GO TO JAIL! (c. 1900)

The two men earnestly watch as the turnkey finishes his rounds and then disappears down the corridor leading into the adjacent sheriff’s residence. When the flickering of the guard’s kerosene lantern disappears, the prisoners begin sawing through the iron bars of their cell with steel cords smuggled into the jail by a beautiful female accomplice. It doesn’t take long for the steel to chew through the soft iron, and within thirty minutes, the pair has managed to sever a few bars. They peel back the bars to form a hole just big enough to squeeze through.

This scene–a template for the prototypical jail break–took place in county jails throughout the country during the latter half of the nineteenth century. Just about every major newspaper from that era contains a similar story of a daring midnight run. How did they occur under the watchful eyes of a sheriff, whose residence typically abutted the county jail, a turnkey, and a few deputies?
Jail from Gratiot County, Michigan, as shown on a postcard dated 1906. County jails of the time typically contained a sheriff’s residence (in the foreground) adjoining a cell block and were typically constructed to resemble fashionable residences.

There are very few contemporary photographs of county jail interiors from this era. To follow escape artists as they attempt to flee captivity, the researcher must rely on primary sources. One such source provides a rare glimpse into county jails by this bygone era: the “Jail Cell Catalog” of E.T. Barnum (not to be confused with great showman P.T. Barnum).

Barnum, an iron-works based in Detroit, Michigan, was founded in 1866. Half a century before the “Motor City” was born, Located at the end of a vast, freshwater trade route, Detroit presented the ideal location for Barnum’s firm. Raw ore from the Upper Peninsula traveled down Lake Huron and into the St. Clair River, passing through Lake St. Clair and finally down the Detroit River to the thriving metropolis.

Barnum made all sorts of things out of iron and steel including fences, fire escapes, and ornate lattice work, but by the late 19th century, the firm had blossomed into one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of small-scale penal facilities. By the turn of the century, Barnum had constructed cell blocks for prisons throughout the United States and Canada. They published a “Jail Cell Catalog” containing images that provide a rare glimpse into county pens from the gaslight era and beyond.

Did Barnum construct jail cells for your county? This list contains all of the jails boasting Barnum’s steel work c. 1900.

Three layouts for small county jails as proposed by E.T. Barnum in the “Jail Cell Catalog”

The Barnum catalog contains a graphic explanation as to why so many escapes took place in 19th century county jails. Despite Barnum’s claims, lattice-type bars, typically a quarter inch in thickness and an inch and a half in length, were easier to saw through than thicker, round bars.

A Barnum-constructed, lattice-style cell. Note the food opening at the bottom of the door. Meals, often cooked by the sheriff’s wife in the residence attached to the cell block, would be passed to the prisoners through this hole. In the 1880s, two prisoners in the Kent County Jail (Grand Rapids, Michigan) escaped by severing the bars around the food slot. Newspaper reporters who covered the event marveled at how the two men could squeeze through an opening not much larger than a 81/2″ x 11″ sheet of paper.

The type of cell block that appeared in county jails of the gaslight era. Note the toilet facilities, or “Commode” located under the iron cots. Before the advent of these convenient “commodes,” turnkeys sometimes marched prisoners, shackled with ball and chain, to a nearby river to do their business. The cots were hinged and could be attached to the wall when not in use, thus giving prisoners more room to move. During daylight hours, prisoners were also allowed to loiter in the “Prisoners’ Corridor.”