90. The Old Randolph County Jail

The Old Randolph County Jail

Winchester News-Gazette, Jan. 1978.
by William Jackson.

Randolph County Jail, located in Winchester, Indiana

  Human nature being, unfortunately, what it is, one of the first necessities of local government on the frontier in the early days of Indiana was a jail. After Randolph County was organized in 1818, one of the first public buildings, in fact, one of the first buildings of any kind to go up was the county jail.  The first jail, which was made of hewn logs, went up in 1819, and stood for many years. It would be 63 years before the present building housing the jail would be built, and the log jail would hold felons responsible for every type of mayhem listed in the laws of those days.
  Running a jail was no simple trick, in even those simpler days. A grand jury report concerning the jail, issued in 1827, found that it was clean, but not strong enough. The next year the grand jury reported that the jail was "sufficiently strong, but not sufficiently clean." By 1829 the jail had been made both strong and clean, but it was found by the grad jurors to be not sufficiently warm.
  The charges for which persons were lodged in the jail were many and varied. Petit and grand larceny were frequent, with horse stealing being especially popular in the latter category. Frequent arrests were made for public intoxication, several men were arrested for acting as pimps, and of course the world's oldest profession is well represented in the old records. Rape also appears occasionally.
  One pour soul was arrested for the heinous crime of pigeon dropping. I am sure that the blood of every law abiding citizen of Winchester and Randolph County boiled at the very thought of pigeon dropping, but exactly what was involved in this crime I have no idea.
  One man, brought in the middle 1870's, had written on his record, in the space provided for "charges", simply "crazy'"
 Tucker, in his history of Randolph County, states that for a dozen years after the county was organized, not more than 12 families lived in the new town of Winchester. By the last half of the 1800's, however, the picture had changed, and people from all over the world were into the area. Booking records for this period provide a space for listing the "nativity" of the prisoners, and these forms reveal that Buckeyes, from Ohio, were jailed along with Hoosiers, and settlers from Pennsylvania and old Virginia.
  Prisoners also came from as far away as France, England, Italy, Holland and "Jermaney." One variety of prisoner is listed as a 'smoked Yank." The origins of a smoked Yank are as obscure as those of the crime of pigeon dropping.
  By far the most frequent nationality to appear in the arrest records, however, was Irish. Although they weren't discriminated against, and were arrested for every type of crime, the most popular seemed to be intoxication.
  In October of 1880 Sheriff W.W. Macy turned the jail over to his successor, R.V. Murray along with his "best wishes-hoping that he may extract much joy and immense wealth out of keeping the county jail and boarding prisoners at 40 cents per day-in which I have failed."
  Murray was to be the first sheriff to use the new, modern jail, which was constructed in 1881 and 1882, and served as the sheriff's residence and a hospital as well as a jail.
  The contract for the new building was let to A.G. Campfield in April of 1881, to be built to the design of Hodson, architect. The cost of the building was $34,500.
  The specifications, as described by Tucker, called for a 45 by 58 foot jail area, and a sheriff's residence of 54 by 29.5 feet. The floor of the jail was to be of stone flagging and the roof was to be slate covered mansard. The cells, arranged in two tiers, were of iron with a seven foot passage completely encircling them. Above the cells, in the second story was the hospital for the jail.
  Tucker said in 1882, "Great improvements, so reckoned, and great expense as well, in jail construction, have been made since the days of the hewed log jail built in 1819. Then, log jails at a cost of $100 or less were strong enough to hold the rogues of that day; now, whether a jail built wholly of iron will hold the villains of the present time remains yet to be tried.
  The new jail, although not built "wholly of iron," did suffice to hold the villains of that day, and has now for 96 years. If it could talk, what stories it would have to tell of those 96 years!

The Dungeon of the Randolph County Jail in Winchester, Indiana

  Beneath the jail are rough hewn stone cells, locked away behind iron doors. Commonly referred to as the "dungeon" by the present staff at the jail, it is tempting to imagine the desperate criminals who pined away for years, wrapped in these cold, dark chambers. The true story is much less exciting, however, they were used to hold persons who had been declared insane by a judge until there became space available at the State mental asylum in Richmond.
  The hospital area, with it's large rooms and fireplace heated wards, is now closed off, no longer serving any purpose. The solid brick walls have since been used for target practice and are pock marked with bullet holes. Of course, all of this took place "under a previous administration," one deputy assures.
  Although state law still requires each county to provide the sheriff with a residence at the jail, sheriffs have not been required to live on the premises since the advent of all night radio operators. The Randolph County Sheriff has not lived at the jail for over three years.
  The sheriff's department, of course, would like to see a new jail replace the historic present building. Just how long the present jail will continue to hold 'the villains of the present time" remains as Tucker said, yet to be seen.

The Randolph County Jail, located in Winchester, Indiana

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