USA > Kentucky > Henderson County > History of Henderson County, Kentucky > Part 7
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
except the room in which the stairway is run up. The stairs to be four feet wide and the railing strong ; the steps to be made of oak planks one and one- half inches thick, seasoned and jointed. The door to enter the passage above must be a falling or trap-door of two-inch oak plank, seasoned and jointed double, and spiked crosswise together, to be locked below with a double bolted padlock, and strong hinges let into the timber above. The doors to each of the cells above to be made of sheet-iron at least one-eight of an inch thick, faced with a door of two-inch oak plank. spiked with strong iron spikes, and the facing of each door to be of the same material and thickness, fastened to the timbers, and plank facing with strong iron spikes. The locks to each of the cell doors must be locked with large and strong locks outside. There must be an iron netting above each cell door of one inch square, twelve inches high and as wide as the door. The windows above to be opposite each cell door, of eight lights each, to be gurded with an iron netting one inch square, and the facings inust be iron as aforesaid. There must be a chimney at each* end of the jail, with a fire-place in each room below, to be placed outside of the wall above, so as not to weaken the wall to the outside cells. The materials of every kind must be of the best kind, and the whole work must be done in a strong, substantial manner. It is to be, and is understood, that the upright timbers are to be let into the timbers above and below with a tenant or groove of two inches deep in the whole width. The roof to be made in the usual way, for instance, as the Court House. in form and material. The rooms in the first story and partition must be plastered, as the Court Room of the Court House."
This building was located on Court Hill in the rear of the Court House, and in 1820, was completed and received from the contrac- tors by the County Court. Outside of necessary repairs, it was never of much expense to the county, and was never broken but twice in its history of forty-three years. During that time many of the hard- est characters known to the law were incarcerated in it.
There are incidents connected with this old building interesting and amusing ; there are also painful truths, which it is not the purpose of this book to tell about. In 1853 the following order was passed, which will no doubt amuse the reader :
"Ordered that the jailer of Henderson County purchase for W J. Philips, a prisoner in the county jail on the charge of felony. one comfort, and take fire three times a day, in a pan, for him to warm by, and to guard the fire while said Philips is warming."
A NEW JAIL TO BE BUILT.
For several years prior to 1860, great complaint had been made to the court concerning the county jail, and at the January, 1860, court,
"It was ordered that John H. Lambert, William B. Beatty, Barak Bras- hear, Y. E. Allison, and L. W. Brown, be appointed commissioners to exam- ine the jail building of the county, and report whether the same can be heated
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
by any safe means, and if not, and they think a new jail ought to be built, to report a plan and the probable cost of the work."
The Commissioners returned their report to the March court fol- lowing, and thereupon the Magistrates of the county were summoned to consider the same. In April the Magistrates met, and after hav- ing considered the premises for which they had been summoned,
" It was ordered that William B. Beatty, Y. E Allison, F. E. Walker, Barak Brashear, and Mat J. Christopher be appointed commissioners of the county, to have made and report a suitable plan and specifications for a new jail and dwelling house for the jail, the cost of the same to be fixed at cash prices. It was further ordered that P. A Blackwell, F. E. Walker, and P. H. Lockett be appointed a committee to ascertain and report what amount of money the county may have to borrow, and upon what terms the same can be secured, upon the credit of the county for the purpose aforesaid."
The Commissioners appointed to report a plan and specifications, did so, but from some cause the report did not suit the minds of the Magistrates, and thereupon another set of commissioners, to wit : James B. Lyne, Edward D. McBride, and C. W. Hutchen were ap- pointed to draft a plan of a good and sufficient jail, and report at this court. Five cents on the one hundred dollars was levied, to be col- lected and paid into the jail fund. At the November court, 1862, the Commissioners reported a plan and specifications prepared by F. W. Carter, of Louisville, an architect of considerable reputation, and the same were adopted and approved by the court. On motion Mr. Carter was allowed one hundred and fifty dollars for his work. On motion it was
"Ordered that C. W. Hutchen, Y. E. Allison, F. E. Walker, E. D Mc- Bride, and Jesse Lame be appointed a committee to let out the building of the new jail to the lowest and best bidder and superintend the building as it pro- gresses."
They were also directed and empowered to borrow money on the credit of the county at any rate of interest not exceeding 8 per cent. In 1864 this jail was completed, and received, and Y. E. Allison ap- pointed and directed to sell the old building. The present residence of the jailer was built at that time, and in its rear stood the prison, which was thought to be strong enough for all purposes. Around the prison was a brick wall fifteen or twenty feet high, which was thought to be amply sufficient to prevent the escape of any one who might break jail, but this theory proved to be incorrect, and the jail proved to be more vulnerable than the old one, which had been torn down. After some years it became notorious, and regarded as totally unfit for the purpose for which it was intended.
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
STILL ANOTHER JAIL.
The Magistrates, in commission June, 1871, by order appointed C. Bailey, Isom Johnson, and Jackson McClain commissioners to ex- amine the jail building. 'They were authorized to employ skilled ad- vice, and if in their opinion the building could be repaired, to report what repairs were necessary, and the probable cost, and if in the event the prison could not be made secure, then to report a plan, specifications and probable cost for a new prison house. The Com- missioners soon determined that the jail standing at that time was worthless, the timbers having rotted, and at no time was it such a house as to command the respect of an expert jail bird. They de- termined that a prison large enough and strong enough should be built, and to better do this, they visited several large cities and made personal examinations of prison houses, built upon the most modern plan, with a view to convenience, strength and security against jail breakers. After thoroughly posting themselves they reported to the August term, 1871, as the result of their labors, a plan and specifica- tions which received the approval of the court. The court in session . at that time was composed of the following named Magistrates : G. W. Griffin, J. E. Denton, J. M. Johnson, Jesse Basket, James M. Stone, Asa F. Parker, Ben F. Gibson, J. A. Priest, Green W. Pritchett, C. S. Royster, Hiram Turner, J. F. Toy, William S. Cooper and William W. Shelby. The Commissioners were instructed to advertise for bids and contract for building the new jail, to contain at least sixteen wrought iron cells, and if, in their opinion, the walls standing at that time would not do to be lined with iron, and they should deem it best to build the jail entirely new. This they were authorized to do, hav- ing the walls built of blue limestone, or good hard well burnt brick, and lined with iron as in their opinion would be best for the interest of the county, taking into consideration the cost and durability of the work. At this same term, to wit : August, 1871, bonds of the county, to the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars, were authorized to be issued bearing 10 per cent. interest, payable semi-annually, and re- deemable after five years at the pleasure of the county. November 23, eight thousand dollars additional bonds were directed to be issued. A number of bids were received by the Commissioners, and upon a careful and close investigation the contract for building the jail was awarded to Haugh & Co., of Indianapolis, Indiana. Subsequently the contract was assigned to Norris & Hinckly, who completed the build- ing at and for the sum of thirty-three thousand four hundred dollars, including all alterations and changes. Major J. M. Stone, who was
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
appointed superintendent of the work, and also a committee to have printed and dispose of the bonds of the county. He did his work well, and paid into the county treasury between sixteen and seventeen hundred dollars premium, received upon the face of the bonds. Major Stone and Asa F. Parker were appointed a committee to.sell and have removed the old jail when it was determined to build the present jail entirely new from the ground up. It was sold to the City of Hender- son for a small price, and all of the material of value used in build- ing the present handsome city building. On November 30, 1872, final payment was made the contractors. This prison when completed was thought to be invulnerable. It was built upon the most approved plans of prison architecture, including strength and durability, and yet it has been broken or cut through as often, or perhaps oftener, than any of its predecessors, showing conclusively that there is nothing that tools will make that tools will not unmake. One of the saddest in- cidents in history is associated with this jail. In December, 1875, dur- ing the official term of J. Elmus Denton, a high-strung, impetuous, honorable gentleman, the inmates of the jail effected their escape. The excitement attending the escapade prayed heavily upon his mind, and completely unnerved and prostrated his sensitive, though fearless spirit. He was not to be intimidated by a hundred men, but the censure of the public was more than he could withstand. He thought of nothing else, he allowed his imagination to run wild, and while his friends were far from censuring him, he yet imagined that they did, and within his mind resolved to take his own life rather than face, as he apprehended, a reproving and complaining public. On the morning of December 18, he walked, as was usual for him, up on Main Street, and while there settled several accounts that he owed. Returning to the jail, and without intimating to a soul on earth, or taking a farewell look or kiss of his devoted wife, went immediately to a room in the second story of the residence, bolted the door, and fired a leaden ball through his brain. He fell upon the floor and ex- pired immediately. His wife hearing the report, rushed to the room door, little anticipating what her eyes would soon behold. Other friends came, and before an entrance could be effected the door had to be broken in. Upon the opening of the door there lay the noble frame of J. E. Denton, enhearsed in death. The scene was a terri- ble one, completely unnerving those present. Major J. M. Stone was notified and immediately caused a jury to be empanneled for the pur- pose of holding an inquest. Upon the body was found the note written a short while before the fatal shot, which settled the question as to the cause. He admitted his weakness, and hoped that his death would atone for the jail escapades.
CHAPTER VIII.
I HAVE stated in the first chapter, that when the first commis- sioned justices of the County of Henderson met, that meeting was held in Bradley's Tavern in June, 1779. After organizing both the Court of Quarter Sessions and County Court, the respective courts adjourned to meet in the old school house, as it was called, without defining its location. This old hut, as it was nothing more, was leased, or perhaps taken for the use of the two courts. Of this, however, the clerk failed to leave any testimony. Whether it was used as a school house during the interim of the courts, and vacated by the schools at those times, is a fact we shall never know more about than is now known. This house was adjudged inadequate for the purposes of the courts, and a committee was created for the purpose of having such repairs and additions made to it as would make it both comfortable and convenient. The school house, as I am best informed, stood in the woods, corner of Main and Second Streets, on the spot where now stands the two-story brick owned by Joseph Adams' estate, and occu- pied by Thos. Evans as a grocery store. The Commissioners appointed to investigate its primitive build and condition, were instructed to bring the cost of improving the house within the limit of 'a fifty-dollar bill, and by no means to exceed that amount: The means of the infant county at that time, as well as for many years thereafter, were extremely lim- ited, and to repeat a common expression, " A cut four-pence in the eye of a pioneer was as big as a buffalo." On this account the greatest caution had to be exercised in creating debts, even for necessary im- provements. The people were not taxed heavily, but there was no money of any consequence, and no commercial relations to attract capital. The Commissioners experienced great difficulty in getting the
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
school house fitted up as the Justices wished, and whatever became of it will never be known, from the fact the records from a few months after this to 1816 are lost, therefore the story of the old school house must come to a sudden and unsatisfactory termination. From old, worn, mutilated papers found tied in a shapeless bundle, with strings which have rotted from absolute old age, I have discovered enough to know that the courts of the county continued to hold their meetings in the old school or some other similar house until the year 1814, when they took possession and were installed, in all of the pomp and ceremony attaching to occasions of that kind, in their new Temple of Justice built on the site now occupied by the present Court House.
THE FIRST COURT HOUSE.
At the January term of the County Court, held in the year 1813, Daniel McBride, Samuel Hopkins, Jr., James M. Hamilton and Am- brose Barbour were appointed commissioners to inquire into the ex- pediency of building a new Court House, and if expedient, to report a plan and specifications for the information of the court This was soon done, and the plans and specifications drawn and written by Samuel Hopkins, Jr., were adopted, and an order entered, that a Court House be built of brick according to that plan with the varia- tions in the same, that there should be no gallery or jury rooms be- low, and such other changes in the plan of the inside of said build- ing, as the court should think proper. The aforesaid Commissioners were authorized and instructed to contract for said building, and superintend the work during its progress.
On the sixth day of February, 1813, the Commissioners en- tered into contract with Philip Barbour, at and for the sum of five thousand one hundred and forty dollars to build the said Court House and deliver the keys to the Commissioners, as per plans and specifi- cations. The specifications of this house are reproduced, not for their intrinsic worth, but as an architectural literary ponderosity worthy of perusal. It is a settled fact that but few persons will be interested, and perhaps but few will undertake the perusal of this long-winded string of some man's brain, which had been neglected for a long time, and was offered this opportunity of unloading. We doubt very much if the specifications furnished for the Capital at Washington consumed more space or were more minute in each and every particular. Here they are :
SPECIFICATIONS.
" This house to be built of brick made in moulds not above nine inches long, four and three-eighths inches wide, and two and three-quarter inch es thick or deep, well and truly made, and burnt and laid in mortar made in the
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
best manner from cement. The house to be forty-four feet long, including the walls, and twenty-eight feet wide in the clear-that is inclusive of the walls, from the foundation to the surface of the earth of, say one foot at the base, to be three bricks in length thick, from thence to the water table one foot to be two and a half bricks length thick, from thence to the joists fourteen feet to be two bricks lengths thick, thence to the top of the wall eight feet of one and a half brick lengths thick. The gable ends to be one brick length thick, a chimney at the one, and with a fire-place in the upper story of an appropri- ate size, for the room for which it is intended, being twenty-eight feet square. There shall be two doors below in the middle of each side of the house. that is one on each side of equal length with the top of the windows, and made of two folds of panels to each, each fold containing at least four panels, and worked on both sides. The said doors are to be of a thickness suitable to the size thereof, there shall be eight windows in the lower story, four of twenty - four lights each, and four of twenty lights each. The glass of good quality and ten by twelve inches in size, which windows are to be placed, the larger ones in the sides at equal distance from the doors, and ends of the house, and the smaller four in the two ends There shall be ten windows in the upper story of twenty lights each, of the same size glass, to be placed six in the two sides and four in the two ends. The frames for the said doors and windows shall be the most durable timber. especially the doors, with double architraves, worked out of the solid and good stone sills, suitable for the doors, to be worked and prepared and fitted in said doors, in lieu of so much of the frame thereot. The house to be well corniced with a plain cornice, proportioned to the size of the house in heighth. The rafters to be well framed into the joist, and of suitable size to their length and the magnitude of the building, and cov- ered with shingles well nailed on sheathing plank joined together. The shin- gles not to be more than four inches wide eighteen inches long and not less than five-eights of an inch thick at the but, well jointed and rounded, to be made of cypress, catalpa, sassafras or walnut, or some kind of wood equally durablein the opinion of the Commissioners, and shall show only one-third part of their length or less. The inside of the building below shall be well floored from the Judge's stand so far forward as to include the lawyers. The bar to be of well quartered plank. made of oak or ash timbers, and the balance of the floor to be well laid with brick placed edgewise. The Judge's seat to have a good flight of steps to ascend each end, to be ornamented with appropriate hand rails and banisters the space for said seat shall be -- - feet, well floored as below said seat, with a strong seat quite across, fitted into the wall with arms raised thereon, imitating chairs, which are to be three in number. The front of said seat shall be ornamented with hand rails and banisters, with boards or tables whereon to write or put papers, etc. The newel posts to be capped off with appropriate mouldings, the hand rails and banisters to be ornamented, the first with mouldings and the latter to be turned in a lathe. The jury boxes to be four in number, and the lawyers' bar shall be made, formed and placed according to the directions of the Commissioners. They shall be made and composed of railing and banisters, as above mentioned, and shall have boards or tables whereon to write, put papers, etc., fixed on the front part of the bar, a suitable and convenient stair-case is to be formed with necessary hand-rails,
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
banisters and ceiling, to ascend the second story, which story shall be di- vided into three rooms, two at the end of the house above the Judge's seat, and one at the other end, of such size as the Commissioners may direct, with a fire- place as aforesaid to the larger room, leaving a passage or entry between the rooms of each end across the width of the house, so planned and placed and made as the Commissioners may direct. The upper floor, shall as the lower floor, be made of good heart plank, of quartered oak or ash timber, at least one and one-quarter inch thick, tongued and grooved together, not less than one inch thick, quartered and plained on both sides, except the swinging pe- tition, which is to be of panneled work, and one and one-half inches thick, and furnished with bolts for fastenings. The upper doors shall be six pannels each, and well faced, each inside door and one outside door are to have suitable knob locks, proportioned to the size of the door, and the use of said locks. The other outside door is to be well secured with a cross-bar. The windows to the lower story shall be furnished with good panneled window shutters, at least one and one-quarter inches thick, each window to have two folds of three pan- nels cach well hinged with suitable fastenings or hooks and catches on the inside thereof ; there shall be suitable chair-boards and wash-boards. both to the lower and upper rooms with appropriate mouldings. The ends of all the naked flooring shall be arched over on the brick work, so as to put on others hereafter without injuring the walls. Blind arches shall also be turned over the lintels of the doors and windows for the like purpose. The inside walls of the lower and upper rooms shall be plastered with good mortar-that is the work shall be well done, the plastering below shall be painted or stained as the Commissioners may direct, instead of being whitewashed. The joists of the lower and upper rooms shall be ceiled with good plank, not above four- teen inches wide, and three-quarters of an inch thick at the best. The roof. windows and all the inside work of timber or plank shall be painted as the Commissioners shall direct. Finally all the timber and material of this build- ing shall be of the best quality, and the work done in the best possible manner. The walls of the house shall be built and the roof put on by the fifteenth day of October. 1813. The stair-case put up, the rooms of the upper story, the Judge's seat and lawyers' bar finished, and jury boxes made on or before the first day of April, 1814, and the whole work completed on or before the first day of October, IS14. The Commissioners reserve to themselves the right of directing the dimensions of the frame work and different timbers for the Court House.".
Mr. Barbour, the contractor, accepted the specifications, clearly of the opinion no doubt, that no misunderstanding could arise, if length and silly description in an instrument of writing was to be considered. He entered into bond with James Bell and Samuel Hop- kins, gentlemen, securities. The new temple was completed accord- ing to contract and dedicated to Justice, as perhaps the most magnifi- cent edifice to be found anywhere in the western wilds. It soon be- came the sine qua non, and at once most interesting to the inhabitants in general. A two-story brick house with a dwarfish bell on its roof,
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
encased in a contrivance similar to a pigeon house, was one of those institutions too seldom seen to be hooted at. It was believed Justice came from this new temple mere evenly balanced than when deliv- ered from the old school house. Attorneys donned new clothes, jurors were required at least to wash their faces before entering its sacred walls, while eloquence grew grand, and was dished out with lavish liberality. Yea, be it known, this costly structure, which came nigh being written to death in the beginning, seated upon a beautiful mound, a mound seemingly built for that purpose, was then the chief among the sights of the town. But the beauty of this new house, looming up in the morning sunshine and decreasing with the early twilight, was impaired by great forest trees in full leaves-old mon- archs, whose sap had left the root for the last time, undergrowth, stumps and other unsightly surroundings. To remedy this, at the November County Court, 1815, the first order concerning the im- provement of the Public Square was passed. It was "ordered that the improvement of the Court House square be let to the lowest bid- der. That the trees be topped, the ground grubbed and cleared of the brush, undergrowth, underwood and dead trees, and inclosed with a post and rail fence made of catalpa, sassafras, locust, mulberry or cyprus timber, and large blocks placed at the four places facing the four sides of the Court House, of size to cross the fence. This work must be done in the best workman-like manner. No security will be required, but the Commissioners will keep the money until the work is com- pleted."
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