Few documents exist from the first jail’s
early days. This 1824 document is an “expense
list” detailing the costs of keeping
a Mr. William Johnson,
native of Cambria County, in the Philadelphia
Prison. The yearly cost of housing Mr. Johnson in the
prison was $82.62. His bill was reduced by $19.24 for
time he served working in a local cotton factory. The
final bill for $63.30 was submitted to the
Commissioners of Cambria County for reimbursement to Philadelphia.
The first Ebensburg newspaper recounts the
story of an 1834 prisoner.
It provides a bit of comic relief in the
serious business of housing felons.
“Locking
Out - On Friday last, the only remaining prisoner in
our jail, having served out the allotted time for a
small offense, was discharged by the Jailer, and
directed to leave the prison. Liking his late quarters
better than those he had in prospect, he refused to
go. The Jailer having enticed him out of the Jail,
immediately locked the door, and refused him
admittance: The Jail rooms have since remained without
tenants.”
The
Ebensburg Sky - January 9, 1834.
Judge Robert L. Johnston, who wrote much of the
early history of the county, details his recollections
of the first jail:
“It was here that Jemmy Farrell, in his daily
devotion, sang the psalms so loudly while confined in
jail, that the Court, in the room above, had to
adjourn because of the noise.
It was here Fox and McHugh, while languishing
in the debtors department, became bail for each other.
Each claimed he was imprisoned for the other’s debt.
It was here that Sheriff R. gave his
prisoners the range of the county (released during the
day) and threatened to lock them out if they didn’t
return before night. And it was here that the
murderers of Mrs. Holder escaped, due to the heroism
and devotion of a sister.”
Judge
Robert L Johnston
-
from a lecture written in 1856.
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