I wonder if the jail was over crowded on Saturday night? In early times the office of sheriff was not so profitable as it now is, and as a sort of perquisite the sheriff was allowed to keep tavern. Hence we find Nicholas Fairlamb, a newly elected sheriff, petitioning to the court to be recommended for a license. In later times the tavern was kept in the dwelling apartment of the prison. -----Original Message----- From: pa-old-chester-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:pa-old-chester-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Sandra Ferguson Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2012 04:34 AM To: pa-old-chester-l@rootsweb.com Subject: [PaOldC] Nicholas Fairlamb from a lookup: FAIRLAMB, Nicholas, from Stockton, in the county of Durham, England, came to Pennsylvania in 1700, and settled at first in Philadelphia. In 1703 he married Katharine, daughter of Richard Crosby, of Middletown, to which place he removed, afterwards residing in Chester. His children were Mary, b. 7,19,1705, m. John Tomlinson; Samuel, b. 10,20,1707, died young' Katherine, b. 4,8,1709, m. Joseph Tomlinson; Hannah, b. 8,19,1711, m. John Hurford; John, m. 11,13,1742-3, to Susanna Engle; Eleanor, m. ,423,1743, to Caleb Harrison. John was a member of Assemble, sheriff, justice of the courts, etc., and died in 1766, leaving children,-Nicholas, Frederick, Samuel, John, Catharine, Anne, Susanna, Eleanor, and Mary. John, Jr., married Susanna Ashbridge, of Goshen, in 1784. Catharine married, 4,3,1773, Peter Hill, of Middletown, who built what was known as "Hillsdale Factory," on the Brandywine, in East Bradford, now a paper mill. FAIRLAMB, NICHOLAS.October 22, 1722.Adm. to Katherine Fairlamb. Sandra ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PA-OLD-CHESTER-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

This isn't just the sort of thing that happened in 'antiquity'. I remember reading a article in our state magazine, written by the son of a county sheriff...probably in the 40s or 50s. The family had a 'room' in their home for the prisoners to stay in, and the "jail birds' often joined the family for meals...my, my...how times have changed! In early days housing prisoners was a big problem for many areas....thus, the public whippings and the like. This wasn't done to be cruel or unkind, so much as to 'dole out' punishment that didn't require incarceration, which wasn't possible. A person had no money to pay for his 'crime', and there was no place to lock him up, where he would have had to be fed, etc, a drain on twp funds....so, there wasn't much left to do BUT administer some sort of physical punishment. S. "I wonder if the jail was over crowded on Saturday night? In early times the office of sheriff was not so profitable as it now is, andas a sort of perquisite the sheriff was allowed to keep tavern. Hence wefind Nicholas Fairlamb, a newly elected sheriff, petitioning to the court tobe recommended for a license. In later times the tavern was kept in thedwelling apartment of the prison."