Transcript Cass County Jail: 1856 – 19??

Cass County Jail: 1856 – 1932
Kayla Mitchell
Linden-Kildare High School
Ms. Gail Dorgan – Teacher
Linden, Cass County, Texas
Photo courtesy of the Charline Wiley Morris collection
A county with no jail
1840s map showing Jefferson as temporary
county sea of Cass County
From its creation in
1846 until Linden was
named the permanent
county seat of Cass
County on January 15,
1852, there was no
county jail.
Photo courtesy of http://www.mapofus.org/_maps/atlas/1856-TX.html
Housing County Prisoners
County prisoners were placed in
various locations in Jefferson,
Texas, the temporary county
seat .
Stephen Ellis, who was
proprietor of the Soda Lake
Hotel (later renamed the
Jefferson Hotel) was given $15
for housing court officials and
$5 for housing a prisoner.
Soda Lake Hotel
(now the Jefferson Hotel)
Photo courtesy http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/
photo-s/04/19/d8/73/the-historic-jefferson.jpg
Plans for a County Jail
On December 5, 1852,
plans were made to
build a jail in
Linden.
Lots to build jail
In May 1853, lots 3 & 4
of Block 6 were
donated to Linden to
build the county jail.
Graphic of Linden Original Town Plat by
Sue Morris Lazara and Alexander Morris Lazara.
September 1854
Carpenter and Haggard
were awarded the contract
to build a county jail for
$2,975.00.
Example of the iron cage
J.H. Updegraff was
awarded the contract to
build the iron cage to be
placed in the dungeon of
the jail for the sum of
$550.00.
http://us.123rf.com/450wm/nesacera/nesacera1310/nes
acera131000019/23267091-cage-box-cube-vector.jpg
1 August 1856
Updegraff and
Haggard present
their completed
constructions to the
Cass County
Commissioner’s
Court for approval.
Cass County could
now incarcerate its
prisoners in the
county jail.
Cass County Jail
September 1857
The Commissioner’s
Court of Cass County
purchased one lot for a
jailer’s house, garden
and authorized the
paling of the jail yard.
Order to build jailer’s house and pale jail yard
Paling is one of a row of
upright pointed sticks
forming a fence.
Minutes Commissioner’s Court Book 3
Storming of the Jail
The Cass County Jail was
stormed by a thousand person mixed - race mob
who demanded Mrs. J.H.
Lanier (The Sheriff’s
wife) hand over the keys
to the jail. Sheriff Lanier
was away on County
business at the time.
Execution of Jim Lee
The mob removed 17 year
old Jim Lee, who had
confessed to killing Mrs.
Lowe and her 15 month old
daughter, from his cell.
Courtesy of Cass County Sun November 1891
26 October 1891
After removing Lee from
the jail, the angry mob,
from different sections of
the county, burned him
at a stake and murdered
him.
Governor Hogg’s response to the murder
Texas Governor J.S. Hogg
issued a $1,000 Reward for
the arrest and conviction
of the leaders of the mob
and $200 each for each
accessory.
Courtesy of Cass County Sun November 4, 1891
4 November 1891
At 2 A.M. a second mob of
12 to 15 men approached
the Cass County Jail and
demanded the key for the
purpose of taking Mack
Demmons, Lee’s
accomplice.
Mob after Mack Demmons
The mob didn’t expect
Sheriff Lanier to be home,
and when he made his
presence know, the mob
“Quietly retired without
any disturbance”.
Courtesy of Cass County Sun November
1891
4 September 1900
The Grand Jury Report
found “the want of better
arrangements, lunatics
confirmed in one cell
while criminals occupy
the others, we therefore
recommend the
commissioners have built
a suitable place for the
confining of
lunatics,…apart from
the jail”.
Confining lunatics apart from jail
Courtesy of The Cass County Sun,
Sept. 4, 1900
May – June 1905
Three additional cells and
the old jail cells were
replaced for the sum of
$28,000.
While undergoing
construction, prisoners were
moved to the lunatic cell so
they would not have to
listen to continual
hammering. Three prisoners
pried off a board in the
wall and dropped from a
second story window. They
were quickly captured.
Prison Escapees
Courtesy of Cass County Sun July 18, 1905
20 November 1906
Sheriff Blalock
and his family
moved into the
resident part of the
jail.
Cass County
Sheriffs would
continue this
practice into the
1980’s.
Sheriff J.F. Mitchell and family in front of jail 1912
3 March 1908
The Grand Jury recommended
that the jail have separate
apartments for male and
female prisoners and to build
another story onto the
existing jail house for the
benefit of white prisoners
because the Grand Jury
deplored “the practice or
custom of permitting white
prisoners to mix and mingle
with colored prisoners in the
jail”.
The Grand Jury’s Report
Courtesy of Cass County Sun March 3, 1908
11 May 1925
After 72 years of service,
the original Cass County
Jail which had survived
two mob confrontations
and had suffered damage
in the 13 May 1908 tornado,
was to serve strictly as the
residence of the sheriff.
Cass County Jail with
Katherine Taylor Temple
in the foreground
Courthouse
Jail
A contract was awarded to
Southern Steel Company
to build a new jail for
$16,986.00.
Photo courtesy of the Charline Wiley Morris collection
Visual Credits
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Slide 1 – Photo courtesy of the Charline Wiley Morris collection
Slide 2 –Photo courtesy of http://www.mapofus.org/_maps/atlas/1856-TX.html
Slide 3 – Photo courtesy http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/
photo-s/04/19/d8/73/the-historic-jefferson.jpg
Slide 4 – Graphic of Linden Original Town Plat by Sue Morris Lazara and Alexander Morris Lazara.
Slide 5 –http://us.123rf.com/450wm/nesacera/nesacera1310/nesacera131000019/23267091-cage-boxcube-vector.jpg
Slide 6 – Photo courtesy of the Charline Wiley Morris collection
Slide 7 –Minutes Commissioner’s Court Book 3
Slide 8 –Courtesy of Cass County Sun November 1891
Slide 9 –Courtesy of Cass County Sun November 4, 1891
Slide 10 – Courtesy of Cass County Sun November 1891
Slide 11 –Courtesy of The Cass County Sun, Sept. 4, 1900
Slide 12 –Courtesy of Cass County Sun July 18, 1905
Slide 13 –Photo courtesy of the Charline Wiley Morris collection
Slide 14 –Courtesy of Cass County Sun March 3, 1908
Slide 15 –Photo courtesy of the Charline Wiley Morris collection
Slide 16 –Photo courtesy of the Charline Wiley Morris collection
Slide 17 - Photo courtesy of the Charline Wiley Morris collection
Photo courtesy of the Charline Wiley Morris collection
Works Cited
Bagur, Jaques. Antebellum Jefferson, Tx.: Everyday Life in an East Texas Town
Minutes of the Cass County Commissioner’s Court –Book 1A p. 337; 9 Aug 1887
Linden Citizens Journal Diamond Anniversary p. 8 sec 4
Alliance Standard prisoners p. 1 feb 6, 1894
Grand jury report cass county sun sept 25, 2000 p. 2
Escape ccs june 23, 1903 p1
Grand jury report ccs p1 sept 6, 1904
Additional cells ccs feb 28, 1905 p1
Jail work ccs jul18, 1905 p1
Three escape from jail ccs july 18, 1905 p1
Ccs aug 8, 1905 jail improvements accepted p3
Grand jury report ccs march 3, 1908 p2
Grand jury report ccs sept 25, 1917 p1
Grand jury report ccs oct 16, 1928
Grand jury report oct 15, 1929 ccs p1
First Coourt held in linden tj foster cj p36-37
Mcc jail improvements book 6 p 371 nov 21, 1925
From the sun files dated novemebr 20, 1906 ccs jan 20, 1944 p1
Mcc in the matter of repairing the county jail of davis county book 4 p102
Mcc jail house received book 3 p 140 may 18, 1858
Mcc sept 1, 1857 red 3 p88 grading of bank around jail
Mcc nov 17, 1857 red 3 p95 purchase lot for jail garden
Mcc red 3 p100 jan 26, 1858 jailer’s house payment
Mcc – red 3 page 89 spet 30, 1857 – let contract for jailer’s house
Mcc may 18, 1858 – red 3 p141 – house for jailer
Mcc march 27, 1876 work on jail premisis red 4 p299
Alliance standard grand jury report p2 sept 29, 1893
Grand jury report march 3, 1908 ccs p3
Linden Cyclone: Three lives lost – property destroyed – much desolation the Atlanta News p1 may 21, 1908
Grand jury report ccs p1 sept 25, 1917 –
Mcc dec 10, 1918 bok 4 p 430work on jail and asylum
Grand jury report ccs may 6, 1924p1
Grand jury report ccs oct 14, 1924 p4
Mmc march 25, 1925 book 6 p371 motion to accept plans for new jail
Mcc book 6 p 389 may 11, 1925 contract with Southern Steel Company to build new jail
Mcc book 6 p500 nove 21, 1925 acceptance of new jail
Grand jury report ccs p1 oct 16, 1928
Mcc dec 19, 1928 book 7 p276 order to repair jail building now used as sherrif’s residence
Ccs renovations to sherrif’s home completed jan 22, 1929 p4
Oct 15, 1929 ccs grand jury report – overcrowding at jail – p5
Murder and robbery ccs nov 4, 1891 p1
$1000.00 Reward ccs nov 4, 1891 p1
After mack demmons ccs nov 4, 1891 p1
Photo courtesy of the Charline Wiley Morris collection