Newberry Jail Newberry County, South Carolina contributed by Edith Greisser

In many instances England used her American and Canadian Colonies as Penal destinations for unfit citizens. It was a convenient means of ridding itself of unwanted members of society without costing a great deal. When researching family histories in America many persons find that their ancestor was given the choice of 'Getting Out of the British Isles' or being doomed to Prison for the remainder of their lives. My own ancestor, Dr. Daniel Wills, a newly converted Quaker, was given such an ultimatum and in 1677 left England for a piece of property he purchased from William Penn in New Jersey. His son, Daniel Wills Jr. in later life wrote a journal telling of the trip to their destination and remarking that King Charles II, while cruising on a barge, passed their ship KENT on the Thames River and gave them a blessing for their journey. The newly formed nation of American States had to set up their own penal system, at first being quite simply structured and easy to manage. Small buildings used as Court Houses were usually near the GOAL. The use of the Goal was very limited. Prisoners were held in them until such time as Court could be convened and held there until sentencing was carried out. Justice was delivered quickly. The arrest, trial, sentencing and punishment were often carried out all in the same day. On those occasions when overnight accommodations were needed, the prisoner was incarcerated in the Goal. If it was a building with more than one floor the prisoner was placed on the upper floor of the building. The first floor was the living area for the goal keeper which could be the sheriff or someone designated by him. The sheriff's office was also on the first floor and meals, medical care and personal needs were provided by the sheriff who in turn was reimbursed at such given time as determined by the County Commissioners. Some areas in the States did not invest money in jails and used a building that was nothing more than a box. In Philadelphia there was an article in the newspaper in the late 1700's where a skeleton, clothed in a few rags, was discovered in the containment box at 4th and High Streets. Obviously the poor prisoner was not fortunate enough to have family to deliver meals and water to him through the small window and he died during his sentence. There are records of the building of a whipping post, gallows and jail for Newberry County. The gallows was located a very short wagon ride from the jail in front of the railroad depot. One hanging in 1870 was so gruesome that years later a black citizen stated the event had so sickened her it had been her first and last viewing of a hanging. Newberry County has had several prisons. They appear to have been constructed of substantial means, but by October 1866 the Grand Jury reported the jail, although well kept, was without many of the lights in the windows. They were broken and a large amount of plaster had fallen off the walls. On November 2, 1870 a prisoner had slipped unnoticed during dinner to an unused cell and at a convenient time broke the locks of all the cells freeing the other prisoners. Early next morning Lewis Berry, a prisoner condemned to death for the brutal murder of Mr. Dunwoody, started a fire in his cell. The fire was started at 2 am on the 3rd floor. Fortunately the sheriff slept on the first floor. Assistance was called for and all the prisoners were quickly transferred to a safe place under guard. Mr. Berry's cell was found to be completely gutted from the fire. He had been trying to burn a hole in the floor of the cell to escape. Yearly the County advertised for a physician, all bids welcome. The fee for the County Physician included the care of prisoners in the jail and inmates of the County Home and all medicines given to them by the physician. The yearly amount was usually between $100 and $150. In 1871 the Grand Jury pronounced the Newberry jail inadequate. Prisoners were escaping on a routine basis. The grounds wall needed repair. Shortly after the report there was a jail break. Two prisoners were captured but two remained at large. The jail was declared absolutely insecure. The sheriff was warned to be more vigilant. The newspaper felt the action on the Grand Jury Report was not strong enough to prevent the escape of prisoners. Even though the prison building was reported as clean, the slaughter pen next to the jail needed to be destroyed. And still - the wall around the jail building needed repairs. By all accounts the inmates were well cared for and well fed. The spiritual needs of the prisoners were addressed as demonstrated when the newspaper noted Rev. Stout preached a sermon on Sunday afternoons at the jail. In the passage between the cells was a stove used for heat. The Grand Jury declared the stove very dangerous. It must have been removed because later there seemed to be a shortage of blankets. A stable for the constables horses was needed to be built on the lot. Then in 1873 while preparing for repairs, it was discovered that the jail fence in one place was on the lands of Julius. B. Smith. What transpired to correct the problem was not mentioned. Two colored inmates escaped in September 1873 but were quickly recovered. At the end of 1873 the County owed the Sheriff $2500 for the care of the prisoners. The sheriff reported the Newberry jail was without any prisoners - a rare occasion. Newberry Jail   1919 - 1973 Hambet Sanders, Jailer This three-story jail required constant repairs because each new crop of prisoners tried the same old methods for escape. Holes were continually burned and bored in the ceiling, walls and wooden floors. Another method for attempted escape was the window at the bottom of the steps leading from the jail upstairs to the sheriff's quarters downstairs. The Grand Jury had the window on the first floor secured. In May 1874 George Boland was successful in creating a hole in the 3rd floor cell of the jail and dropped to the floor below thinking he could then run down the steps and jump out the window but the plan was foiled. Two weeks later Alfred Boozer did escape. Through diligent work, the Circuit Judge cleared the jail of all prisoners. Many repairs were made that Summer and in November of the same year at one o'clock in the morning two new prisoners were admitted to the jail. The other prisoners had to be awakened because some were sleeping with three blankets leaving no unused blankets for the newcomers. Perhaps the newspaper was trying to emphasize that the amount of blankets needed in the colder weather was not being provided. There was even a female prisoner who leaped from the third floor window of the jail and broke bones and bruised flesh. Miraculously she recovered. The newspaper reported that a prisoner named James Maloney arrived on June 9, 1875 and was quartered at the brownstone edifice near Scott's Creek (jail). He had been arrested about 5 years previous as a prominent member of the KKK, was convicted in US COURT and sentenced to 8 months in Newberry Jail. He served four months and escaped on July 20, 1876, leaving for parts unknown. There was mis-management of money by the sheriff. There were reports of the sheriff allowing prisoners leave of  absence and a US Federal prisoner in Newberry Jail was entrusted with the keys of the jail. The rainspouts needed repairs because of damage to the walls. A number of cells could not be used due to damage. Some of the cells were in filthy condition; the entrance to the main staircase in the jail was encumbered with fodder, corn and shucks and was a fire hazard. A room at the north end of the jail kitchen was being used as a stable and the Grand Jury wanted it discontinued. We know a barn was erected for the animals because in November 1908 the Grand Jury complained that the barn on the jail grounds needed rain gutters to divert run off from flooding adjacent property. Sheriff's Residence w/ Newberry County Jail in Rear 1919 - 1973 The brick wall around the jail lot continued to be dilapidated. In October 1876 there was only one prisoner and he was out on bail. There were no funds to pay the COURT. The newspaper printed an editorial stating the Town Council instead of paying 50 cents/day to board prisoners in jail, should make them pay a fine or work the streets. Four were convicted in a week and were given their choice. One paid and three worked. The Sheriff was fined $25 on January 5, 1877 for contempt for not returning to the COURT the names of prisoners confined in jail, as required by law. There were nine able bodied boarders in the jail, all with good appetites. Three prisoners escaped jail May 2. They cut through the cell, came down the stairs and jumped out the window. By 1877 the jail was in a wretched condition. The roof leaked and the cells were badly mutilated. The Judiciary Committee of the SC Legislature reported favorably on a Bill to reduce the pay of Sheriffs for dieting prisoners and in June 1877 a third reading reduced the amount allowed to feed prisoners to 30 cents/day. Twenty nine prisoners were in jail awaiting trial in August 1877 and an editorial condemned the present practice of feeding prisoners without them working for their keep. Years later, Mart Wilson, colored of Newberry, a former servant of Dr. J. M. Kibler, recalled he helped Sheriff Riser at the jail. He told the story that once the prisoners rushed out of their cells upstairs when he was making rounds and threw him out the window. He grasped the lightening rod and slid down to the ground unharmed. Eventually the need for a new jail was evident and a sturdy two floor building was erected with a separate residence for the sheriff on the grounds. The new jail was constructed in 1918-1919 by Pauly Jail Building Company of St. Louis MO for a cost of $68,313.93. "The Best Built Jail in SC" was located on the north side of Harrington Street bounded on the east of McKibben street and on the west by Nance Street. It was so well built that in 1973, when it out-lived its usefulness and was scheduled for demolition the task was far greater than the contractor awarded the job had anticipated. They say that there are still iron rods in the ground that were not able to be removed. In 2012 the site is paved and used as a parking lot. The existing jail in use for Newberry is located at 3239 Louis Rich Dr. in Newberry. The building, dedicated in 1975, was built by W. E. Baker & Son of Whitmire to have a capacity of 44 inmates. In 2003 the jail was remodeled to increase its capacity. In 2012 the building formerly used by Piedmont Tech. was being renovated for the sheriff's complex. REFERENCES: Newberry Newspaper Abstracts 1858-1908 History of Newberry SC by Thomas Pope Vol. 2 Information on the present jail by Major Gilliam Photographs provided by Margaret Schumpert Detailed Report of the Newberry County Jail and County Home Observer 1/11/1916, page 1 The first annual report of the State Board of Charities and Corrections to the General Assembly contained reports of Jails, Almshouses and Chain Gangs in 27 counties. Newberry County Jail was visited 11/12/1915. The jailer was Sheriff Cannon G. Blease. The jail was a three-story brick building containing 11 cells (5 for white males, 3 for Negro males and three for Negro females). The average daily occupation was  9.4 prisoners. The maximum known population was 24 prisoners. In each of the cells for white men and Negro women there are two cots. In each of the cells for the Negro men there are four metal wall bunks. Cotton pads and blankets are used for bedding. The interiors of the cells are not well ventilated, although the room in which they are located is well ventilated. Prisoners wear their own clothing in jail, washing it themselves unless friends or relatives bring them clean clothes. The fee for dieting prisoners is 40 cents/day. There are no special facilities for sick prisoners. On the day of the visit the prisoner's menu was: Breakfast - bacon, hominy, biscuit, molasses; Dinner - turnip salad, bacon, cornbread; Supper  -  none was served. There are three lavoratories, three enameled tubs and three flush toilets, one of each being located in the quarters for white men, Negro men and Negro women. Prisoners are classified according to race and sex although the separation of Negro men and women is hardly adequate, because their cells are in the same room. The sheriff had whipped only one prisoner in three years. No other form of punishment is used for prisoners. One Negro female prisoner helps in the kitchen. Negro male prisoners clean the prisoner's quarters. Religious services are not held at the jail more often than once a year except by the Sheriff's Negro cook. Newberry County Almshouse, Superintendent M. J. Smith was visited 11/12/1915. The Almshouse was located on Ashford Ferry Road, 4.5 miles from Newberry. The Pauper population on the day of visit totaled 15. They were classified as: Whites - men 2, boys 0, women 2, girls 0 Negroes - men 7, boys 1, women 3, girls 0 Feebleminded - 0 Idiot or epileptic - white woman 1; Negro men 2 In the almshouse farm there are 350 acres. The white inmates live in a 2-room frame house. There is a 2-room frame house for Negro inmates not in use at present; the Negro inmates occupy two 2-room frame houses. The employed forces at the Almshouse consist of the Superintendent and his wife, who cooks for the inmates. The Paupers' menu on the day of visit:  Breakfast - bacon, biscuit, butter, milk, cornbread; Dinner - turnip salad, bacon, milk, butter, cornbread; Supper - remains of Dinner served cold. There are two surface closets for the use of the paupers. A wash basin is kept in each room. There are three galvanized tubs - two for whites and one for Negroes. Religious services have not been held at the Almshouse for 1915.

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