In 1864 the old jail was condemned and considered unsafe for the retention of prisoners educated in crime, and accordingly C. S. Tibbitts and William Neal were appointed to procure a site and let contract for the building of a new jail, but for some unknown reason this was not done, and not until 1868 was the erection of the new building commenced.
The bids were received, and contract entered into November 19, 1868. The contract for ironwork for said building was awarded to S. & J. Hulley of Marion, for $ 12,000, or as was stated in the bid, for $ 150 less than any other responsible bidder. The other work was let out by the piece. According to the reports of the auditor there was paid on the jail in 1869, $6,464.47; in 1870, $22,747.80; and in 1871, $8,972.73 amounting in the aggregate to $38,184.09. This amount probably included the current expenses of prisoners for the above period.
The jail proper is 40x42 feet, two stories high, with a basement beneath, which originally contained the apparatus by which the building, before the steam pipes were laid, was heated. The walls are twenty-two inches thick and are built of stone, and the windows are grated with substantial iron bars. This alone would insure safety, to say nothing of the sixteen iron cells, which when bolted against the prisoners, places them beyond the possibility of escape. The jail is well arranged both for ventilation and water grates into each cell, which admits fresh air at the pleasure of the occupant. The water supply is received from a large tank situated in the main building from which the pipes lead the water to the cells. The sheriff's residence which is built in connection with the jail, is of brick and stone and in exterior appearance is plain. The interior is divided into eight rooms, which are well arranged with reference to light, heat and ventilation, and the building makes upon the whole a very comfortable residence.
Indianapolis News,Indianapolis, Marion County, 2 September 1881
All the prisoners in the Grant county jail, thirteen in number, escaped yesterday, but were all recaptured after an exciting chase.
From the Book Annual Report of the Board of State Charities of Indiana, Volume 1
GRANT COUNTY VISITED JUNE 19, 1889. The jail at Marion is entirely too small for the wants of the county. It has the appearance of a fairly strong jail yet has had frequent breakages. When visited it was in very bad order all cell doors without locks staircase to upper tier of cells torn out so that prisoners have to climb up the doors of the lower tier to reach the upper ones. The place was very dirty being just before annual cleaning. Water pipes and water closets were all out of order. Nineteen prisoners in twelve cells thirteen of them being out at work with the chain gang on the streets. The women's department is in much better order than the men's being fairly clean and strong. A new jail or extensive repairs will be necessary very shortly in Grant County.
Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 26 April 1890
Special to the Indianapolis Journal.
MARION, April 25.-A jail delivery occurred here last night, in which five prisoners, charged with penitentiary offenses, made their escape. The fugitive malefactors are: William Nucum, under two years sentence for highway robbery; Olney Shrock, charged as accessory; William Henderson and John Ryan, held for grand larceny, and Jasper N. Watson, for subornation of perjury. Nucum and Shrock, the only prisoners locked in a cell, sawed off the hinges of their cell door. A piece of boiler iron in the floor two feet square was pried up. opening the way into the cellar, where they tunneled through a two-foot stone wall and crawled through a window. All five are still at large. Nucum and Shrock, who broke jail on the 4th of last January, had been recaptured only last Monday at Troy, O. There were eighteen prisoners in jail, but none of the other thirteen tried to escape. Among those who remained was John Sage, indicted for murder in the first degree, whose trial comes up a week from next Monday. The others who remained are held for trivial offenses. The delivery was not discovered until this morning.
Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 17 July 1890
Recaptured After Eighteen Months' Freedom. Special to the Indianapolis Journal.
MARION, July 16.-Charles Delvin, who made his escape with two other burglars from the Grant county jail a year and a half ago, was placed behind the bars again here to-day. Delvin was recognized in Chicago a few days ago, and his presence was reported to the police, who arrested him.
Indianapolis News,Indianapolis, Marion County, 18 March 1891
The Grant county jail has been condemned as unsafe and unhealthy.
Rensselaer Republican, Volume 24, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 October 1891
The Grant county jail is infested with vermin
Indianapolis News, Indianapolis, Marion County, 27 October 1892
BAD INDIANA JAILS.
Wretched Conditions in Jefferson County- A Cellar For a Jail.
Secretary Johnson of the Board of State Charities, in his traveling about the State is finding many things which need reform in the administration of jails and poorhouses. These things he is describing in his report for the year, which will be published at a later day.
The Grant county jail is overcrowded and in bad repair, and there is no proper separation of the different classes of prisoners. Persons arrested in the city of Marion are confined in the jail, and this keeps the place overcrowded constantly. Marion has a "rock-pile," on which persons who have been convicted of petty offenses are compelled to work. An exception is made in the ease of old soldiers, who are sometimes arrested for intoxication. They are never put on the "rock-pile." The number of such cases is unusually large at Marion, because of the location there of a soldiers' home.
Rensselaer Republican, Volume 26, Number 4,Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 September 1893
Charles Meeter, of Marion, under sentence to prison, by the alternate use of a flame of gas and a stream of cold water, displaced the stones of his cell in the Grant county jail, and he was on point of escape when discovered.
Indianapolis News, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 March 1895
Prisoners confined in the Grant county Jall at Marion laid a carefully-prepared plan to escape, but they were betrayed by a drunken confederate on the outside.
Indianapolis News, Indianapolis, Marion County, 30 November 1896
JAIL DELIVERY FRUSTRATED.
The Sheriff of Grant County Catches the Prisoners at Work.
Special to The Indianapolis News. Marion, Ind., November 30-Yesterday afternoon Sheriff Alexander and deputies made a rush on the cage in the county jail and caught Charles Jones and Lew Treep in the act of working on the iron bars with saws, which had been smuggled to them by friends on the outside. Two inside bars had been sawed off and the "crooks" were at work on the outside bar when disturbed. Four saws were secured. The Grant county jail now confines the most dangerous crew of burglars, pick- pockets, robbers and general malefactors ever confined there. If the sheriff had not discovered and frustrated the scheme for escape, last night would probably have seen the biggest Jail delivery in the history of this county.
Decatur Democrat, Volume 43, Number 13,Decatur, Adams County, 8 June 1899
Prisoners in the Grant county jail used natural ga, in heating the stones composing the floor of their cell, after which they poured on water, cracking and breaking it so that it could be removed. Accidental discovery by the sheriff alone prevented a general delivery.
From the Book Annual report of the Indiana State Board of Health. 1900
JAIL The jail of Grant County, in every respect, is an unsanitary building utterly inadequate for the purpose for which it was built. It was condemned by me in a previous report the Secretary of the Board of State Charities has paid his respects to it in the same way, and it has been condemned by the grand jury during the year at the request of the Commissioners. I appeared before the County Council and called their attention to these things and asked for an appropriation of 50,000 with which to construct a new jail. The County Council, however, adjourned since when this proposition was made.
The reasons for condemning this jail are a) it is too small; b) Prisoners can not be segregated; c) the Sheriff's family is brought in direct contact with prisoners, have not sufficient room, and are not provided with proper sanitary appliances and Plumbing of the jail proper is constantly out of repair imperfect and leaky and Ventilation very imperfect.
The present Sheriff, Mr. CC Bradford, has endeavored to carry out instructions of Mr. Butler made while here last year and has succeeded fairly well as well as permitted by his surroundings and the means with which he is provided. According to the law, the grand jury, having condemned the jail, may indict the Commissioners at their next session, provided they fail to take steps to rebuild or change the condition of the building. This makes the Commissioners responsible for the condition of the jail jointly with the Sheriff. The County Council has failed or refused to furnish funds for a new jail, and the only course left for the Commissioners is to keep the jail in as good condition as possible.
The interior of the jail needs repainting at this writing. Owing to the urgent representations of Mr Butler, who threatened legal procedure if his demands were not complied with, the interior was cleaned and painted last winter. The jail is crowded and soon gets dirty with the best of care for the reasons above stated. It is expensive to repaint, but it must be done, or both Sheriff and Commissioners are liable if the Board of State Charities sees fit to take any legal action. Sanitary reasons also demand that the interior of the building where men are confined for long intervals should be kept in good condition, for the dirt is a means of producing disease by carrying infection from those suffering with consumption or other infectious diseases to those who are well when incarcerated I hope to soon see a new jail constructed for many reasons, but as long as the present one is used, it must be kept in a sanitary condition as far as possible by frequent cleaning and repainting.
AE POWELL
Health Officer
From the Book Indiana Bulletin: Charities and Corrections Volume
COUNTY JAIL MARION Visited in February 1900. The jail is small and poorly adapted for its purpose. It was built in 1869. It is only partially heated with steam. Cells are without sewerage. Prisoners are expected to keep the cells clean. There are religious services each Sabbath. There are at present twenty two inmates all men. We consider the stoves in the corridor an unsafe method of heating. We think the janitor should be required to keep the cells and corridors clean.
From the Book Public Welfare in Indiana, Issues 36-47
GRANT COUNTY During the quarter ending August 31 1901 the Board of County Charities and Correction visited all the institutions under its supervision. The Orphans Home was found in excellent condition a number of improvements having been recently made. Forty five boys and twenty eight girls were present. Their health at that time was very good. At the County Poor Asylum it was learned that money had been appropriated for greatly needed repairs. The board recommends new bathtubs fire protection and laundry facilities. The cell house for the insane is still unfinished It should be fitted for use at once. Twenty men and forty women were present. The County Jail is inadequate to meet the demands made upon it. The board urges strongly that a new one be erected Recently fifty four persons were present at one time while the capacity is but for twenty four and in consequence the conditions were very unsatisfactory. The condition of the Lockups in the county varies. The one at Swayzee is a credit to the county. There have been marked improvements at Jonesboro Gas City is hoping for better conditions soon.
Marion News Tribune Tuesday, June 17, 1902
GRAND JURY CONDEMNS JAIL
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Advises Erection of New County Prison
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REPAIRS AT INFIRMARY
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New Heating System Should Be Installed and Laudry Facilities Should Be Increased
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The report of the grand jusry on their work and the investigation of the county infirmary and the county jail filed with Judge Paulus, is as follows:
State of Indiana, County of Grant, ss. Grant Circuit Court, April Term, 1902
We, the grand jury, impaneled for the sold April term, would report:
That we have examined into the violations of all criminal laws of the state of Indiana that have come to our notice.
We further report that we visited the county infirmary, and recommend that the facilities for doing laundry work be enlarged, and that more modern laundry machinery be secured for use in said infirmary, and further recommend that the heating system be changed from grates and hot air to steam or a hot water system.
That we commend Superintendent Banks in his management and care of all matters connected with the infirmary, and also the good service rendered by his wife, Mrs. Banks.
We further report that we have visited the county jail; that the conditions are very unsatisfactory; that its capacity is too small to accommodate the number that is usually confined there, and we recommend that an entire new county jail be constructed.
That Sheriff Bradford keeps the jail in good, clean condition considering the present construction of jail.
Isaiah Wall
Foreman of Grand Jury.
Dated June 16, 1902
From the Book Public Welfare in Indiana, Issues 48-51
COUNTY JAIL MARION Visited during quarter ending August 31 1902. Population nineteen men and one woman. The general conditions are as unfavorable as ever but we are pleased over the prospects of having a new jail in the near future.
