In connection with the opening of the new Essex County Jail in
Lewis, N. Y., in the autumn of 2007, the New York Correction History Society
(NYCHS) has created a "virtual tour" of
(a) the county's old jail building
-- interior as well as exterior -- in Elizabethtown and
(b) the old jail's pre-computer record keeping.
NYCHS has timed unveiling its virtual tour presentation to coincide
with the planned Oct. 1, 2007, "decommissioning" of the Elizabethtown site.
Decommissioning ceremonies were to include removing the county emblem and
American flag from the old location and transferring them to the new facility in
Lewis.
The starter page for the web presentation can be accessed from a
large "Ledgers of NY's Essex County Jail" icon on the NYCHS home page:
www.correctionhistory.org
The direct URL for the web presentation's starter page
is:
Among the subjects explored in the presentation's texts and
images are:
- the Nov. 15, 1948 breakout of inmates William Moody and Edmund
Hart that left jailor Earl Torrence dead from a brutal bludgeoning by Hart.
- Essex County's so-called "Chinese Jail" where the county housed
federal immigration case detainees during the early 20th Century.
- stories of Essex inmates convicted of murder and
executed.
- the number of children -- ages as young as 10 -- jailed. The
occupations listed for the minors included "mining."
- how inmate accounts were kept with book entries and sales slips in
the era long before computers.
NYCHS appreciates the help of Sheriff Henry Hommes' office,
especially Jail Administrator Major Richard Cutting, in this presentation's
preparation; NYS Correction Officer Joe Stickney's help in telling the story of
his grand uncle Earl Torrence, and Essex County Historical Society director
Margaret Gibbs' help in tracking down the so-called "Chinese jail."
NYCHS is a Regents-chartered nonprofit historical society dedicated
to the pursuit, preservation, and promotion of the histories of correctional
services in New York -- city, state and county; governmental and
nongovernmental.
Thomas
C. McCarthy