In 1799, the Kentucky State Penitentiary was established at Frankfort. This was the first penitentiary west of the Allegheny Mountains holding a mere 30 prisoners with a "keeper" appointed by the Governor as the guard. The prisoners were kept quite busy in the early days; the made nails, shoes, chairs, tin ware and cut stone. The facility was soon over-crowded, and in 1817 additional funds were requested for expansion. The State tried an experimental program in 1825 when a private citizen, Joel Scott offered to run the penitentiary like a business, and promising it would see a profit. He would return the excess monies back to the state. He signed a 55-year lease and he and some of his family became quite well off. He sold the products manufactured by the prisoners and kept the money for themselves. One of their main products was hemp. Scores of inmates died from scurvy and pneumonia during this time. The Civil War's arrival placed a heavy burden on the penitentiary population. To raise funds, the state government charged $8.00 for grand larceny and reduced sentences on the basis of good behavior. Between 1865 and 1878 the population increased "five fold" and by 1880, contractors were allowed to run the system. They used convicts outside of the prison walls to do manual labor. Inmates were soon building railroads and tunnels and about 600 were used to dig the reservoir for the city water supply. When Luke Blackburn became Governor of the state, he pardoned 850 inmates and requested assistance to build a 400 cell penitentiary at Eddyville. This opened in 1890. It is thought that during this time frame many prisoners were abused and overcrowded. In 1891, a law was passed that prohibited using prisoners outside of the facility. Eddyville and Frankfort facilities were expanded and it was stream-lined to allow the prisoners to manufacture shoes, shirts, brooms and all types of leather goods. In 1935 the prison population had grove to 4,300 inmates and Frankfort could take no more. At Eddyville it was reported that prisoners slept on bunks in the corridors. Gov. Ruby Lafoon pardoned 500 more inmates; but by 1937 over 3,000 inmates were crammed into the old penitentiary at Frankfort. Newspapers reported the facilities could not even be swept for all the bodies. For more information you might like to read Robert G. Crawford's "A History of the Kentucky Penitentiary System 1865-1937", University of Kentucky, 1955. INMATES IN THE ILLINOIS STATE PENITENTIARY AT JOLIET, IL, 1860: Name: FOSTER, Isaac Charge: Larceny Resident: Cook Co IL Term: 3 years Age: 28 Occupation: Cook Height: 5-11 Skin: Fair Hair: Fair Eyes: Dark Name: NAYES, Elmore Charge: Larceny Resident: Scott Co IL Term: 1 year Age: 35 Occupation: Laborer Height: 5-11 Skin: Dark Hair: Dark Eyes: Grey INMATES IN THE ILLINOIS STATE PENITENTIARY AT ALTON, IL, 1 January 1857. Name: BARNES, William Age: 22 Residence: Massac Co IL Charge: Larceny Name: BURNS, Harrison Age: 21 Residence: Adams Co IL Charge: Rape Name: CLEMENS, George Age: 28 Residence: Cook Co IL Charge: Vagrancy Name: CRAVES, Henry Age: 58 Residence: Lake Co IL Charge: Assault to Murder Name: JARRETT, Daniel Age: 37 Residence: Massac Co IL Charge: Larceny Name: JONES, Oliver Age: 18 Residence: Cook Co IL Charge: Rape Name: KELLY, James Age: 23 Residence: Madison Co IL Charge: Larceny Name: LEWIS, Oliver Age: 24 Residence: Edwards Co IL Charge: Larceny Name: McCLOSKY, James Age: 29 Residence: Adams Co IL Charge: Larceny Name: MARSHALL, William Age: 32 Residence: Adams Co IL Charge: Larceny Name: MORAN, James M Age: 18 Residence: Cook Co IL Charge: Larceny Name: O'CONNOR, Patrick Age: 19 Residence: Cook Co IL Charge: Larceny Name: PRATON, Reuben Age: 33 Residence: Warren Co IL Charge: Larceny Name: RILEY, Patrick Age: 23 Residence: Cook Co IL Charge: Robbery Name: SLAVEN, John Age: 22 Residence: St. Clair and Madison Co IL Charge: Larceny Name: Smith, Christopher C Age: 28 Residence: Pulaski Co IL Charge: Larceny Name: SMITH, Stephen Age: 34 Residence: Kane Co IL Charge: Larceny Name: THURMAN, John W Age: 25 Residence: Wayne Co IL Charge: Burglary Name: VEBERT, William Age: 19 Residence: Pulaski Co IL Charge: Larceny Name: WILLIAMSON, Lafayette Age: 23 Residence: Jefferson Co IL Charge: Burglary (Courtesy Illinois State Genealogical Society, Vol XVII, No. 2, Summer 1986.) (c) Copyright 25 February 1999, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights Reserved, sgorin@glasgow-ky.com TIP OF THE WEEK! Remember not to open any attachment with Happy.exe as the subject! Col Sandi Gorin 205 Clements,Glasgow, KY 42141 (502) 651-9114 PUBLISHING: http://members.delphi.com/gorin1/index.html SCKY: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/BarrenObits TIPS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Tips KYBIOS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Bios ARCHIVES: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl