Record Series: JAIL RECORD BOOK
Dates: 1868 - 1883
Location: Warren County Records Storage & Archives.
Format: Bound Volume
Arranged: Chronological
Volume: .2 cubic ft
Department: Sheriff
Legal Restrictions: None
Use Restrictions: Staff will access all records and must approve all requests for copies.
Historical Background:
The keeping of a Jail Record Book traces its origins to the Laws of New York chapter 460, of the Laws of 1847 entitled "An act for the better regulation of county and state prisons, and consolidating and amending the existing laws in relation thereto.". The Revised Statutes of 1875, Chapter 3, Title 1, Article 1, Section 15 state "It shall be the duty of the keeper of each county prison to keep a daily record of the commitments and discharges of all prisoners delivered to his charge, which record shall exhibit the date of entrance, name, offense, term of sentence, fine, age, sex, country, color, social relations, parents, habits of life, cannot read, read only, read and write, well educated, classically educated, religious instruction, how committed, by whom committed, how discharged, trade or occupation, whether so employed when arrested, number of previous convictions, value of articles stolen."
The first Warren County Jail was built in 1817. A document filed by the judges of the Court of Common Pleas on 27 June 1817, and preserved in Court Inspection Papers states: "We, William Robards, Ketchel Bishop & Halsey Rogers, three of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Warren after viewing the Gaol now building in the County of Warren do pronounce the same sufficient to confine prisoners for debt or ciminals at the Discretion of the Sheriff; but it is not understood that the same is completed according to a contract made by the Commissioners appointed by the Supervisors of said county to superintend said building, with David Nash." In July of 1823 a calendar of prisoners confined in the common Gaol of Warren County gives our first true listing of inmates confined: Richard Fuller, Samuel Walkup, David S, Cook and William Brannock alias William Stores. On October 26, 1843, the Warren County Jail was destroyed by fire when the court house burned. On the same date, Judges Elisha Pendell, David Noble, 2d, and Joseph Woodward met and signed the following order: "The common jail of the said county of Warren being this day destroyed by fire, and several prisoners, to wit: Benajah Hillman, Jeremiah Herrington and James Bakeman being at the time, lawfully confined therein...it is hereby ordered by the undersigned three Judges of the county courts of said county pursuant to the provisions of section 14, article 2, title 6 chapter 7, of part 3 of the revised statutes of the State of New York, that the common jail of the county of Saratoga, at Ballstown, be and the same is hereby designated as the place for confinement of said prisioners of said county." In January of 1869, Gales Coleman a merchant on Glen Street in Glens Falls "let and rented to the county of Warren the basement of my store on Glenn Street in the village of Glens Falls in said county for a Lock up with the appurtenances and sole and uninterrupted use and occupation thereof for one year." Throughout the years there were regular inspections of the jail facility and lists of prisoners that were filed in "Court Inspections". On June 18, 1897 a grand jury recommended "the reshingling of the wood shed, the fixing of the stove pipe in the jail and the putting of an awning over the East entrance of the Jail." On January 2, 1907, an extensive inventory of the jail and court house was filed pursuant to the provisions of Section 7 of Chapter 66 of the Laws of 1906.
Description of Record Series:
Handwritten summary of prisoners held at the Warren County Jail and includes: Name, Commitment Date, Physical Description, Religion, Occupation, Offence, Sentence and Discharge Information. Also known as "Record of Commitments". Subsequent jail record books were known as "Jail Records of Admission and Discharge".
Purpose of Record:
To provide a record of commitment and discharges of prisoners held in the Warren County Jail.
Other Formats:
Finding Aids: Computer index of names. Series locations on inventory database.
Related Series: Criminal Indictments, Convictions, Supervisor's Correspondence, Court Inspections.