138 



CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Pabt II. 



PRISON AND YARD. 



NEW PRISON. 



GOVERNMENT. 



Section IX. 

 The Vermont State Prison. 



On the 3d of November, 1807, the leg- 

 islature passed an act providing for the 

 appointment, by a joint ballot of both 

 houses, of five commissioners, who should 

 be empowered to fix upon a plan and place 

 for a state prison, and superintend the 

 erection and finishing of the same. The 

 commissioners elected for this purpose 

 were Ezra Butler, Samuel Shaw, John 

 Cameron, Josiah Wright and Eliliu Luce. 

 They were directed to proceed in the dis- 

 charge of the duties assigned them with- 

 out unnecessary delay, and were author- 

 ized to draw upon the treasury of the 

 state for any sum, not exceeding $30,000, 

 in carrying the designs' of the legislature 

 into effect. 



Having fixed upon Windsor as the lo- 

 cation of the prison, the work was com- 

 menced in 1808 and was carried forward 

 nearly to its completion in 1809. The 

 original prison was built entirely of stone 

 — was 84 feet long, 30 feet wide and three 

 etories high. It was divided into rooms 

 of various sizes, considered sufficient for 

 containing with convenience and safety 

 170 prisoners. The outside walls of this 

 prison are three feet thick and the par- 

 titions 18 inches ; the doors of the lower 

 story wholly of sheet and bar iron, firmly 

 riveted together. The windows in the 

 lower story are very small narrow aper- 

 tures ; those in the second story are a 

 little larger ; and those in the third story 

 are much larger and grated. In the third 

 story are rooins, which are used as hos- 

 pitals for the sick. 



Adjoining this prison, to the east, is a 

 building of stone and brick, 54 feet long, 

 24 wide and four stories high, for the use 

 of the keepers and guards. The basement 

 story of this building was designed for a 

 victualing room for the prisoners. 



The yard commences at the northwest 

 corner of the prison, extends west 24 feet, 

 .thence south 12 rods, thence east 16 rods, 

 thence north 12 rods and thence west to 

 the east end of the keepers' house. The 

 walls of the yard are four feet thick at the 

 base, and 20 feet in height above the sur- 

 face of the ground ; 14 of which are of 

 hammered stone and the remainder of 

 brick. The parts of the prison and of the 

 keepers' house, which are next the street, 

 are secured by a picket. Within the yard 

 was erected a work-shop, principally of 

 brick, 100 feet long, 24 wide and three 

 stories high. 



The foregoing constitute the principal 

 original structures, erected and nearly 

 completed in 1808 and 1809, and the 



amount expended in their construction 

 was about $39,000. After that period, 

 two other considerable buildings designed 

 for store-houses and offices, were erected 

 within the prison yard and various other 

 improvements made previous to the erec- 

 tion of the new prison, for solitary con- 

 finement, in 1S30. The new prison is 1 12 

 feet in length, and 40 in width. The cells 

 for the confinement of the prisoners are 

 situated in the central partof tlie building, 

 surrounded by an open passage on all 

 sides, as represented in the following dia- 

 gram : 



119 ft. 



1«1 



Jo/C 



io/t 



mmi 



i log 



There are four stories of cells in the new 

 prison, and 34 cells in each story, making 

 in all 136 cells. This prison was com- 

 menced in 1830, finished in 1832, and cost 

 $8,000. 



Most of the prisoners were at first em- 

 ployed in shoe making and in making 

 nails and other smith work. After a 

 while their business was changed to weav- 

 ing cotton cloth, ginghams, plaids, &c., 

 and this was their principal employment 

 for many years. At present the greater 

 part of the convicts are employed in ma- 

 king Brogans. 



The government of the prison was at 

 first vested in a board of visiters, who ap- 

 pointed the subordinate officers, made the 

 by-laws of the institution, and reported 

 their doings to th'e legislature every year. 

 After a while the board of visiters waa 

 abolished and the government vested in a 

 superintendent, then in a superintendent 

 and warden. But subsequently the office 

 of warden was abolished and the govern- 

 ment of the prison re-committed to the 

 superintendent, who has the appointment 

 of the guards and under officers, with the 

 exception of the chaplain, who, like the 

 superintendent, is elected annually by the 

 general assembly. The superintendent 

 is required to make an annual report to 

 the legislature of his doings, and of the 

 condition of the prison. 



Of the six sentenced for life, four have 

 been pardoned ; the first in one year, the 

 second in five years, the third in six years 

 and the fifth in four years. 



The first commitments to the state pris- 

 on were made in ] 809, and that year 24 

 convicts were entered. The followiiTg 

 table exhibits the number of convicts 

 committed each year from that time to the 

 present, and various other particulars : 



