USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > History of the Albany penitentiary. > Part 12
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him for his loss of time in conducting it. Just nine months after his removal, that is, in June, 1833, he was reappointed to the Wardenship by the same authority that had ejected him. But he found the Prison in a very different state from that in which he had left it. All discipline was at an end. The prisoners passed and repassed, at pleasure, from shop to shop, communicating freely with each other. Newspapers, in which the affairs of the Prison were discussed, were to be found in every work shop and cell. Traffic was freely car- ried on between officers and convicts, the latter using for the purpose money earned by over-work. Contractors could get little work out of the men, except as they bribed them with pastry, fruits and other luxuries, in direct violation of the Prison rules. The prisoners were bold, noisy and tur- bulent. They openly declared, and flung into the very face of the directors, their determination not to submit to any control, unless they were heard in the selection of a Warden. Indeed, the prison was on the very verge of open revolt and rebellion.
In the midst of this state of things, Mr. Pils- bury was reelected Warden, and directed to resume the reins of government. The day before
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he was to enter anew upon his office, he visited the Prison for the purpose of taking a survey of it, and learning its condition by actual inspec- tion. When he came on the ground and was about to pass into the shoe shop, a kind-hearted colored convict, who had been under him before, came to him and desired a word in private. He entreated him not to go into that shop, for the men there had determined that he should not be Warden, and had avowed the purpose of prevent- ing it by murdering him, if that should be neces- sary to the attainment of their object. Gen. Pilsbury says that the prospect of presenting him- self before men who entertained such feelings and had expressed such a purpose was by no means a pleasant one, but he felt that he must go then or never. Accordingly, despite the entreaties of the negro to the contrary, he immediately ascended the stairs and entered the room, which contained scores of men who had avowed that they would have his life sooner than that he should assume the reins of power over them. On the instant, they gathered around him in large numbers, armed with knives and hammers, and, in vociferous tones and with menacing gestures, demanded that he should immediately retire. He folded
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his arms, and, standing erect and self-poised in the midst of that infuriated crowd of felons, he calmly replied : "Men, I have no authority over you to-day ; I shall have to-morrow; but I shall not leave this room until every one of you has returned to his bench and resumed his work." He had no weapon but his dauntless courage and the glance of his piercing eye. But they were enough. One by one, those bold. bad men went each to his bench and his work, and when order was completely restored, the brave young governor withdrew in triumph.
The task of recovering the Prison from the dis- order and ruin into which it had fallen, both in its discipline and its finances, was not an easy one. On the contrary, it was attended with great difficulties and discouragements. But the work was achieved within a year, so that the directors, in their next annual report, declared the Institution to be, in all respects, in a "prosperous condition." For a period of twelve consecutive years from the time of his reelection, that is, from 1833 to 1845, Mr. Pilsbury remained Warden of the Wethersfield Pri- son, in spite of all the adverse influences, political and otherwise, which were, from time to time, brought to bear upon him with a view to his removal.
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In 1845, as already stated, Gen. Pilsbury was called to Albany, and from that time to the pre- sent, he has been at the head of the Penitentiary in that city and county, with the exception of a brief period, during which he held the position of governor of Ward's island, and chief of police in the city of New York. We have thought this brief sketch of his career due to the oldest Prison officer in the United States, and certainly one of the oldest and most distinguished and successful in the world. We, by no means, consider the General's administration as perfect or incapable of improvement, and we shall feel called upon to criticise it, to some extent, in the present paper ; but this does not blind us to his preeminent ability and merit in the service to which he has given, with a rare devotion, the energies of a long, honorable and useful life.
Prison Premises and Buildings.
These were pretty fully described in last year's report, from which we reprint the following brief extract: "The Penitentiary is situated about half a mile from the Capitol, amid surroundings far more sightly than those to which convicts are usually accustomed. Twelve acres of ground,
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beautifully grassed, with here and there a bril- liant plot of flowers, or a charming garden spot, furnish the frontispiece of this illustrative book of human depravity, and its swift following pun- ishment. An amphitheatrical undulation of the ground in front, as regular and symmetrical as though formed by the forced pressure of an immense bowl, is a remarkable addition to the landscape, and, with the smooth and closely cut grass covering the slope, cannot fail to impress all visitors (whether voluntary or compulsory) with a great admiration of the external beauty of the Prison's location. The building itself is of the castellated order, three hundred and fifty feet long and seventy-five in depth, including the wings, which latter contain the cells, the centre being occupied for business and domestic purposes by the Superintendent. There are few, if any, Prisons in the state, whose outward appearance is so imposing and attractive."
Important improvements were in progress at the time of our visit, which are expected to be completed and ready for use in the spring. These improvements are, in brief, as follows : The main centre building is to be extended forty feet in the rear. This will double the size of the cook room
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in the basement, and add several rooms in connec- tion, viz : a bakery, bread room, store rooms, etc., etc. In the principal story the guard room will be more than doubled in size, and other rooms for the use of the officers and the family of the Super- intendent, will be added. In the second story the male and female hospitals will be increased to more than twice their present dimensions, and in other respects so improved as greatly to add to the facilities and conveniences for taking care of the sick. In the third story the chapel will be so enlarged that its dimensions will be seventy-six feet by forty-eight and twenty-eight feet high, in place of the present chapel, which is forty-eight feet by thirty-six, and only twelve feet high. The elevation of the room will be effected by putting on a French roof. When finished, we have no hesitation in saying that the new chapel will be the model Prison chapel of the country.
When the improvements in progress shall have been completed, it is in contemplation to make a considerable addition to the end of each wing, so that there shall be a sufficient number of cells to obviate the necessity of placing more than one prisoner in a cell, if not in all time, at least for a long time to come.
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The authorities have given Gen. Pilsbury carte blanche to add and improve ad libitum, provided the cost of such additions and improvements does not exceed the surplus revenues received from the labor of the prisoners.
The drainage is good, but not perfect. The opportunity for draining is excellent, and there is no good reason why the point of absolute perfec- tion should not be reached.
The number of cells exceeds three hundred; the exact number we cannot state. They are seven feet long, four wide, and seven high, with open-work doors, two feet wide by six feet six inches high. The cell-block is surrounded by a spacious corridor. The cells are well lighted by day, and at night sufficiently lighted by gas to enable all the prisoners to read by sitting near the door. The gas is kept burning full head on till half-past seven o'clock, P. M., in winter, so that the prisoners have about two hours for reading.
There are three modes of heating, viz : partly by furnace, partly by steam, and partly by coal stoves. The Prison is kept comfortable in the coldest weather.
The ventilation is very fair, much better, to say the least, than in most American Prisons. There
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is a ventilating tube from each cell, terminating in the roof. The wings are well provided with large windows, and there are circular holes in the wall near the floor, similar to those already de- scribed in the Penitentiary of Monroe county. The windows are kept open both above and below, in winter as well as summer. This, after all, is the best ventilation : for there is nothing that keeps a building so pure as abundance of fresh air direct from the heavens.
Water is supplied from the city waterworks, and from two cisterns. There is a short time in summer when the water is not of as good a quality as it is during the rest of the year. The supply is sufficient for all ordinary purposes.
There is a large bathing room for the men, con- taining eight bath tubs. All are required to bathe once a fortnight. Most of them regard it as a luxury; a few reluctate against it. In the female ward there is a bath room with two tubs. They are required to bathe once a week.
The Prison Staff.
The Prison staff at present consists of a Super- intendent, Deputy Superintendent, Physician, Chaplain, Clerk, Hall Keeper, eight Overseers or
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Assistant Keepers, six Watchmen, and three Matrons.
Government.
The supreme governing power of this Peniten- tiary is lodged in the mayor and recorder of the city of Albany, and the board of supervisors of Albany county in joint meeting. Intermediate between the supreme power just named and the authority charged with the immediate administra- tion of the Prison, is a board of three Inspectors. These are appointed, one each year, by the mayor, recorder and supervisors, in joint meeting ; two of them must be from the city, and one from the country.
The Superintendent of the Penitentiary is appointed by the joint board, as above explained ; the Physician and Chaplain by the Inspectors ; and all the subordinate officers by the Superin- tendent. These hold their positions solely at his pleasure, the absolute power of appointment and removal being in his hands.
Beyond the functions already stated as apper- taining to the Inspectors, they visit the Peniten- tiary as a board, once every three months, examine and audit the accounts of the Superintendent, and
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examine into the general condition and manage- ment of the Institution. Individually, they visit the Prison at their pleasure; sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly; in general. the Superintend- ent says. not so often as he would like to have them.
Party politics have never been a disturbing element in the administration of this Prison. From the very first. Gen. Pilsbury declined to accept the position offered him. unless politics should be excluded from any and all influence and control over its government. And this understanding has been faithfully observed ever since. by all the parties to it. As a proof, it may be stated. that the majority of the appointing board has been about half the time of one politi- cal party, and half the time of the other ; and vet Mr. Pilsbury has been eight times chosen to the office of Superintendent by a unanimous vote. In appointing his subordinates. the Superintend- ent never inquires into the party creed of any one who applies for a position in the Prison, and of course he never removes an officer on any such ground. He knows nothing of politics in the administration of the Penitentiary. There are officers now with him, who have served eight, ten
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and twelve years; and he always retains a good officer just as long as he is willing to stay. He avows that, without being a politician, he has his own political views, that he holds them firmly, and acts upon them conscientiously, in the sphere to which they belong; but he declares that, as a Prison officer, he ignores the whole thing. He attributes the success of the Institution, in great measure, to this utter repudiation of party poli- tics from its government and administration, and believes that its history would have been very different, had this influence, healthy and benefi- cent when confined within its proper sphere, but always pestilent and often disastrous when it reaches beyond that sphere, been permitted to obtain a controlling power over its affairs.
Discipline.
As would readily be inferred from what has been said of Gen. Pilsbury in our sketch of his career as a Prison officer, the discipline in the Albany Penitentiary is strict and inflexible. In passing through the work shops and viewing the men at their labors, one seems to be looking at machines rather than at human beings, so regular, steady, uniform, and apparently almost uncon-
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scious are all their movements. Many admire this precision, this absolute mastery of one human will over such a multitude of others ; and, no doubt, in themselves considered, this power and its results are worthy of admiration ; especially when it is considered that they are attained almost wholly by moral agencies, as very little physical force is employed, and not an officer in the Institution, at least of those in immediate charge of the prison- ers, from the head down, ever goes armed. But the impression which the system makes upon us is not, we are constrained to acknowledge, an agreeable one. It is too hard, cold, unsympa- thetic, repressive. It works against rather than with nature, and therefore, so far as the higher end of imprisonment, reformation, is concerned, it must work to a disadvantage, and must conse- quently often fail where a more kindly and natural system would succeed. And yet General Pilsbury possesses one of the kindest and most tender natures we have ever met; though this is united with a firmness of will and a tenacity of purpose that know neither change nor wavering. These qualities, in combination, probably afford the true solution of the fact that, in the earlier stages of his Prison administration, his methods
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were more considerate and humane than those commonly adopted in Prisons on the Auburn plan; while, in the later periods, they retain a rigidity and rigor which have elsewhere yielded to the growing conviction that prisoners, as they still retain, though fallen, all the attributes of our common humanity, must, without allowing our- selves to give way to the impulses of a sickly and feeble sentimentalism, be treated more like other men, if we would win them back to goodness and virtue.
But despite his vigor of will and firmness of purpose, there can be no question that Gen. Pils- bury has within the past few years, yielded not a little, in point both of conviction and practice to the milder ideas of the times in respect to Prison discipline. The dietary of the Prison, by the testimony of the Physician as well as of himself, has been greatly improved of late, particularly in the way of furnishing to the prisoners, a supply of fresh vegetables in their season, whereby their health as well as their comfort have been greatly promoted. The Chaplain of the Institution, the Rev. David Dyer, on whose declaration the most implicit reliance may be placed, testifies : "In the course of ten years, I think I can truthfully
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say that I have not heard more than a score of prisoners utter a complaint of any kind." For a number of years past, the General has regularly attended the chapel services; and sometimes, though rarely, on these occasions, he addresses the prisoners in a very kind, persuasive, paternal manner, much to their gratification and advan- tage in many ways. He placed in the hands of the committee a large package of letters received from discharged prisoners, which we read with gratification as well as interest. They all breathe an excellent spirit, and bear testimony to the kind care and attention bestowed upon them, during their incarceration, by the Superintendent and his family.
Prisoners, on their committal to the Peniten- tiary, are not kept for any time in solitary con- finement, but are put immediately to work, previously to which, however, the rules of the Institution are fully explained to them, either by the Superintendent or his Deputy. Every man is given distinctly to understand that the rules are rigid, but that if he obeys, he will get along pleasantly. Not only are the rules explained, but their rectitude and necessity are set forth and strongly impressed on every convict. As a mat-
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ter of fact, three-fourths to seven-eighths of the prisoners do obey cheerfully and fully, and are never subjected to punishment or admonition.
The Superintendent claims that reason, justice, firmness, uniformity and humanity are the founda- tion principles on which the discipline of the Penitentiary is conducted.
The commutation law, in the main, is found to work well. On prisoners, however, who are sen- tenced for three years and over, it does not operate as powerfully as upon others with briefer sentences. They all know the amount of time which they have earned by good conduct, and it is very seldom, indeed, that any portion of it is forfeited by subsequent bad conduct.
No further privileges or indulgences are allowed on public holidays than as follows : On the day of annual Thanksgiving, public religious services are held, and a good dinner is provided for the prisoners. A better dinner than usual is also given them on the Fourth of July.
The ordinary punishment is the dark cell with short rations, but this is seldom continued over night. Showering is resorted to in the case of men, the subject being always in a standing posi- tion to receive the water. The lash is also held
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in reserve as a last resort, but it is very rarely found necessary to use it. In all cases, punish- ment is immediately suspended on promise of obedience. Tobacco is given as a reward for good conduct, and, of course, when it is with- drawn, it is felt as a severe privation.
All punishments are recorded.
The most common offenses are attempts to com- municate and making noise.
The power of punishing is confined to the Su- perintendent and his Deputy; and even the latter never punishes without reporting the case to the Superintendent, when he is present.
The rule of silence is very rigidly enforced in this Prison, except where prisoners are duplicated in the cells, which has often of late been a neces- sity. In such cases, no attempt is made to enforce it with strictness. Except in these cases, it is not believed that communication between prisoners can be carried to the point of mutual contami- nation.
Whenever prisoners have, or conceive that they have causes of complaint against officers (though this is very seldom), they are always at perfect liberty to bring their complaints to the Super- intendent. In the investigation of such cases,
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the statements of the prisoners are always patiently heard, and the proper weight is given to them.
The parti-colored prison dress and lock step are in use here. A portion of the prisoners dislike. these usages, and feel degraded by them; their self-respect is wounded thereby ; but the majority have no such feelings.
Almost all the prisoners from Washington are looking for pardons, and a portion of the others have the same hope. This hope is found to pro- duce a restless and uneasy state of feeling in the convicts, and interferes with their reformation. It would be better (so thinks General Pilsbury) for the interest of the convict, as well as for the discipline of the Institution, if the prerogative of pardon were more sparingly exercised. By the governor of the state, the character and conduct of the convict during his prison life, are inquired into before granting a pardon; by the president of the United States, never.
The Warden of one of our State Prisons, after spending a day at the Albany Penitentiary, re- marked to the Superintendent, at its close, that he had discovered the secret of his success. "Ah, replied the General, "what do you conceive it to
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be ?" "It is simply this," said the Warden; you have no fear of being removed by politics, and you do not think either of resigning or dying." We will venture to suggest another element of his success. It is this : he is never absent from his post. Year after year passes away without his sleeping away from the Prison a solitary night. If there ever was a man thoroughly devoted to his business, and whose whole heart and soul were in his work, that man is Gen. Pilsbury.
Instruction - Religious and Secular.
The present incumbent in the office of Chap- lain to this Institution, is the Rev. David Dyer, who also holds the position of Superintendent of the Albany City Tract and Missionary Society. Mr. Dyer has served the Albany Penitentiary in the relation of Chaplain for the last eleven years. He is a gentleman of much ability and learning, and a minister of earnest and devoted spirit, who enjoys in a high degree at once the respect of the officers and the confidence and affection of the prisoners. He is, emphatically, "the right man in the right place," and the only thing to be regretted is, that his time and strength are not wholly given to his Prison work, and not only so,
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but that this work is made quite subordinate to that of his other office, to which his thoughts and energies are mainly devoted.
Mr. Dyer at present preaches twice every Sab- bath morning, viz., once to the men and once to the women, and twice a month he holds three services. Besides these public offices, he visits at his cell and converses with every male prisoner once in the course of each month, devoting at least an hour to this work every Sabbath after public service, and as much time during the week as may be necessary. Whenever any female prisoners desire conversation with him, they indicate their wish by remaining in their seats after service. Quite a number have done this, particularly of late. These labors (the Chaplain reports) are uniformly received by the prisoners, both male and female, with cheerful- ness and gratitude.
When the new chapel is completed, it will not be necessary to hold more than one service, as all the prisoners can be accommodated at the same time, which is now impossible, the women being placed in a gallery so constructed that neither sex will be able to see the other. This will, happily give the Chaplain more time for pastoral labor.
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Sick prisoners are visited in the hospital, prayed with and suitably instructed and counseled at least once a week.
There is no Sabbath school in the Prison, nor any daily service of prayer. Both, judiciously conducted, would no doubt be effective instru- ments of good; and in this view, as the commit- tee understand, the Chaplain himself cordially concurs. With the operation of both, the Super- intendent must be well acquainted from his expe- rience as Warden in the Connecticut State Prison. It is to be hoped, and the committee would cer- tainly earnestly recommend, that on the comple- tion of the new chapel a Sabbath school will be instituted, and the voice of prayer be daily heard by the inmates.
All the inmates of the Penitentiary are provided with Bibles by the Albany county Bible Society. They are also all furnished with Hymn-books. The prisoners make much use of their copies of the scriptures ; often express a lively interest in their perusal ; and frequently ask questions grow- ing out of their contents.
There is no prison choir. The Chaplain him- self leads the singing, and the prisoners very generally join in it. He considers the influence
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of sacred song upon these fallen men and women highly beneficial, as tending to soften their feel- ings, to elevate their moral tone, and so to cooperate in the work of their reform.
Religious tracts are freely distributed among the prisoners, not less than three thousand to four thousand being so used every year. Of the Ameri- can Messenger and Tract Journal, one hundred copies are given out monthly.
Many of the convicts, Mr. Dyer thinks are making good progress in religious knowledge, and he firmly believes that not a year has passed during his incumbency, in which there have not been some cases of genuine conversion ; proof of which, entirely satisfactory to himself, is afforded by intercourse with them while in Prison, and by letters from and reports of them, received after their discharge. But even when the gospel does not take effect to the extent of working a saving change, he has, so he states, abundant proof that moral reformations do continually occur. At the same time, it cannot be disguised that that hap- pens here, which happens in every other prison in the United States (unless possibly the Eastern Penitentiary at Philadelphia may be an excep- tion), viz., that reformation is not the regnant
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