Below is another Historical Perspective by Mike McCormick, Vigo County Historian. It
contains many names of individuals who were from Vigo County Indiana during the late
1880's. This may be of help for many individual genealogists and family historians as
an 1890 US Census substitute.
Source:
Historical Perspective: From Terre Haute to Jeffersonville State Prison in 1887, written
by Michael McCormick, Vigo County Historian.
Terre Haute Tribune-Star, Sunday Edition, 13 Sep 2009, Perspectives - Section D, Page D5,
Terre Haute, Vigo, IN.
Posted by David L. Bonnett
Indiana County Genealogist - Vigo
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Historical Perspective: From Terre Haute to Jeffersonville State Prison in 1887
By Mike McCormick
Special to the Tribune-Star
On Oct. 10, 1887, an anonymous Terre Haute Gazette reporter accompanied Vigo County
Sheriff Albert D. Weeks and prisoner Walter Sheldon by train to the Indiana State Prison
in Jeffersonville.
The son of a recently deceased Terre Haute barber, Sheldon had been sentenced to five
years for his role in the attempted burglary of the home of James N. Shepherd at 1659
Poplar St. on Sept. 15. It was his first offense.
The burglary attempt was foiled by the teenage Shepherd boys, Will and Rolla. Returning
home from a party at 1 a.m. that morning, 15-year old Will observed Sheldon and an
accomplice approach the residence and try to pry open a window.
Will awakened his 19-year-old brother and the boys collared Sheldon, after enlisting
assistance from neighbor Joe Davis. Jack Bowers, Sheldon’s accomplice with a lengthy rap
sheet, got away.
The reporter savored the experience, praising Sheriff Weeks as “a kind man to his
prisoners with the faculty of saying things to them which cannot fail to have good
effect.”
Sheldon, who had been working as a painter at the Vigo County Courthouse during its
construction, “talked considerably about his crime and of Bowers, his associate in it.”
The train ride – from Terre Haute to Indianapolis and from Indianapolis to Jeffersonville
– consumed about 19 hours.
Upon arrival at the 45-year-old facility (it opened in 1842), Sheldon and his guardians
were escorted into a room next to the warden’s office where the prisoner was thoroughly
searched. His pockets were full of trinkets including – much to the amusement of a deputy
warden – an opera glass.
“What use do you expect to make of these while you’re here?” he asked.
While Sheldon was being searched, Putnam County Sheriff Lewis arrived, escorting convicted
murderer Dempsey Robertson. When the search was over, Sheldon politely offered his hand to
the sheriff and the reporter, bidding them farewell.
During a tour of the prison conducted by Deputy Warden Barnes, Weeks and the reporter saw
Sheldon and Robertson once more, stripped, shaved, trimmed and sharing a common wash tub.
There were 520 prisoners and 28 guards at the facility. Convicts from half of the
Indiana’s 92 counties were taken to the prison at Michigan City.
Visits were made to each of the prison’s many shops and foundries. In all of them,
convicts from Vigo County were recognized. Upon inquiry, it was learned that there were 53
Vigo County prisoners, more than one-tenth of the convicts harbored there.
Many of the prisoners inquired about home, usually by asking: “How are things in the Hut?”
One prisoner inquired about ex-Vigo County Sheriff John Cleary.
After the tour, the reporter returned to the office to examine institutional records about
each of the Vigo County men.
Four had been sentenced to life for murder: William Flowers, sentenced Sept. 19, 1877;
Isaac Kendrick, sentenced Aug. 16, 1882; William Taylor, sentenced Dec. 11, 1879; and
James Roper, sentenced Dec. 12, 1873.
Two other men were sentenced to shorter terms for homicides: Robert Clark, sentenced to 21
years for murder on Feb. 11, 1876, and George W. Bishop, sentenced to 14 years for murder
on July 16, 1886.
Three men were serving time for rape, including brothers William and Sherman Hubbard, each
sentenced to eight years on Jan. 18, 1884. William Morris was sentenced to 14 years for
rape on July 16, 1886.
William G. Murray was convicted of assault and battery with intent to commit robbery on
July 16, 1886 and sentenced to serve 14 years. George Kelley, on the other hand, was
sentenced to three and one-half years Sept. 8, 1885 for assault and battery with intent.
Confectionary Josiah “Cy” Norton, convicted of incest on July 8, 1885, was sentenced to
four years.
James R. Titsworth was doomed to seven years for forgery on June 5, 1885, while engineer
Alexander Graves was sentenced to two years on Oct. 9, 1886, for robbery.
On Dec. 17, 1886, Thomas Braden was sentenced to one and one-half years for robbery and
receiving stolen property.
Only four men were imprisoned for burglary. One of them was 17-year-old Benjamin Springs,
sentenced on June 28, 1886 to 10 years. Springs was executed by hanging for murder on July
1, 1904.
A sentence of seven years for burglary was meted out to Frank Dudley on Dec. 15, 1884. A
three-year sentence was awarded to Grant Burgess for burglary on July 15, 1885, while
harness maker James Doyle was given two years on July 21, 1886.
The remaining Vigo County prisoners were convicted of either grand or petit larceny.
Richard Mortz, sentenced to 14 years for cow stealing on Oct. 29, 1885, was seeking a
pardon. The Gazette expected Mortz’s conviction to be set aside.
The other men serving time for larceny during October 1887 included George Barnes, Manfred
Bebee, James Beard, Thomas Cleary, Henry Check, John Ellwanger, Lewis N. Evans, Alexander
P. Fox, James Griffith, Henry Gones, Albert C. Hill, Edward Hummer, Albert Jennings, Talma
Jones, William F. Lee, George Morebacker, August Marold, Henry Moore, Cornelius L. Neal,
William Neal, Theodore Parish, John Pierce, Thomas Parsons, Erastus Peterson, Samuel Rusk,
Charles Robbins, John Strange, Rufus Stoecker, Charles Smith, Charles Tuttle, Albert
Williams and William Williams.
Strange, sentenced to 14 years on April 1, 1885, Lee, imprisoned for 13 years on March 17,
1886, and Tuttle, sentenced to 10 years on June 3, 1887, were subjected to the lengthiest
penalties.