but it is likely that the true amount far exceeds that. Sources and further reading: 1.https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-harpes/ 2.https://allthatsinteresting.com/harpe-brothers 3.https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/harpe-brothers-scots-who-became-usas-first-serial-killers-1433832 4.https://www.appalachiabare.com/the-devil-in-appalachia-the-bloodthirsty-harpe-brothers/ 5.https://headstuff.org/culture/history/terrible-people-from-history/micajah-and-wiley-harpe-murderers-of-the-western-frontier/ 6.https://www.theministryofhistory.co.uk/historical-biographies/the-harpe-brothe 7.https://theravenreport.com/2017/04/25/the-harpe-brothers-terrorized-the-great-frontier-and-became-americas-first-serial-killers/ 8.https://www.middletennesseemysteries.com/article/482/knox-county-americas-first-serial-killers-the-harpe-brothers If any of this sounds familiar, this post is an almost verbatim copypasta of a another post of mine discussing an OC loosely inspired by the Harpes. However, I was recently doing a bit more research, and felt like covering the Harpes themselves in a little more depth. Thus I copied and pasted much of that post, and then expanded on the details.
