Click here for a list of my other Pulaski/Rockcastle/Laurel County KY articles
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This is a collection of articles describing some of the county jails. This includes some articles about jailbreaks because those often describe aspects of the building when describing how prisoners escaped.
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DANVILLE, BOYLE COUNTY
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(also in leads)
[] "Boyle County Jail Unlocked and Two Prisoners Escaped." The Louisville Daily Courier, Louisville, KY. May 29, 1860. Page 2. Newspapers.com.
[May 29, 1860] -
BOYLE COUNTY JAIL UNLOCKED AND TWO PRISONERS ESCAPED. -- On Wednesday night the prison cells of the Boyle county jail were unlocked, and two of the four prisoners escaped. Thos. D. McGrath, who some months ago killed Benj. Proctor, and George Anderson, accused of horse stealing. There were two others confined, who say they did not know their cells were unlocked.
The jailor, Mr. Harness, was away from home, and the supposition is that a servant girl, who slept in the room with Mrs. Harness, had been bribed to steal the cell keys. On the morning after the prisoners had gotten out she ran away from home. -- [Frankfort Commonwealth. []
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[January 5, 1867] -
[On Christmas Eve 1866,] McRoberts was arrested and taken towards the jail followed by an excited crowd, who advised Harness to kill him. On the way to jail Harness beat him severely with a large cane while he was being led along the street. On arriving at the jail, Harness took a pistol and deliberately shot him, inflicting a serious perhaps fatal injury. This occurred at about 5 P.M. At 10 P.M. a party went to the jail and took McRoberts to the outskirts of the town and hung him. [Excerpt from Source No. 2 in Freedman Lynched on Christmas Eve, Boyle, 1866]
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[] Excerpt from "Local and Personal." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. March 25, 1876. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[March 25, 1876] -
The Grand Jury of the Boyle Circuit Court, recently in session, condemned our County Jail, and declared it "totally unfit for the purpose for which it is used, that from the plan of its construction it is necessary foul and unhealthy; and that it is almost, if not altogether, inhuman to confine any human being within its walls." The Grand Jury recommend its immediate reconstruction, and submit a draft, which in their judgment, will fully meet and remove all objections indicated, and promote healthfulness and security combined. The cost will not exceed $4,500, which includes a solid brick wall entirely around the grounds, which would also furnish a good and appropriate place for a work house. The Grand Jury also state, that in their opinion, there is no reason of any complaint against the present Jailer (Mr. Minor) but on the contrary they believe, from all they could see and learn, that he has done all that could be done for the wants and comfort of his prisoners. []---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LIBERTY, CASEY COUNTY
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[] Excerpt from "From Liberty." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. April 5, 1872. Page 3. LOC.
[April 5, 1872] -
NEW JAIL.
Our County Court, since the burning of the old jail, are making arrangements to build a handsome brick prison which will be an ornament to the town, besides a terror to the evildoers of the county. The sheriff reports that all the persons that have been gone from the county for several years, to keep from paying fines and being arrested for misdemeanors have returned, as there is no place confine them. []
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[] Excerpt from "State News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. November 1, 1872. Page 2. LOC.
[November 1, 1872] -
The new stone jail at Liberty is almost completed. []---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LANCASTER, GARRARD COUNTY
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[] Excerpt from "State News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 11, 1872. Page 2. LOC.
[October 11, 1872] -
Lancaster will sell her present jail building on the 22nd, preparatory to the erection of a new jail. []---
[July 7, 1876] -
A BLOODY DEED. -- Last Thursday night, or rather about 2 o'clock, Friday morning, a mob, numbering nearly or quite fifty persons, went to jail, at Lancaster, and by force, broke in and took from his cell a colored man named Floyd Pearce, and carried him out of town and hung him. They set at liberty the young man, Samuel Williams, who had been sent to that jail for safe keeping, to await his trial at the next Circuit Court in Casey county, on a charge of murder, committed in Liberty some weeks since, by shooting a man named Burns. [Excerpt from Source No. 5 in Mob Raids Garrard County Jail, Hangs One Prisoner, Garrard, 1876]
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Excerpt from "Garrard County News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 4, 1878. Page 2. LOC.
[October 4, 1878] -
Taking advantage of a favorable opportunity, I paid a visit to our [Garrard] county jail, and was escorted through the wards by Capt. Dillion, who, with his wife, has labored efficiently to restore the building to something like neatness and comfort. At the opening of the first door a stone hall with grated sides was revealed; and here were about a dozen prisoners, white and black, confined for manslaughter, larceny and other misdemeanors. One, the white man McCoy, who killed Soard, has been shut in from the sunlight till his complexion is thoroughly bleached. All of them cease instantly from the noisy mirth with which they had been beguiling the time, and gazed at us with respectful curiosity. The keeper cooly singled them out and discussed the offenses for which they were suffering the penalty of the law. Three cells ranged on either side of this central enclosure, and within these were the beds where the men repose at night. We saw the clever mechanical contrivance by which the door of each cell, whether near or remote, is opened or shut without the necessity of coming in contact with it. The modus operandi of the several escapes heretofore conspicuous was explained and the repaired damages pointed out. Closing this ponderous door, we were conducted around the inner hall of the prison to the outer grating of the cells. []---
[October 17, 1878] -
"Meanwhile the prisoner is growing daily more desperate. Once he escaped from the jail and was found a few hours later, hiding in a coal-house. Three times he has filed his manacles apart, and twice severed the iron bars of his cell. His facilities for concealing saws, files, and knives have been wonderful, unless aided by the other prisoners, which is probable. His latest exploit was to dash his breakfast basin at the new Republican Jailer and shatter the vessel to atoms. Such measures require harsh remedies. The prevailing opinion, or rather superstition, is that so persevering a man will at last succeed in fleeing justice." [Excerpt from Source No. 12 in Freeman Farris Kills Robert Land, Garrard, 1878]
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[June 20, 1882] -
The County Judge decided Friday morning, after several affidavits as to the probability of an attempt by Austin's friends to liberate him and the unsafe condition of the Jail had been made, to send Austin to Richmond for safe keeping. The Sheriff accordingly notified him to be ready to go by train that day. After the Sheriff left the jail Austin went to the cell of Bishop, the prisoner from Rockcastle county, to borrow a razor, which by some means had come into his possession. [Excerpt from Source No. 23 in William Austin Hanged for the Murder of Betsy Bland, Garrard, 1882]
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[October 13, 1882] -
The gallows is about completed. It was designed by Mr. Stafford, Stafford, of Richmond, after the style of the one from which Guiteau started on his journey to the "Lordy," and was built by Mr. Solon Henry, one of the Grand Jury which indicted Austin for the murder for which he is now to pay the penalty. It occupies a position directly in the rear of the jail and is built of heavy oak timber. The scaffold is about eight feet from the ground, from which it is reached by steps in the centre of the scaffold is the trap, about two-and-a-half or three feet square. This is held in position by a bolt working under it, which is manipulated by a lever in the hand of the Sheriff on the scaffold. After the drop the trap is held back by weights. The rope for the occasion has arrived. It was made by F. Vonderheide, of Cincinnati. It is long enough after fastening to the cross-beam to allow a fall of seven or eight feet. The machinery will all be properly tested beforehand to insure against any bobble that might torture the criminal and executioner. [Excerpt from Source No. 32 in William Austin Hanged for the Murder of Betsy Bland, Garrard, 1882]
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LONDON, LAUREL COUNTY
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[] Excerpts from "Local Breveties" and Column 6. The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. May 9, 1873. Page 3. LOC.
[May 9, 1873] -
Laurel County is to have a new prison and jail house. See notice to contractors in another column.
TO CONTRACTORS.
Sealed proposals are requested and will be received at Laurel Bridge Postoffice, Laurel, county Kentucky, until the first monday in June next, for building a county Jail, with Jailor's residence attached thereto, in the town of London, Laurel county, Ky. The building is to be of stone, brick and wood, and the the size of the house to be 40x24 feet, two stories high. The work to commence by the first of July, 1873, and to be completed by the 1st of October, 1874. Bids will be received for stone-work, brick, or wood-work separately, or for all together. All work to one contractor is preferred.
The county judge reserves the right to reject any or all bids. Information relating to the plan of building, and paying for the [...] will in given on application at the office of the county judge, at W. H. Jackson's store, in London, Kentucky.
Also proposals will be resolved, at the same time as above, for building a wooden jail, the plan of which can be seen at the office of the county judge. LEVI JACKSON, J. L. C. C. []
Also proposals will be resolved, at the same time as above, for building a wooden jail, the plan of which can be seen at the office of the county judge. LEVI JACKSON, J. L. C. C. []
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[] Excerpt from "From Laurel County." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. June 20, 1873. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1873-06-20/ed-1/seq-3/
[June 20, 1873] -
London is improving very rapidly; new buildings going up, and our streets being repa[i]red. [T]he new jail-house will be put under contract by July 1st. If the people of our county could see their ancient Hall of Justice as others see it, they would demand and willingly pay for a new and more modern structure. Let us go to work and at least get ahead of Lexington on the court-house question. []---
[] Excerpt from "London, Laurel County." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. August 28, 1891. Page 1. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1891-08-28/ed-1/seq-1/
[August 28, 1891] -
The prisoners at the jail all escaped Tuesday evening, and were captured again. They were let out in the corridor on the ground floor and had raised the brick walk around the cage and had tunnelled under the foundation. Mrs. Lovell discovered the last one as he went out and emptied a five-shot revolver at them. []---
[] Excerpt from "London, Laurel County." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. May 6, 1892. Page 1. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1892-05-06/ed-1/seq-1/
[May 6, 1892] -
Five prisoners, led by the notorious Craig Gragg, escaped from the London jail Monday night by prizing out a cross bar of the cage. The following are the names of the parties: Craig Gragg, for robbing the Pittsburgh depot; Enoch Boone, seducing a girl under 16; Wm. Osby, carrying a pistol; John Parrot and Larkin Cress for selling liquor. Cy Ping, in for selling liquor, got out at the same holes Tuesday night while Jailer Lovell was out hunting the other prisoners. They had smuggled in a crowbar about 5 1/2 feet long with which they did their work and which they took with them. Craig Gragg is as hard to catch and harder to hold than a flea. []---
[] Excerpt from "London, Laurel County." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. May 10, 1892. Page 1. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1892-05-10/ed-1/seq-1/
[May 10, 1892] -
John Warren was arrested and put in [the London] jail last Wednesday, charged with stealing a mule and two hams from some parties near Pittsburgh, and was caught with both in his possession. It is thought he had no intention of keeping the mule, but had taken it to carry the hams home as he lived near. Friday he succeeded in picking a lock in the corridor, next to the sleeping cell that Craig Gragg and others got out of and escaped through the same holes. Dick Harbin and Rowan Hardin gave him a foot race, while Simp Stanifer, who had a horse hitched convenient, also gave him a chase and the trio succeeded in capturing him before he got to the top of cemetery hill and he has since been confined in a sleeping cell. It has been several days since the jail was broken open, and yet the bars have not been mended and even the bricks on the outside wall have not been put in. Both the jailer and the county judge are personal friends of the writer, but that don't keep me from saying that it shows a most wilful neglect of duty in not making these necessary repairs.
Jailer Lovell returned Friday from Jackson county, where he has been after one of the prisoners who escaped from him recently. John Parrott was the man and he was in on a U. S. warrant for selling whisky. Bad Jink Young, from the Raccoon neighborhood, accompanied Lovell and they succeeded in capturing him and on their return with the prisoner Bad Jink's double barrel shot-gun went off and shot Parrott through the arm, up near the shoulder, going through where the arm and body joins and coming out back under the left shoulder blade, from which Parrot died in a few hours. Lovell says that Parrot was walking by the side of Young, who was horseback, and Young was carrying his muzzle loading shotgun in front of him when it was accidentally discharged. Lovell took Young to a magistrate and gave him up, but it is rumored that Young gave bond and has left the country. Circuit court is going on in Jackson county and Sunday the sheriff and R. A. Dyche, of that county, came here and took Lovell there, accused with having been accessory to the death of Parrott. They said the prisoner made a dying statement that he was shot intentionally and unnecessarily, but the citizens here believe Lovell's statement. []
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[] Excerpt from "City and Vicinity." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. May 31, 1892. Page 3. LOC.
[May 31, 1892] -
Judge Boyd doesn't mind taking the bull by the horns. He called the attention of the grand jury to the careless way Jailer Lovill was keeping the prison and the Echo says he was indicted in three cases for permitting prisoners to run at large. He was found guilty in one case and fined $50, whereupon the court made an order removing Lovill from his office as jailer and directing the keys of the jail to be turned over to Sheriff J. W. Moren. []---
[] Excerpt from "Bobbitt in the Mountains." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. June 10, 1892. Page 4. LOC.
[June 10, 1892] -
Now I shall talk about something less lovely and less beautiful -- Judge Boyd and his court. His honor's instructions to the grand jury were sublimely grand. He fined the gay and jovial jailer $5 for appearing in the presence of the court intoxicated and recognized him in a bond of $200 to appear before the grand jury to tell where he got his whisky. I looked every minute for him to tell the jailer to go and put himself in jail, lock the door and send the court the key. This is the judge who recently removed the jailer from his office in the county of Laurel for suffering prisoners to run at large over town, and although that jailer was a republican, he now sighs to find the jailer's keys no more. Boyd says the place for a man sent to jail is within the walls, and the judge is exactly right. The few weeks' confinement in jail before trial is often the only punishment the bloodiest of murder[er]s ever get. I have heard of a jailer in a county adjoining Lincoln that allowed even a guilty parricide to visit the young ladies in town and go on a visit as far as Harrodsburg. Blackstone says that it is an escape to allow a prisoner more liberty than the law allows -- that it is to let him run at large, and it matters not that the prisoner does not take advantage of the jailer's criminal negligence, the opportunity to escape and the evil resulting to the boys of the country seeing a blood-stained murderer going at large, is the same. So well did our English ancestors understand this that they destroyed everything (even inanimate) that had caused the death of a man, as a wagon wheel that had run over him, a knife with which he had been killed, that the people might not become familiar with murder. If Judge Boyd were on the bench in the 8th judicial district how long would that clever and ultra-humane jailer carry the keys of the jail of the county to which I refer and which you so well know which I mean. Perhaps the Reporter and Republican will publish this letter, or an extract therefrom. I mean no ill-will towards that jailer; I only mean to censure friends as well as foes, when they deserve it. []---------------------------------------------------------------------------
STANFORD, LINCOLN COUNTY
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[July 11, 1859] -
On Saturday morning, about two o'clock, a mob of nearly one hundred persons collected around the jail, made an attempt upon it, and seized the prisoner. They then conveyed him a short distance into the woods and hung him on a tree. [Excerpt from Source No. 4 in Jasper Rowsey Hanged By Mob, Lincoln, 1859]
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[] "Our Jail." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. April 19, 1872. Page 3. LOC.
[April 19, 1872] -
Our Jail.
The jail of Lincoln county, at Stanford, is known to be so secure that prisoners from other counties, charged with serious offenses, are brought and confined therein for safe keeping. The cell work was done by F. W. Merz, of Louisville, an iron founder. []
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[] Excerpt from "Home Jottings." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. June 18, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-06-18/ed-1/seq-3/
[June 18, 1875] -
ATTEMPTED JAIL BREAKING. -- On yesterday morning it was discovered that Green, with a number of aliases, who is confined in jail here under indictments for robbery at King's Mountain Tunnel, and who, it is said, is the perpetrator of several murders, had so far succeeded in his attempt to break out as to have cut out of his iron cell. This cell is made in box shape of iron bars 2 inches broad and 1/2 inch thick, securely interwoven. Three of these bars he had cut with a common case knife, furnished by an outside accomplice. He had also with the end of a common file drilled a hole nearly through the large lock on the outside door. Fortunately his plans were discovered in time to prevent his escape. []---
[] Excerpt from "Local News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 12, 1877. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1877-10-12/ed-1/seq-3/ attempt to break jail
[October 12, 1877] -
ATTEMPT TO BREAK JAIL. -- A bold attempt to free themselves from the irksome restrains of prison life was made last Friday by Sam Duncan and --- Lair, prisoners, confined for stealing. Mr. Thos Buford, the jailor, opened the door to give the prisoners their dinner, when Duncan struck him across the temple with the elbow of a buggy top, stunning him severely. He was not knocked down, however, but drawing his pistol at once pulled the trigger on Duncan, tho' without effect, as the cartridge failed to explode. He then caught hold of Duncan, threw him down, and fired at the escaping prisoner, Lair, the ball passing through his hat. The shot drew at once a number of people to the scene, and Mr. Cicero Reynolds and others joined Mr. Buford in the chase after Lair, who was soon captured in a field beyond the railroad. Mr. Buford deserves the highest commendation for his heroic conduct. It shows that he is the right man in the right place. []---
[] Excerpt from "Lincoln County." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. November 2, 1877. Page 2. Newspapers.com.
[November 2, 1877] -
Speaking of prisoners naturally suggests our jail. The Grand Jury at this term of the Circuit Court condemned it as insecure and rules have been ordered against the Magistrates to show cause why they shall not repair it or build another. []
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[] Excerpts from "Local News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. January 11, 1878. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1878-01-11/ed-1/seq-3/
[January 11, 1878] -
Ten prisoners now view the snow clad street through the bars of our miserable jail. Three are charged with murder and the others with stealing. Besides these, Lincoln county is represented by two gentlemen charged with murder in the Louisville jail, and one with stealing in the Lebanon jail. Judge Owsley will have his hands full in April.
COUNTY COURT. -- In the County Court last Monday a committee was appointed to confer with architects and others in regard to plans for a new jail, with the instructions to report a plan and the probable cost of a suitable building. The Court also made an order petitioning the Legislature for an act authorizing the issual of the bonds of the County to amount of, not exceeding $12,000 to raise means to pay for it. It will be remembered that the present jail was condemned by the Grand Jury at last Circuit Court. []
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[] Excerpt from "Local News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. March 1, 1878. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1878-03-01/ed-1/seq-3/
[March 1, 1878] -
REPORT OF THE GRAND JURY. -- Some erroneous reports having gone forth in regard to the condemnation of the Jail by the late Grand Jury, we copy a part of it: "So far as the duties required of Thomas Buford are concerned, they are discharged with an efficient and entirely satisfactory manner, the prisoners are kindly treated, well fed, and their persons, clothing and bedding, are kept clean as the present construction of the Jail will permit, but we find that the building is not such an one as we should have, that it has not proper ventilation, that the construction is such as to make it a matter of little or no difficulty for persons from the outside to hand weapons and tools to prisoners with which they can make their escape, that the door which now opens into said Jail is arranged in such a manner as to make it unsafe and dangerous for the Jailer to enter the building, &c. In view of these facts, we would report that the Jail is insecure and unhealthy." (Signed) Thos. B. Montgomery, Foreman, T. T. Daviess, James Robinson and J. M. Sibold, Committee. []---
[] Excerpt from "Local News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. April 5, 1878. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1878-04-05/ed-1/seq-3/
[April 5, 1878] -
NEW JAIL. -- The County Court on Monday, decided to accept the plans and specifications presented by Mr. H. P. McDonald, for the new Jail. We understand that the Court was greatly pleased with this plan and is sure that our next Jail will rank among the best in the State. The next step towards its erection is to get some one to undertake the job, and to this end, the Court will advertise for bidders until June Court, when the bids will be opened and the work awarded to the lowest and best bidder. []---
[] Excerpt from "Local News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. May 17, 1878. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1878-05-17/ed-1/seq-3/
[May 17, 1878] -
NEW JAIL. -- Bids for the erection of a new jail and residence here will close on the 29th. Judge J. A. Lytle, one of the committee to receive the bids, returned a few days ago from Cincinnati, whither he had been, by order of the Court, to examine the improvements in jail architecture, and ascertain cost of building them. He is of the impression that the new jail can be let at very reasonable figures. []---
[] Excerpt from Column 10. The Courier Journal, Louisville, KY. May 18, 1878. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[May 18, 1878] -
PROPOSALS.
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PROPOSALS FOR THE ERECTION
- OF -
A JAIL AND RESIDENCE
At Stanford, Ky.
Sealed bids for the erection of a stone and brick jail and jailer's residence will be received by W. R. Carson and J. A. Lytle at Stanford, Ky., until the 28th day of May, 1878.
Plans and specifications can be seen at the office of W. R. Carson at Stanford, and at the office of H. P. McDonald, architect, corner Fourth and Market sts., Louisville, Ky.
Contractor will be required to give security.
W. R. CARSON,
J. A. LYTLE,
Committee.
April 17, 1878. []
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[] Excerpt from Column 3. The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. May 31, 1878. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1878-05-31/ed-1/seq-3/
[May 31, 1878] -
JAIL PROPOSALS. -- Judge J. A. Lytle and 'Squire W. R. Carson, the Committee to receive the proposals for building a new jail and residence, opened the bids on the 27th. Four Contractors presented proposals, as follows: Henry Baughman, Stanford, $11,990. Peter Pheiffer, Louisville, $12,410. Anderson & Stafford, Richmond, Ky., $13,484. W. H. Myers, Fort Wayne, Ind., $16,550. The County Court next Monday, will, no doubt, award the contract to Mr. Baughman, although they reserve the right to reject any and all bids. The Architect's estimate of the costs of the buildings was about $11,500. []---
[] Excerpt from Column 2. The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. June 5, 1878. Page 3. LOC.
[June 5, 1878] -
LINCOLN COUNTY BONDS. -- Judge Lytle sold at public auction, last Monday, the twelve Lincoln County Bonds of $1,000 each, issued to raise funds for the building of the new Jail. They were offered in parcels of four, and were all bought by the Farmers National Bank, at an average premium of about 43-100 of one per cent. They are payable in ten years, and bear six per cent. It is rather unusual thing for a county bond to sell for more than one par, but our people are to be congratulated on the fact that the finances of the County are in a good and safe condition, and the prospect is that these bonds will be paid some time before they mature, as that right was reserved. []---
[] Excerpt from Column 3. The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. June 7, 1878. Page 3. LOC.
[June 7, 1878] -
JAIL CONTRACT CLOSED. -- The County Court on Monday last, decided to build a new Jail and entered into a contract with Mr. Henry Baughman to complete it, Mr. B. being the lowest bidder as found upon opening the bids on Wednesday of last week. Mr. B.'s bid was $11,990 for the entire job, which was accepted by the Court, and the contract closed. The work is to be commenced in a few days and to be completed sufficiently for the reception of prisoners by the 15th of October next. []---
Excerpts from Column 2. The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. June 28, 1878. Page 3. LOC. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1878-06-28/ed-1/seq-3/
[June 28, 1878] -
MOVED. -- Jailor Thos. Buford moved from the jail residence yesterday to Mr. W. Craig's house on Main street.
...
...
NEW JAIL. -- Architect H. P. McDonald commenced on yesterday to stake out the ground for the new jail and residence. The location is between the present buildings and the Court-house, and will be shut off from the street by a heavy fence. The Contractor will commence at once with his job, and in a few days the prisoners confined here will be taken to Lancaster. []---
[] Excerpt from Column 2. The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. September 27, 1878. Page 3. LOC.
[September 27, 1878] -
NEW JAIL. -- John A. Gary, of Louisville, the Contractor for the plumbing necessary for the new jail, is laying a pipe from that building down Lancaster street, to the creek. The work is progressing well on the new jail, the heavy iron cells are completed, and by Circuit Court will be ready for use. []---
[] Excerpt from "Local News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. November 1, 1878. Page 3. LOC.
[November 1, 1878] -
JAIL BIRDS. -- The new jail being in condition for use, all the prisoners from this county, heretofore confined in the Lancaster jail, have been brought back and quartered in it. They number eighteen. []
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Excerpt from "Stanford, Ky." The Courier Journal, Louisville, KY. November 2, 1878. Page 2. Newspapers.com.
[November 2, 1878] -
STANFORD, KY.
A Bad Lot of Brothers Escape from the New Jail -- A Sheriff's Posse in Pursuit -- The Congressional Contest -- The Blackburn Brothers Arousing the People.
(Special Dispatch to the Courier Journal.)
STANFORD, Nov. 1. -- Thomas Cain, John Cain, Peter Cain and Joseph Cain escaped from the jail here last night at twelve o'clock by breaking out a bar from the main cell and from the window. Thomas Cain is indicted for the murder of Hiram Tucker in August last, and was committed without bail. John Cain has been convicted of arson at the present term of the Circuit Court, and his punishment fixed at ten years in the penitentiary, and the trial of Peter, for the same crime, is in progress, with almost certainty of conviction. Joseph Cain is indicted for carrying concealed deadly weapons. They are brothers and a very bad set, and have been an annoyance to this county for a number of years past. The Jailer has offered a reward for their recapture, and a posse is in pursuit of them this morning. Three other persons -- Westmoreland, who is convicted of larceny; Wm. Blakely, who is indicted for placing obstructions upon the railroad, and --- Privett, who is serving out a term for carrying concealed weapons, escaped at the same time, but they waked up the Jailer, who resides one hundred and fifty yards form the jail, informed him of the whole matter and surrendered themselves into his custody and went back to jail.
The jail is a new one, not yet finished, and the magisterial wisdom of the county considered it a marvel of security. It was built upon the plan and under the supervision of Mr. McDonald, architect, of Louisville, who has been paid a good round sum of money by the county for his supervising wisdom and knowledge and experience of such work, and I suppose Mr. McD will now be called upon to explain. [Source No. 10 in Tom Cain Kills Hiram Tucker, Lincoln, 1878]
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[] Excerpt from "Lincoln County News -- Tunnel City." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. November 15, 1878. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1878-11-15/ed-1/seq-3/
[November 15, 1878] -
EXACTLY.
If the county will give us $200 we will guarantee to build a jail here that the Cains can't get out of with a scantling. Nearly $10,000 for a jail that wouldn't hold the prisoners for scarcely a fortnight! We expect that the tax-payers would have been better satisfied with the investment of their money if those who had the matter in charge had expended more on the jail proper, and no so much in building a palatial residence for the jailer, who we know could be induced to stay with a much less imposing structure, while the prisoners require much stronger inducements, it seems, than is at present afforded to get them to stay. We should do all in our power to have them satisfied to stay, if the jailer has to "rough it" in an old army tent, if necessary. The present inducements for jailer will produce an extended list of candidates, provided the jailer is not held responsible for the escape of prisoners, by breaking through the pliant bars of the jail. There are a great many men in the county like ourselves, no doubt, who are deserving of an elegant and commodious residence at the expense of the public. And, we may as well state in this connection that it has always been our misfortune heretofore to be patriotic enough to heed the voice of the majority in preference to our own individual interest. []
---
[] Excerpt from "Local News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. November 15, 1878. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1878-11-15/ed-1/seq-3/
[November 15, 1878] -
THE JAIL BUSINESS. -- All the prisoners confined in the new jail on felony charges were taken back to Lancaster for safe-keeping, and the Magistrates have decided not to use the jail until it is fully completed. Architect H. P. McDonald came up this week, and decided that contractor Baughman should replace the broken bars with new ones, which he will do, and the trouble about it being received b the county will, no doubt, be settled. []---
[] Excerpt from "Local News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. December 13, 1878. Page 3. LOC.
[December 13, 1878] -
THE NEW JAIL AND RESIDENCE. -- As the jail and residence is completed, and will no doubt be received by the members of the County Court to-day, it may not be out of place to give our readers, especially those of them who will have to foot the bill, a discription of the buildings. The residence is a handsome two-story brick, 36x45 feet, with three large rooms above and the same number below, and the necessary hall and stairways. Up stairs is a large tank which is filled with water pumped by the prisoners inside of the jail from a cistern in the yard. From this tank pipes run to the bath-room and water closet on the same floor of the building and into the upper and lower departments of the jail. There are a number of cellar rooms, in one of which is a huge furnace, with four one foot pipes leading to the jail, by which means that establishment is heated. The rooms of the residence are furnished with nice iron mantles and grates, have inside shutters, and are well ventilated. There are two verandahs to the building, and the whole presents a neat and stylish appearance. The jail is attached to the residence, the brick part of that side of its wall being also the wall of the house. It is 35x35 feet and is built on a foundation a number of feet below the surface of the ground. The walls are build of ten-inch stone set on edge, with a nine-inch course of brick outside and against the rock. The bottom floor and upper ceiling are of heavy stone. There is an upper and lower department, in each of which are six cells of iron, 5x8 feet. These face each way with three on a side, divided by a solid sheet of iron half inch thick. The cells are inclosed in a cage made of large Chrome steel bars, and so arranged that the prisoners in but three cells can have access with each other in the walk during the day. At one end of each of these walks there is a bath tub, an iron basin, and a privy, all of which is connected with the tank before mentioned, by pipes, the water from which can be turned on by the prisoners. An excellent arrangement is the one that enables the jailer to stand outside of the cage and lock each cell, thereby preventing an attack from the prisoners. There is to each cell door besides, another lock which can be fastened after the prisoners are safe within. The walls inside are cemented, the windows, eight in number, are heavily barred with Chrome steel, and the entire inside is painted a bright red. The entrance to the jail is through the Jailer's office, which is 16x16 feet, built of brick, with two heavy iron doors at the outside entrance, two on the entrance by the residence, two in to the jail. These have heavy double locks and appear large enough and strong enough to hold even his Satanic Majesty himself. A wall fifteen feet high and covered with cement, into which broken glass is embedded, encircles the jail at a distance of fourteen feet from it all around. All of the work seems well and substantially done, and Mr. Henry Baughman, the Contractor, who did the whole of it for $11,900, deserves great praise, both for the work and the amount he has saved to the county by his low bid -- it being $1,584 less than the next lowest responsible bid, and $4,650 less than the highest. Mr. Baughman has given the work his closest attention, and is willing to testify that it is really what it appears to be -- a first-class job. In addition to the contract price, the Court has to pay Mr. H. P. McDonald, the Architect and Superintendent, 5 per cent. of the cost, besides other items, which makes his pay run up to about $750 and the total cost of the jail about $13,000. Even with the extras added, the price of the buildings are low for the quality, and Lincoln county may now boast of having as good a jail as any of her neighboring sisters, and one if from which a prisoner escape, the jailer will be the party to suffer the blame and censure. []---
[January 31, 1879] -
ATTEMPT TO BREAK JAIL. -- The Cains, one of them confined on a charge of murder, and the other awaiting the action of the Court of Appeals, on his sentence to Penitentiary for ten years for arson, and Thomas Robinson, serving out a sentence for carrying concealed weapons, made an attempt to free themselves this week, by sawing out the bars. Mr. Newland fortunately discovered the plan, and by threats of punishment compelled them to give up their saw, which was found to be the blade of a knife, filed down for the purpose. [Source No. 13 in Tom Cain Kills Hiram Tucker, Lincoln, 1878]---
[] Excerpt from "Local Matters." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. January 31, 1879. Page 3. LOC.
[January 31, 1879] -
THAT FENCE. -- It is a false piece of economy to enclose so handsome a building as the new jail residence with such a fence as is being put up. Five dollars more would have given a neat enclosure, and such an one ought by all means to have been put there. []
---
(also in non-fatal 1870s)
[] Excerpt from "Local Matters." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. May 16, 1879. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1879-05-16/ed-1/seq-3/
[] Excerpt from "Local Matters." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. May 16, 1879. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1879-05-16/ed-1/seq-3/
[May 16, 1879] -
ESCAPED. -- Clint Todd and Ben Denny, both white, and from Rockcastle, escaped from the rock-pile this week, to which they had been sent for breaking the peace and carrying concealed weapons. Balls and chains were attached to their legs, but they soon got them off when the jailer's back was turned. It is the sheerest nonsense for our juries to convict and sentence men to the work-house unless a guard is put over the prisoners. Our authorities should see to this, and make some one responsible for the scamps, or abolish the system, so far as the county is concerned, altogether. []---
[] Excerpt from "Local Matters." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 17, 1879. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1879-10-17/ed-1/seq-3/
[October 17, 1879] -
ATTEMPT TO BREAK JAIL. -- An attempt was made by the prisoners confined in the lower department of the jail to effect their escape on Wednesday night, but the jailer had had his suspicions aroused, and being on the lookout, prevented it. The ringleader of the undertaking was George Kelly, the negro who is charged with stealing $16 from Miss Logan, at Hustonville. He had succeeded in forming keys out of old spoons that would unlock the cell doors, but still a bold held the door fast. To remove this, he induced a fellow prisoner, Charles Owsley, charged with rape, to go in to the water closet, instead of his cell when Mr. Newland fastened them up for the night, thinking that there he would have a better chance at the bolt. After turning the bold, Mr. Newland remained quiet for a while and soon the noise of shaking the bolt commenced in the closet. He went there and found the negro, whom he treated to a good caning, and then by threats of dire vengeance, he made the others give up the spoons and other things that they had accumulated to aid them in their escape. The spoons are of German Silver, and the jailer thinks that they were thrown over the wall through the window into the building tied to stones, as he found a stone with a string tied to it on the floor. Kelly will not be given the liberty of the prisoners' walk again, but will be kept in close confinement till he takes his little jaunt to Frankfort. []
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RICHMOND, MADISON COUNTY
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SOMERSET, PULASKI COUNTY
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[] Excerpt from Column 4. The Louisville Daily Courier, Louisville, KY. March 23, 1860. Page 2. Newspapers.com.
[March 23, 1860] -
---
On Monday, the first day of the Circuit Court, while our marshal was attempting to persuade a lot of drunken rowdies to leave town without further disturbance, one of them drew a pistol and fired at him. This caused the others to desire a chance to show off "blood" that was in them, and the whole of them began firing at the officer, who, as he called for help, attempted to discharge his pistol at one or two of them, but did not succeed. He was quickly reinforced by some of our old and best citizens. After twenty-five shots and one or two foot races, some of the law and peace breakers were jugged, the others escaping to their hiding places. It is something remarkable that so many shots were aimed at Major Elliot, the marshal, and still he passed through all with scarcely a scratch. He proved, however, that he would stand fire, though he was himself virtually unarmed. Only one or two persons were injured during the affray, and they very slightly.
---
[] Excerpt from "Home Jottings." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. July 2, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-07-02/ed-1/seq-3/
[July 2, 1875] -
We are informed by Mr. J. B. Newnam who passed through our town [Stanford] a few days since, en route to Lebanon, on -- well, we all know his business -- that the prisoners confined in the Pulaski county jail, made an ineffectual attempt to escape a few nights since. They procured case knives by some means unknown, and succeeded in sawing off the hinges of their cell, and gained entrance to the hall. They were discovered in time, however, by some outside parties, and again placed in the narrow confines of a cell. There were five in number, and it is almost a miracle that they did not escape. []
---
[] Excerpt from "Home Jottings." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 15, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-10-15/ed-1/seq-3/
[October 15, 1875] -
Two prisoners passed through town last Saturday in charge of the Sheriff of Pulaski county, en route to the penitentiary for a period of two years. Two other prisoners were brought here by him and lodged in our jail for safe keeping, until the the next term of the Pulaski circuit court, owing to the fact that the jail down there is but little better than an ordinary house, as a prison. Pulaski county has purchased an iron cell, however, which will be placed in the old jail when finished. []
---
[ibid] Excerpt from "Home Jottings." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 15, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-10-15/ed-1/seq-3/
If our Pulaski friends had spent $10,000 of the money they used in building their fine temple of justice, in the erection of a safe prison, they would have had a court house good enough for any in the State, and no further taxation would be required to build a jail. So said a citizen of Somerset to a Journal reporter the other day. []
---
[] Excerpt from "Home Jottings." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. November 5, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-11-05/ed-1/seq-3/
[November 5, 1875] -
JAIL DELIVERY. -- We learn that on Sunday last, about noon, the nine prisoners who were confined in the jail at Somerset, made good their escape therefrom. The prison was known to be very insecure and hence five guards were placed around it to insure their safe keeping. These guards, we hear it said, were at dinner at the time, not thinking, we presume, that they would be so bold as to make an effort at escape in broad day light. But rogues, as well as lovers, laugh at locksmiths and guards. None of them have been re-arrested up to this time. []
---
[] Excerpt from "Home Jottings." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. November 12, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-11-12/ed-1/seq-3/
[November 12, 1875] -
We learn that three of the prisoners who escaped from the Pulaski jail, recently, have been captured and returned to "durance vile." Of this fact we are not fully advised, but hope it is true, as all malefactors should receive such punishment as their offenses merit. Some of them are said to be bad men, and they should be taught in the school of experiences to cease their infamous conduct. []
---
[] Excerpt from "State News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. January 28, 1876. Page 1. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1876-01-28/ed-1/seq-1/
[January 28, 1876] -
The building of the new jail in Pulaski county was let out by the County Court on Monday last for $9,000 to H. G. Trimble. They also allowed $880 to the architect until the completion of the building. This will make the jail, completed, cost about $11,000. To meet this amount it was decided to issue bonds bearing 10 per cent interest, payable in 20 years. An advalorem tax was also levied at 15cts on the $100 worth of property for the year 1876, for the payment of the jail bond principal and interest. So we learn from the Somerset Reporter, and from which we also learn that Mr. Jos. B. Rucker will retire from the editorial to the mechanical department of the Reporter. His partner, Mr. W. C. Owens, assuming entire editorial control. We will bank high on his making it lively. []
---
[] Excerpt from "Rockcastle County News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. February 16, 1877. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1877-02-16/ed-1/seq-2/
[February 16, 1877] -
When the Somerset Reporter has exhausted the jail question in Pulaski county, it might move up here [Mt. Vernon] and try it's hand at our jail. The place of confinement for criminals in this county [Rockcastle], certainly deserves more than a passing notice. []
---
[] Excerpt from Column 4. Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. October 19, 1877. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[October 19, 1877] -
At the late term of the Pulaski Circuit Court, Judge Owsley decided that the County Court had no power, except by special legislation, to levy a tax to build a jail. This was an important local question, and has excited a good deal of interest in Pulaski. An appeal was taken. []
---
[] Excerpts from "Pulaski County." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. December 2, 1881. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1881-12-02/ed-1/seq-2/
[December 2, 1881] -
Jailer Shepperd left this week to take Copenhaver to Illinois, where he is wanted for a murder committed over a year ago. He is a very courageous man, and officers Cundiff and Shepperd deserve praise for the promptness with which they arrested him.
---
[] Excerpt from "Pulaski County." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 31, 1882. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1882-10-31/ed-1/seq-3/
[October 31, 1882] -
It is finally settled that Pulaski county is to have a new jail. A committee consisting of Messrs. Tarter, Langdon and Ashurst will superintend the building. []
---
Excerpt from "Somerset." The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY. January 5, 1883. Page 6. Newspapers.com.
[January 5, 1883] -
---
[] Excerpt from "Pulaski County." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. January 9, 1883. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1883-01-09/ed-1/seq-3/
[January 9, 1883] -
Our city was ablaze with excitement last Thursday morning upon hearing that three of the six prisoners confined in our jail had escaped. Their names are Anderson, charged with burglary, and two Perkins brothers, charged with malicious cutting. They obtained a druggist's spatula, with which they sawed eight of the heavy iron bars in two. The remaining prisoners say that the work required 29 days. []
---
[] Excerpt from "Pulaski County." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. March 20, 1883. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1883-03-20/ed-1/seq-2/
[March 20, 1883] -
The jail, which has long been a disgrace to the town and county, both in its outside appearance and its internal a[r]rangement, is to be town down and a modern structure, with jailer's residence attached, after the style of the one in your town [Stanford], is to take its place. []
---
[] Excerpt from "Pulaski County -- Somerset." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. May 18, 1883. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1883-05-18/ed-1/seq-3/
[May 18, 1883] -
The foundation of the new jail has been completed and the brick work will be commenced next Monday. The iron cells have been received. Mr. Craig Asher is superintending the construction. []
---
[] "Thought to Be a Jail-Breaker." The Courier Journal, Louisville, KY. January 18, 1892. Page 2. Newspapers.com.
[January 18, 1892] -
---
[] Excerpt from "In Neighboring Counties." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. August 18, 1908. Page 1. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052021/1908-08-18/ed-1/seq-1/
[August 18, 1908] -
Complying with an order made by Judge M. L. Jarvis, of the Pulaski circuit court, Sheriff Jasper, of Somerset, took 14 prisoners, who had been confined there to Danville for safe-keeping. The Somerset jail is insecure and Danville is now made the jailing point for that place. []
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MOUNT VERNON, ROCKCASTLE COUNTY[October 17, 1879] -
ATTEMPT TO BREAK JAIL. -- An attempt was made by the prisoners confined in the lower department of the jail to effect their escape on Wednesday night, but the jailer had had his suspicions aroused, and being on the lookout, prevented it. The ringleader of the undertaking was George Kelly, the negro who is charged with stealing $16 from Miss Logan, at Hustonville. He had succeeded in forming keys out of old spoons that would unlock the cell doors, but still a bold held the door fast. To remove this, he induced a fellow prisoner, Charles Owsley, charged with rape, to go in to the water closet, instead of his cell when Mr. Newland fastened them up for the night, thinking that there he would have a better chance at the bolt. After turning the bold, Mr. Newland remained quiet for a while and soon the noise of shaking the bolt commenced in the closet. He went there and found the negro, whom he treated to a good caning, and then by threats of dire vengeance, he made the others give up the spoons and other things that they had accumulated to aid them in their escape. The spoons are of German Silver, and the jailer thinks that they were thrown over the wall through the window into the building tied to stones, as he found a stone with a string tied to it on the floor. Kelly will not be given the liberty of the prisoners' walk again, but will be kept in close confinement till he takes his little jaunt to Frankfort. []---------------------------------------------------------------------------
RICHMOND, MADISON COUNTY
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[] Excerpt from "Home News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. March 21, 1873. Page 1. LOC.
[March 21, 1873] -
MADISON COUNTY.
A party of twelve or fifteen men rode into Richmond, about two o'clock on Monday night, 10th inst., asked for the keys to the county jail, and, having procured the same from the jailor's wife, proceeded to release one Barabas, called John Brooks, in durance vile for robbing the meat-house of a poor negro man who gained an honest livelihood by the sweat of his brow. It was not Johnny's only offense, this robbery of the negro; but he bad been often engaged in such disreputable proceedings, and was not by himself. In fact it was very positively known in his neighborhood that a baud of petty thieves had an organization there, and their "operations were of frequent occurrence. Arresting Brooks, Collins and Johnston, put an end to their thefts. Yet a number of other persons besides those mentioned were members of the gang, and while Brooks remained in jail, a terrible uneasiness rested on their minds least John might blow on them; and indeed it is said that last week Brooks sent his partners, in crime, word that Circuit Court was near at hand and unless he should be rescued from the law before court began he would expose the whole concern. His threat had the desired effect, and the result was the outrage on Monday night. []
SOMERSET, PULASKI COUNTY
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[] Excerpt from Column 4. The Louisville Daily Courier, Louisville, KY. March 23, 1860. Page 2. Newspapers.com.
[March 23, 1860] -
Two prisoners, Gilpin and Geddis, escaped from the jail in Somerset, Ky., on Sunday night. []
---
[] Excerpt from "Letter from Somerset." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. April 9, 1875. Page 1. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-04-09/ed-1/seq-1/
[April 9, 1875] -
On Monday, the first day of the Circuit Court, while our marshal was attempting to persuade a lot of drunken rowdies to leave town without further disturbance, one of them drew a pistol and fired at him. This caused the others to desire a chance to show off "blood" that was in them, and the whole of them began firing at the officer, who, as he called for help, attempted to discharge his pistol at one or two of them, but did not succeed. He was quickly reinforced by some of our old and best citizens. After twenty-five shots and one or two foot races, some of the law and peace breakers were jugged, the others escaping to their hiding places. It is something remarkable that so many shots were aimed at Major Elliot, the marshal, and still he passed through all with scarcely a scratch. He proved, however, that he would stand fire, though he was himself virtually unarmed. Only one or two persons were injured during the affray, and they very slightly.
During the night following the difficulty the men escaped from the jail by crawling out through "Leon's Tunnel" (hole in the wall.)
We are glad to know that this difficulty has awakened our people to a sense of the condition to which our town is being brought by a set of men (?) who seem determined to follow this hell-born vocation, bid defiance to all law, and not once consider the welfare, peace or happiness of their fellow creatures. []
[] Excerpt from "Home Jottings." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. July 2, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-07-02/ed-1/seq-3/
[July 2, 1875] -
We are informed by Mr. J. B. Newnam who passed through our town [Stanford] a few days since, en route to Lebanon, on -- well, we all know his business -- that the prisoners confined in the Pulaski county jail, made an ineffectual attempt to escape a few nights since. They procured case knives by some means unknown, and succeeded in sawing off the hinges of their cell, and gained entrance to the hall. They were discovered in time, however, by some outside parties, and again placed in the narrow confines of a cell. There were five in number, and it is almost a miracle that they did not escape. []---
[] Excerpt from "Home Jottings." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 15, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-10-15/ed-1/seq-3/
[October 15, 1875] -
Two prisoners passed through town last Saturday in charge of the Sheriff of Pulaski county, en route to the penitentiary for a period of two years. Two other prisoners were brought here by him and lodged in our jail for safe keeping, until the the next term of the Pulaski circuit court, owing to the fact that the jail down there is but little better than an ordinary house, as a prison. Pulaski county has purchased an iron cell, however, which will be placed in the old jail when finished. []---
[ibid] Excerpt from "Home Jottings." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 15, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-10-15/ed-1/seq-3/
[October 15, 1875] -
If our Pulaski friends had spent $10,000 of the money they used in building their fine temple of justice, in the erection of a safe prison, they would have had a court house good enough for any in the State, and no further taxation would be required to build a jail. So said a citizen of Somerset to a Journal reporter the other day. []---
[] Excerpt from "Home Jottings." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. November 5, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-11-05/ed-1/seq-3/
[November 5, 1875] -
JAIL DELIVERY. -- We learn that on Sunday last, about noon, the nine prisoners who were confined in the jail at Somerset, made good their escape therefrom. The prison was known to be very insecure and hence five guards were placed around it to insure their safe keeping. These guards, we hear it said, were at dinner at the time, not thinking, we presume, that they would be so bold as to make an effort at escape in broad day light. But rogues, as well as lovers, laugh at locksmiths and guards. None of them have been re-arrested up to this time. []---
[] Excerpt from "Home Jottings." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. November 12, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-11-12/ed-1/seq-3/
[November 12, 1875] -
We learn that three of the prisoners who escaped from the Pulaski jail, recently, have been captured and returned to "durance vile." Of this fact we are not fully advised, but hope it is true, as all malefactors should receive such punishment as their offenses merit. Some of them are said to be bad men, and they should be taught in the school of experiences to cease their infamous conduct. []---
[] Excerpt from "State News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. January 28, 1876. Page 1. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1876-01-28/ed-1/seq-1/
[January 28, 1876] -
The building of the new jail in Pulaski county was let out by the County Court on Monday last for $9,000 to H. G. Trimble. They also allowed $880 to the architect until the completion of the building. This will make the jail, completed, cost about $11,000. To meet this amount it was decided to issue bonds bearing 10 per cent interest, payable in 20 years. An advalorem tax was also levied at 15cts on the $100 worth of property for the year 1876, for the payment of the jail bond principal and interest. So we learn from the Somerset Reporter, and from which we also learn that Mr. Jos. B. Rucker will retire from the editorial to the mechanical department of the Reporter. His partner, Mr. W. C. Owens, assuming entire editorial control. We will bank high on his making it lively. []---
[] Excerpt from "Rockcastle County News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. February 16, 1877. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1877-02-16/ed-1/seq-2/
[February 16, 1877] -
When the Somerset Reporter has exhausted the jail question in Pulaski county, it might move up here [Mt. Vernon] and try it's hand at our jail. The place of confinement for criminals in this county [Rockcastle], certainly deserves more than a passing notice. []---
[] Excerpt from Column 4. Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. October 19, 1877. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[October 19, 1877] -
At the late term of the Pulaski Circuit Court, Judge Owsley decided that the County Court had no power, except by special legislation, to levy a tax to build a jail. This was an important local question, and has excited a good deal of interest in Pulaski. An appeal was taken. []---
[] Excerpts from "Pulaski County." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. December 2, 1881. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1881-12-02/ed-1/seq-2/
[December 2, 1881] -
Jailer Shepperd left this week to take Copenhaver to Illinois, where he is wanted for a murder committed over a year ago. He is a very courageous man, and officers Cundiff and Shepperd deserve praise for the promptness with which they arrested him.
James Gragg, charged with robbing Kelley, has escaped. He being the only prisoner, Shepperd allowed him to remain outside of the cells. Our jail building outside of these 6x8 cages, thanks to the political economists of this county, is nothing but a shell, and James pining for the fresh air of freedom, gave the wall a little kick and left for parts unknown. []
---
[] Excerpt from "Pulaski County." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 31, 1882. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1882-10-31/ed-1/seq-3/
[October 31, 1882] -
It is finally settled that Pulaski county is to have a new jail. A committee consisting of Messrs. Tarter, Langdon and Ashurst will superintend the building. []---
Excerpt from "Somerset." The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY. January 5, 1883. Page 6. Newspapers.com.
[January 5, 1883] -
SOMERSET.
AFTER TWENTY-NINE DAYS' WORK, THREE PRISONERS FILE THEIR WAY OUT OF THE COUNTY JAIL.
(Special to the Courier-Journal.)
SOMERSET, Jan. 4. -- Intense excitement prevailed here this morning over the escape of three prisoners from our jail. This was the most remarkable escape in the history of our county. Our jail is a brick structure of small dimensions, and for some time has been in a dilapidated condition. The cells are built in the center of the building with a passage all around so that the Jailer may pass to examine every side of the cells. It seems that the prisoners had a druggist's spatula, in which they filed teeth like a saw, and managed to saw eight of the iron bars, leaving a hole ten inches square. This was sufficient for them to pass through, though they were compelled to disrobe themselves in order to reduce their sizes. A stove stands in the passage immediately in front of the hole, and this acted as a shield for their work, as the jailer could not see the notches already cut. The prisoners in the adjoining cell state that the work required twenty-nine days and it does seem strange that during this time the Jailer saw nor heard nothing of it.
The names of the prisoners who escaped are Frank Anderson, charged with burglary, and Jesse and Sol. Perkins, malicious cutting. The Jailer neglected to lock the doors between the room containing the cells and the hole in front where the coal is kept. The prisoners came out of their cells and passed into the hole, where an ax was kept for breaking coal, and with this they tore a hole through the brick wall, which is two feet thick, and made good their escape.
An new jail is being erected near where the old one stands, and, as it is to be of almost the same material as the old one, the prospects look gloomy. Our county is in a lawless condition now, and if we do not have a jail sufficiently secure to keep prisoners when they are captured, we can not see the necessity of making the people pay taxes to build a new jail. []
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[] Excerpt from "Pulaski County." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. January 9, 1883. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1883-01-09/ed-1/seq-3/
[January 9, 1883] -
Our city was ablaze with excitement last Thursday morning upon hearing that three of the six prisoners confined in our jail had escaped. Their names are Anderson, charged with burglary, and two Perkins brothers, charged with malicious cutting. They obtained a druggist's spatula, with which they sawed eight of the heavy iron bars in two. The remaining prisoners say that the work required 29 days. []---
[] Excerpt from "Pulaski County." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. March 20, 1883. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1883-03-20/ed-1/seq-2/
[March 20, 1883] -
The jail, which has long been a disgrace to the town and county, both in its outside appearance and its internal a[r]rangement, is to be town down and a modern structure, with jailer's residence attached, after the style of the one in your town [Stanford], is to take its place. []---
[] Excerpt from "Pulaski County -- Somerset." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. May 18, 1883. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1883-05-18/ed-1/seq-3/
[May 18, 1883] -
The foundation of the new jail has been completed and the brick work will be commenced next Monday. The iron cells have been received. Mr. Craig Asher is superintending the construction. []---
[] "Thought to Be a Jail-Breaker." The Courier Journal, Louisville, KY. January 18, 1892. Page 2. Newspapers.com.
[January 18, 1892] -
Thought to Be a Jail-Breaker.
Bill Ray, colored, was arrested last evening by Officers Mulverhill and Sullivan on the charge of being a fugitive from justice. It is thought to be an important arrest. Ray is believed to be one of the men who escaped from the Somerset, Ky., jail last week. Several of them were in for murder, and Ray was charged there with rape. []
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[] Excerpt from "In Neighboring Counties." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. August 18, 1908. Page 1. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052021/1908-08-18/ed-1/seq-1/
[August 18, 1908] -
Complying with an order made by Judge M. L. Jarvis, of the Pulaski circuit court, Sheriff Jasper, of Somerset, took 14 prisoners, who had been confined there to Danville for safe-keeping. The Somerset jail is insecure and Danville is now made the jailing point for that place. []---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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[September 24, 1853] -
"...the jail seemed to be about twelve feet by fourteen of wood logs, floored with the same; though an aperture in the floor, the prisoner was let down into a close room by a rope or ladder, and then the trap door closed--there seemed to be no ventilation, and but one aperture, not allowing light enough for Parker to read the letter I carried him: the stench was intolerable and a Mexican prison was never fuller of vermin! ..." [Excerpt from Source No. 3 in Kentucky Abolitionist Cassius M. Clay in Rockcastle County, 1853]
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[] Excerpt from Column 4. Courier Journal, Louisville, KY. January 12, 1867. Page 2. Newspapers.com.
[January 12, 1867] -
GENERAL JAIL DELIVERY. -- On Friday night of last week, the prisoners confined in the jail at Mount Vernon, Rockcastle county, Kentucky, seven in number, succeeded in breaking jail and making good their escape. []---
[] Excerpt from Column 3. The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. May 8, 1874. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1874-05-08/ed-1/seq-3/
[May 8, 1874] -
One of the prisoners, Wm. Johnson, colored, was sent for a term of fifteen years on three indictments, viz: horse-stealing, burning the Mt. Vernon jail, and assaulting and attempting to kill the jailor. []
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[] Excerpt from "Rockcastle County News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. February 16, 1877. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1877-02-16/ed-1/seq-2/
[February 16, 1877] -
When the Somerset Reporter has exhausted the jail question in Pulaski county, it might move up here [Mt. Vernon] and try it's hand at our jail. The place of confinement for criminals in this county [Rockcastle], certainly deserves more than a passing notice. []---
[] Excerpts from "Rockcastle County News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. May 4, 1877. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1877-05-04/ed-1/seq-2/ top of rockcastle col
[May 4, 1877] -
WANTED. -- A place of confinement for criminals in this [Rockcastle] county.
Only one man convicted to the Penitentiary this term of Court and he escapes from the Jail before sentence is passed upon him. []
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[] Excerpt from "Rockcastle County News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. August 31, 1877. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1877-08-31/ed-1/seq-2/
[August 31, 1877] -
Last Wednesday night, the doors of our [Rockcastle] jail were opened in some mysterious manner, and two prisoners made their escape. This is the second time within six months that the doors have been unlocked at night by parties unknown, and the inmates set at liberty. We have heard that there are duplicate keys in existence. The manner should be investigated, the locks changed, or our jail smashed into kindling wood. []---
[] Excerpt from "Rockcastle County." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. August 8, 1879. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1879-08-08/ed-1/seq-3/
[August 8, 1879] -
John P. Hughes and Aleck Smith, two prisoners confined in jail charged with larceny, escaped last Sunday night from "durance vile." There was a hole in the floor of the jail which afforded them an easy means of egress. Once under the floor, they had but to knock out a few chunks of "underpinning," when they were at liberty. []---
[] Excerpt from "Rockcastle County." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. January 9, 1880. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1880-01-09/ed-1/seq-2/
[January 9, 1880] -
An attempt on the part of the prisoners to break jail was happily frustrated a few nights ago. It seems that they had been at work for several nights cutting and burning their way through the floor. Pending the completion of the aperture, one of them was bailed out. He got a little too much Christmas "egg-nog" ahead and divulged the operations to some friends. It was talked about and finally came to the ears of the jailor, Mr. Houk. He made an investigation and discovered the hole. Hereafter the prisoners will remain in their cells. []
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[] Excerpt from "Rockcastle County." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. January 30, 1880. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1880-01-30/ed-1/seq-2/ jailbreak
[January 30, 1880] -
Last Thursday night the prisoners confined in our jail at this place [Mt. Vernon] made their escape shortly after night-fall. Their names and crimes were as follows: Wm. Cundiff, indicted in two cases for murder; J. A. Hobbs, indicted for false pretenses; Sam. Swayne, awaiting indictment for burglary in two cases, and Wm. Biley who was serving out a sentence for carrying concealed weapons. They made their escape by boring through the floor and then scratching through the earth at the upper side of the jail. Swayne was recaptured Monday night near town by Willis Adams, Jr., and F. L. Thompson, and is again in durance vile. []---
[] Excerpt from "Rockcastle." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. April 9, 1880. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1880-04-09/ed-1/seq-2/
[April 9, 1880] -
Last Saturday night while the elements were at war without, Saml. Swayne alias Riddle, the solitary prisoner confined in our county jail, removed a couple of loose planks in the floor and working a pole through the foundation, pushed his body through and again scented the fresh air of liberty. Swayne was in on a charge of burglary in two cases -- for robbing the store of Willis Adams, Jr., and that of Williams & Miller last Winter. He had escaped once before since his arrest, but was recaptured. He will make his whereabouts scarce this time if he is smart. Had he been properly confined in the cell the escape could not have been effected. In justice to the jailer, Mr. Houk, his statement should be given. He says he locked Swayne securely in the cell the evening before. Swayne must have played some sort of trick on his keeper and prevented the bolt from slipping into its place. The jail escapes during the past few months demonstrates conclusively that if our county wishes to keep her criminals, she must build a new and substantial jail. []---
[] Excerpt from "Rockcastle." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. April 23, 1880. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1880-04-23/ed-1/seq-2/
[April 23, 1880] -
Several of the neighboring county papers are boasting that their county jails are empty. Well, our [Rockcastle] county jail is empty, too. The fact is, if you were to fill the building with prisoners it would empty in a few minutes. It's no trouble to make an "escape" from our jail. Let's abolish it? []---
[January 14, 1881] -
The attention of the grand jury is respectfully called to the jail. It most certainly deserves an investigation. If not convenient to unlock the door, the sublime jurors can crawl in at the hole to the left or ascend to the second story and go down the flue, a la Geo. Crecey, who went up that way once to a bed-fellow. []---
[] Excerpt from "Mt. Vernon Department." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 28, 1881. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1881-10-28/ed-1/seq-2/
[October 28, 1881] -
The jail is empty, but then it isn't the jail's fault. []---
[] Excerpt from "Mt. Vernon Department." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. June 29, 1883. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1883-06-29/ed-1/seq-3/
[June 29, 1883] -
The prisoners in jail made an attempt to get out a few days ago by sawing into the hinges of the door. They had gotten and old case-knife blade and a piece of file and made a saw by these means, and had sawed one hinge in two before it was discovered. The door works very smoothly and in opening it Mr. Houk noticed a scratching noise, and on examination noticed the hinges as above. []---
[] Excerpt from "Mt. Vernon Department." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. June 10, 1884. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1884-06-10/ed-1/seq-3/
[June 10, 1884] -
Friday about 6 o'clock six persons, four white and two colored confined in the county jail on various felonious charges and awaiting the action of the next grand jury, made a dash for liberty. When the jailer, who had gone into the jail alone, was locking the door of a cell, two prisoners rushed from another cell and threw a blanket over his head and hurling him to the floor held him until he was insensible. Then the six started for the hills and freedom. Shouts of murder and escape soon started a band of avengers on their trail. Three of them were soon captured, but the other three made good their escape. Several shots were fired at these parties as they ran, a long distance off, and none of them took effect. Ten shots were fired at John Bernhardt, colored, and three of them took effect; one in the left wrist and one in the left hip. Neither of these wounds are thought to be dangerous. After Bernhardt was shot he staid out all night in the rain. About 1 o'clock Saturday he was seen to enter the stable at Robt. Furguson's by some of his family. They informed Mr. F. and he and Isaac Munday went out and arrested him and brought him to town that evening. He said he had got cold and wanted to lay in the straw and dry himself. Numerous threats of lynching the prisoners are being made and it would not surprise me to hear of their being strung up at any time. Mr. Houk offers $20 reward each for the two who are still uncaught. []---
[] Excerpt from "Mt. Vernon, Rockcastle County." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. July 9, 1886. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1886-07-09/ed-1/seq-2/
[July 9, 1886] -
J. W. Mullins, of East Bernstadt, was here Monday to get the contract to build the new jail. Mr. Mullins comes well recommended. He built the court-house at London, which is just completed and is said to be the best one in the mountains. He will draw some plans and submit them to the committee. Bids will be let soon and it will not be long before we have a new jail going up. []---
[] "A Kicking Tax-Payer." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. March 18, 1887. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1887-03-18/ed-1/seq-2/ whole article
[March 18, 1887] -
A Kicking Tax-Payer.
(To the Editor of the Interior Journal.)
MT. VERNON, March 17. -- At the late session of the Kentucky Legislature, an act was passed authorizing the Rockcastle county court to issue the bonds of the county to an amount not exceeding $8,000 for the purpose of building a jail and jailer's residence, and at the October term of the county court a committee was appointed to visit the jails at London and Williamsburg and ascertain the plans, cost of building, &c. That committee was instructed to report at a special term, I think in January, 1887. At any rate this court met and appointed M. J. Miller, M. J. Cook and H. H. Baker as a building committee to let out the work, &c. This committee has gone ahead and privately let out the contract to J. W. Mullins, of Laurel county. I am not objecting to the man who secured the contract, because he comes to us well recommended as a builder. But I am objecting to this way of letting out a contract for the erection of a public building privately. And another thing, the people ought to know what their jail is to cost. One of the members of the committee when asked what the contract was let at replied: "We have agreed to keep the price a secret for a few days." What do the tax payers of Rockcastle county say to this way of doing business? And besides all this perhaps some citizens of our county might want to have a chance to make a few dollars out of the job. I know of at least two parties, both good, reliable men, who wanted to put in bids for the work. And behold their consternation when they began to make inquiries in reference to the time for putting in bids, to find that the whole job had been fixed up privately. I, as a tax payer of Rockcastle county, demand that the committee explain their actions. The people have a right to know and a few of them are determined to find out how "these things are." TAX PAYER. []
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[] Excerpt from "Mt. Vernon, Rockcastle County." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. January 27, 1888. Page 1 LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1888-01-27/ed-1/seq-1/
[January 27, 1888] -
In county court Monday the poll tax was placed at $2.35 with 15 cents added to go towards paying for the new jail and 15 cents per $100 for same purpose. The jail building committee were allowed $100 for their services. []---
[] Excerpt from "Mt. Vernon, Rockcastle County." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. March 18, 1890. Page 1. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1890-03-18/ed-1/seq-1/
[March 18, 1890] -
A discovery was made with regard to our new jail, which was supposed to be rat proof as well as burglar proof. On Friday when Bill Austin and Jim Palmer were brought out for trial a cut place was found in the floor leading to the upper cells. Inquiry disclosed the fact that the male prisoners, who were kept down stairs, devised a plan for having a visitor from the upper cell. They went to work with an eleven inch porker, used in punching the fire in the stove, pried off the iron lining of the ceiling, proceeded to burn three six inch sleepers in two, besides two thickness of a floor. It required but a few days to accomplish the task. The 8 by 13 inch hole made was kept covered from above by a mattress. The place was made some two months since and kept concealed until last Friday. []---
[] Excerpt from "Mt. Vernon, Rockcastle County." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. July 4, 1893. Page 1. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1893-07-04/ed-1/seq-1/
[July 4, 1893] -
The jail is being talked of as being too dark. It is claimed that the lower prison department, on account of the Mullins patent windows, is so dark that it is impossible to read a newspaper during the day without the aid of a lamp. []---
[] Excerpt from "Local." Mount Vernon Signal, Mt. Vernon, KY. January 15, 1909. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86069561/1909-01-15/ed-1/seq-3/ (2nd col)
[January 15, 1909] -
BROKE JAIL:-- John B. G. Miller and a man by the name of Flynn from Pulaski county, serving long jail sentences for the illegal sale of whisky, made their escape last Saturday night. These men were in the second story and to force an exit was a very easy matter as the upper part of the jail is better suited for most any other purpose than for a jail. The officials should be and are no doubt glad that the[y] are gone, if they will only leav[e] the county and stay away. Miller has served numerous sentences on similar charges and has been [a] source of considerable worry and annoyance to the officials. He now stands indicted for a nuissance[sic] and with the large number of whisky indictments hanging over him he is not very likely to return unless brought back by the officers of the law and this would mean more trouble in the end and nothing gained. []---
[] Excerpt from "Local." Mount Vernon Signal, Mt. Vernon, KY. December 17, 1909. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86069561/1909-12-17/ed-1/seq-2/
[December 17, 1909] -
The prisoners broke jail again Monday night and all that wanted to, made their escape. "Peg Leg" the negro charged with breaking in Krueger's store, and Reese, charged with selling liquor, made their escape. Faulk Ross, colored, left but returned two days later of his own accord. Leger and another person charged with minor offences as soon as they found the others had escaped went to Jailer Langford's home on Richmond street and told him what had happened and returned to the jail with him. When Ross returned he asked Jailer Langford to lock him up and with a small wire, such as "Peg Leg" had used two nights before, he opened the door and walked out. Reese escaped about two weeks ago and was captured by Marshal Burton of Livingston last Sunday. This jail, although it cost about $8,000; is a nuissance[sic] in every particular and if the county expects to maintain a jail to hold the law breakers a new one or some decided improvements on the old one are absolutely necessary. []---
[] Excerpt from "Local." Mount Vernon Signal, Mt. Vernon, KY. November 5, 1909. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86069561/1909-11-05/ed-1/seq-3/
[November 5, 1909] -
If there is any county in Kentucky which needs a new jail it is Rockcastle. The present jail is a disgrace to the county and the way it is arranged the prisoners can not be cared for like people and residence part is simply the limit. []---
[] Excerpt from "Local." Mount Vernon Signal, Mt. Vernon, KY. June 13, 1919. Page 5. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86069561/1919-06-13/ed-1/seq-5/ (4th col)
[June 13, 1919] -
When Judge Cam Mullins gets through fixing the jail, court house and county property, it will be a decent place to stay. The old dungeon to the jail has been torn up and will be used for a coal house. This should have been done a long time ago. If a man has to go to jail, that is no reason he should live in a place worse than a hog pen, and the Mt. Vernon jail has never been a place suitable to keep human beings. The second floor will be fixed for the jail use hereafter. []
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MONTICELLO, WAYNE COUNTY---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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WILLIAMSBURG, WHITLEY COUNTY
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[] Excerpt from "Mt. Vernon Department." Semi-Weekly Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. February 15, 1884. Page 2. LOC. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85052020/1884-02-15/ed-1/seq-2/
[February 15, 1884] -
We are informed that the postofice at Williamsburg was broken into and the safe blown open and about $700 in cash taken there from. There is no clue to the burglars yet. At the same place a mob visited the jail with the intention of taking Harris and Wigginton out and hanging them, on last Monday night. They were protected by friends from Lily and other points this side of Williamsburg. The mob was supposed to be from Jellico, Tenn. Harris and Wigginton shot and killed one Jas. Anderson at Jellico Sunday night. Anderson was a barber and lived at Williamsburg; Harris lived, at Lily where he sold whisky as a "profession" and Wigginton is said to be from London, Ky. The killing is said to be justifiable, but great indignation is felt against Harris and Wigginton by the people who thought a great deal of Anderson. All the parties are white men. Anderson leaves a wife and one child. []
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