This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/VS.2ADI/614.2.2.1 Message Board Post: Taken from the History of Wetumpka Sesquicentennial "During the year 1839 Wetumpka had been chosen as the site for the State Penetentiary....The first warden was William Hogan. The first convict was William Garrett, who was charged with harboring a run-away Negro.... " It goes on to say that he escaped and was recaptured but later pardoned as some doubt to his guilt had arisen. No other name is given in the book though locals may have assigned it one. I am from Tennessee so I would not know that.. The book refers to it as the STATE PENETENTIARY. It was, when I saw it several years ago, little more than a pile of bricks. Hope this helps someone. Vivian