Can November 13, 1854 the Westchester County Board of Supervisors convened its annual meeting at the old County Court He on South Broadway in White Plains (where the State Armory now stands), The meeting was chaired by Board Chairman Joseph T. Carpenter of New Castle, who functioned as the legal authority for the County government, before the emergence of an elected County Executive in the 1930's, Until 1959, the elected Town Supervisors served a dual legislative role as voting members of the Westchester County Board of Supervisors.

In 1854, a special committee of the Board of Supervisors - headed by Robert Cochran of White Plains - presented a report and resolution on the state of the existing County buildings:

"..the pent condition of the Court House, Jail, County Clerk's and Surrogate's offices_ call for immediate measures.. The condition of our Jail has been repeatedly made the subject of complaint to former Boards of SuperWsors, a grand jury of the County having represented it as unfit for the purposes ft which it is demoted, and it has been forcibly impressed upon the minds of your committee, that humanity and a primer regard for the unfortunates confined therein, demand a radical and speedy alteration in the position and appointments of this portion of the public buildings included in

this resolut on...Public edifices are the true indications of a people's spirit and enterprise and, in the opinion of your committee, the energetic inhabitants of this county will be hap^py to see the present erections give way to a substantial and commodious edifice more worthy of one of the foremost count es in the State. " z

Serving with Mr. Cochran on the special building committee were: Abraham Hatfield, William Marshall Jr., Daniel Hunt, and William G. Ackerman. In their report, they cited an 1849 state law that gave the Board of Supervisors the power to change the location of public buildings after observing matters of public notice and When the distance shall not exceed one mile. "3

The practice of defining "jail limits" is now antiquated, but in the 18^fh and 19" centuries, it was common to define and mark off the territorial limits of a local jail to aliow an imprisoned debtor to go at large under certain conditions. The first known Court order defining "jail limits" in Westchester County was issued by the Court of Common Pleas on September 27, 1798 and specified "two acres three Quarters and twenty rods of land" surrounding the old Court House on South Broadway in White Plains. The "jail limits" of Westchester County were among the many changes that would need to be addressed with the proposed construction of the first jail facility.

In 1854, property owned by Charles A. Purdy in White Plains was offered to the County government for its building needs. The square block (now in downtown White Plains) was bounded by Railroad Avenue (now Main Street), Court Street, Martine Avenue, and Grand Street. The land was formally transferred to the Westchester County Board of Supervisors "for the use and benefit of the inhabitants of said County" 5 on June 2, 1855 by Mr. Purdy for one dollar at the office of County Court Judge John W. Mills in White Plains.

In February 1855 - prior to any action by the N.Y. State Legislature - members of the Prison Association of New York visited the jail accommodations in Westchester County and found them to be deficient. The Association was incorporated in 1846 for "the amelioration of the conditions of prisoners, whether detained for trial, or finally convicted, or as witnesses".⁸ The group was granted extraordinary powers by the N.Y. State Legislature, which determined that: "...it shall be their duty to visit, inspect and examine all the prisons in the State, and annually report to the Legislature their state and condition".⁹ These inspection powers were to be affirmed by a N.Y. State Supreme Court Judge and jurisdiction was extended to all county and city jails.

The tenth annual report of the Prison Association of New York was formally submitted to the State Legislature on March 28, 1855 and cited jail conditions in Westchester County:

"The prison is in the town of Whiteplains. The basement of the court house is divided by a hall, on each side of which there are four cells; these apartments constitute the county prison. The cells are large, and designated to accommodate two prisoners; the ventilation and light deficient, and the arrangement for heating entirely insufficient for cold and damp weather. The sheriff resides in the upper part of the building, and has the charge of the prisoners...from such inquiries and observations as could be made, a favorable opinion is entertained of the care and attention given to the personal wants of the prisoners, and of the diligence in keeping them secure. This service, probably, in the estimation of the sheriff, is the full measure of his duty, not that this remark should imply any special delinquency on his part in other respects as a jail keeper, on the contrary, the general appearance of domestic affairs about the prison compares favorably with any that has fallen under the observations of the undersigned; but here, as in all other jails visited....no provision was found for religious services, no efforts for moral instruction or reformation, no apparent efforts for improvement of prison discipline. At the time of the visit there were nine prisoners in the jail, eight white males and one white female, occupying five of the cells, leaving three cells unoccupied. The regular practice, as ascertained from a person in attendance, being to allot two prisoners to each cell, without any reference to empty cells, separation being regarded only with reference to the sex. From this practice, it is readily inferred that economy of expense and trouble is thought of greater importance than any consideration applicable to proper prison discipline...

The undersigned unhesitingly expresses the opinion that the prison

in Westchester County is totally inadequate for the judicious treatment of prisoners, and wholly deficient in arrangements required for proper prison discipline. It is well known that Westchester is one of the most thriving, populous, and wealthy counties in the State, and it certainly appears very inconsistent that its citizens should be thus delinquent in one of their most important public duties." 10

SETH BIRD (1814-1888), a prominent builder in Tarrytown, was hired to construct the first Westchester County Jail. His mast famous project was the building of Christ Episcopal Church on South Broadway in Tarrytown, with his brother James, in 1837. This church became the place of worship for Washington Irving, the noted American author, and was the scene of Irving's large funeral in 1859. It is now of the National Register of Historic Places. During 1849-50 Mr. Bird was the superintendent of Construction for the new Hudson River Railroad line (from Yonkers to Croton) and he built the first train depot for Tarrytown in 1850. He also donated the foundation of stone and concrete for the monument that was erected in 1853 to mark the location in

Tarrytown where British spy Major John Andre was captured in 1790 during the Rewlutionary War. In 1855 and in in 1856, Seth Bird was elected Supervisor of the Town of Greenburgh. A successful businessman, he was one of nine original directors of the Tarrytown National Bank, which was established in 1882. Four years later in 1886, he was selected as the ninth president of the Village of Tarrytown, after it had become a municipal corporation in 1871. This position was later replaced with an elected mayor in 1927. Seth Bird married Rebecca Embree in 1835 and they had 8 children, but most of them died young. His wife predeceased him and he was survived by only one daughter and 7 grandchildren. He died in 1888 and his obituary in the Tarrytown Argus paid tribute to his courage, patriotism, rugged virtue, honor, sterling honesty, and "his granite character, unmoved by the storm of years'^",¹⁴ Bird is buried at the famous Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. (Cou ^rtesy of Historical Sxiefy Serving Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown)

In July 1857 the Board of Supervisors was urged to press for a speedy completion of the Jail project, because the holding space in the basement of the County Court He on South Broadway in White Plains had only eight cells and twenty-nine occupants. The space was determined to be in a "dilapidated, insecure, and unwholesome condition^".¹⁵ Two months later on September 10, 1857 the jail project was not yet fully completed, but the Westchester County Court - presided over by Judge Selah B. Strong - adjourned to their new building on Main Street in White Plains. When the iron bridge connecting the new Jail to the new Court He

was

completed a short time later, prisoners were transferred to the new facility and the first Westchester County Jail was open for business, with Sheriff Daniel H. Little in charge. The Jail was located on Martine Avenue (directly across the street from where the present County Office Building now stands).

· 6 pounds of candles @ 28 cents per pound

· 4 barrel of disinfectant for $1.00

· 3 brooms € 25 cents each

· 10 pairs of shoes € $1.13 each

· 7 cords of wood @ $6.00 for oak & $7.00 for hickory

· 72 new keys e 5 cents each

During the first full year of operating the new County Jail in 1857, Sheriff Daniel H. little sought and received $787.47 in reimbursement for the "boarding" of prisoners. He reported that he had received into custody 157 prisoners and discharged 139 prisoners during the year, for which the Sheriffs Office was entitled to receive 37 and 1/2 cents per day. The average length of stay was 35 days, which indicates that justice was swift and uncomplicated in the pre-Civic War period.

At its 1857 Annual Meeting, the Westchester County Board of Supervisors appointed A.J. Prime as Physician to the Jail at an annual salary of $100. They directed that he visit the Jail at least twice a week and report annually on conditions of the Jail, the number of prisoners treated, and any deaths in custody. The newly-appointed Physician to the Jail reported in 1857 that there were no deaths in custody and that he had treated 99 prisoners for a variety of ailments, including: 1 case of vertigo, 2 cases of dysentery, 4 cases of gonorrhea, 1 case of hysteria, and 23 cases of constipation - which was not a strong endorsement for the Quality of jail food. In his first annual report to the Board of Supervisors, Dr. Prime took the liberty of raising a concern about housing arrangements in the new County Jail:

7 would also call the attention of the Board to another subject, which may not properly belong to my department, but which contain circumstances which have occurred in the jail, making it at least proper for me to mention. I refer to the fact that males and females are confined in the same department. They are in separate cells, it is true - but the women are within hearing of all the communication of the men, which is often of a character not of the most delicate kind. "17

During the Civil War, the Physicians to the Jail made other suggestions to improve sanitary conditions and medical treatment. In 1863, Dr. Prime reported that:

"The attention of the Board is respectfully called to the insufficient means of

cleaning the privies in the cells, which in some cases allows them to become exceedingly unpleasant if not unhealthy. At a trifling expense tar the C'bunty, this can be effectively remedied. " re

Dr. Prime's successor, Dr. Henry E. Schmid, suggested the following in 1864:

'Although there are other points in which the Jail could be much improved, I

content myself at this time to urge one object of great importance for the

special consideration of the Board. It is the extreme need existing for the addition to the Jail of a sick room, where the severest cases could be transferred from the badly ventilated cells."

br. Schmid submitted a more detailed and impassioned plea on this subject in his 1865 report to the Board of Supervisors:

"My services as Physician to the County Jail have been unusually onerous during the past year, Syphilitic diseases played an even more prominent part than in previous years. The crowded and overcrowded state of all the cells, even necessitating the putting of cots in the corridors, could not fail ft provide a high rate of sickness. That it did not reach a still higher grade is, in my estimation, entirely due to the excellent and intelligent attention of the Jailor to his dutres..Numerous are the instances I could quote in which patients, very sick with diarrhea, barely escaped death, on account of the jail food - food constantly acting as cause for a renewed attack of the disease, and thus protracting recovery and Increasing the already onerous duties of the Physician. But besides these facts, consider that what any hour could take place, and of which we mast live in constant dread: it is the breaking out of a contagious disease. Nothing almost could prevent its raging throughout the whole Jail and it could most certainly spread to the village. There are no means of isolating contagious maladies A typhoid fever would be an incurable disorder in our Jail - cholera would sure be fatal in every case. And for the latter especially we should every where be prepared. The only proper preparation for our Jail would be the erection of a hospital apartment..

The Jail again needs a separate department for the female prisoners. In the present state of things, too frequent opportunities (and unavoidable ones) are given for both sexes to come into contact with each other, and not infrequently immoralities have been practiced in consequence of it. This alone is a point, which ought f call most urgently for remedial measures. But if you take into consideration that so frequently venereal diseases are met with amongst the inmates of the prison, of the most aggravated type, there is a constant fear that the result of these immoralities would turn our Jail into a perfect pest house of syphilis. "2D

That same year, an inspection report on the Westchester County Jail by the Prison Association of New York provided a fascinating first-hand account on conditions of confinement in 1865:

"The jail was thoroughly clean; the garments of the prisoners and their bedding were also clean. Theme is a farce pump within the jail, by which the prisoners may raise from the well any amount of water they require, or by turning a cock they may obtain rain water from a cistern in the yard. Theme is a sink in the corridor, where these not confined to their cells may wash as much as they please; the who are locked in their cells have water carried to them in pails. If the prisoners seem dirty when they cone in they are stripped and thoroughly washed; if observed to neglect their ablutions afterwards they are compelled to wash. Soap is furnished by the county, but prisoners almost invariably bring their own combs with them. Towels are also furnished by the county, but many prisoners seem to take a malicious pleasure in destroying them, and some steal them when going out. No tubs or other aprrliances for bathing are found in the jail, one or two bathing tubs are very much needed. A brush and razor for

shaving are provided for those who have none; the prisoners shave each other. The prisoners' clothes are washed once a week, or often if they desire it; the bed blankets are washed once in three weeks in summer, and once in four weeks in winter: There are four long and narrow windows on each side of the prison, but the cells are insufficiently lighted. There are three gas burners, which burn until 9 o'clock P. M. Two of them are then turned off; the other burns all night. Two coal stores, one in each corridor, keep the prison (it is said) sufficiently warns in winter.

There are no punishments employed, except that when disorderly, prisoners are lacked in their cells in the day time; and sometimes, when very obstreperous, they are chained. The moral means employed are very slight.

The jail is separated by a considerable distance from the court house, where the jailor sleeps. We were informed that he has always been aroused when his presence has been rendered necessary by illness in the night, but it seemed to us that some better means of communication ought to be provided...

The women are confined in the upper tier of cells, and a strong iron door prevents the men from coming upon their gallery; but the men and women can see each other and converse together as much as they please. The demoralizing influence of this intercourse is very apparent, and calls loudly for a remedy...

The jail is much too small for the number of prisoners confined there; the demoralization arising from association during the day is greatly aggravated by association at night. Twenty new cells ought to be added to the prison at once, and a wall erected through the middle of the corridor, so as to die it into at least two apartments entirely separate from each other...

The locks are situated about sixteen inches from the jambs of the door, but they have been picked by prisoners within the cells by means of false keys made from the tin obtained from the japanned /arty tied to the piece of boars!. Pie prisoners escaped in this way last year. After getting out of their cells, they cut through the r~vof and let themselves down to the ground by their bedding... Openings might be easily and usefully made through the wall between the inner and outer corridors, so that the keeper could see what was going on at any time without being seen himself... With these improvements, the jail would be very secure. "21

In 1866, the Board of Supervisors authorized the expenditure of $100. (a considerable sum of money at the time) to purchase books for the use of the prisoners in the County Jail". That same year, the first reported suicide took place at the County Jail -- a woman described as a ^"maniac", who jumped from the tap tier, killing herself instantly.

Two years later in 1868 (as was the custom of the time), a grand jury investigated conditions at the County Jail and on August 28' issued the following findings:

"We find that there are about thirty-six cells in the Jail, and that there are nom⁴ about ninety persons confined therein for almost all grades of crimes.. There are no separate apartments far females or juveniles and that the females are usually confined on the upper tier of cells in the Jail and the juveniles are necessarily confined with the other prisoners Them is no hospital department connected with the Jail in any way and no place where a person seriously ill can receive proper attention or treatment. There is no place for the Jailor to reside in connection with or contiguous to the said Jail. There is no place in which any of the prisoners in confinement can be made to labor, as the Jail is at present constricted... " zr

The Grand Jury filed a presentment and advanced five recommendations: the Jail should be materially enlarged, separate departments should be created for females and juveniles, a hospital department should be established, a residence should be provided for the Jailor, and prisoner labor should be utilized to reduce expenses and make the Jail "self sustaining".

In an historical footnote, one of the 15 grand jurors in 1868 was Seth Bird, the contractor who built the Jail 12 years earlier in 1856. He apparently saw no conflict of interest in serving on this special grand jury and recommending that the County government should issue a new construction contract to expand the original facility.

The Westchester County Board of Supervisors responded to the long-standing concerns of the Physicians to the Jail and the findings of the Grand Jury by creating a Committee on the Conditions at the County Jail. Headed by Hezekiah b. Robertson, the Bedford Town Supervisor, they issued a series of recommendations on December 2, 1868. The consensus opinion of the group was as follows:

'An entire compliance with the suggestions of the Grand Jury will inm/ve the expenditure of a large sum of money - from fifty to seventy-five thousand dollars probably - and this sum, added to the already large indebtedness of the County, will bear heavily upon the who pay the taxes Your Committee are of the opinion that if the object sought by the Presentment - namely a less crowded jail and a separation of the sexes - can be accomplished, even to a moderate extent by other means than by largely increasing the burdens of taxation, such measures should be adapted. "a

The Committee on the Conditions at the County Jail suggested a 3-part plan of action: (1) extend the platform at the upper tier of cells to separate the sexes and prevent access to the tier, except through an iron door, (2) secure support from the County's representatives in the State Legislature to pass a law that would require any person arrested for vagrancy to be consigned to the County Poor House instead of the Jail to reduce overcrowding, and (3) promote more speedy trials by getting the County Judge to "hold court for the trial of offenders more frequently than at present".²⁴ The Board of Supervisors adopted the Robertson plan and authorized its Committee on Repairs and Supplies to make the necessary alterations at the County Jail.

there is no bath.

Of the discipline and management, it may be said that there has been no need of punishments sufficiently severe to require mention; that the privies are cleaned every morning and frequently disinfected; that the jail is washed out once a week; that the prisoners receive three meals a day - for breakfast and supper, bread, molasses and mush, and for dinner, meat, potatoes, bread and soup on different days, as the case may be. The prisoners are not provided with work, but have a library which they use considerably, while frequent religious services, conducted by bath clergymen and laymen, are held. There were no complaints made by prisoners of either bad treatment or insufficient

fOOd "15

Apparently the expected changes to the physical plant were not forthcoming, because the Presiding Judge of the County Court of Sessions impaneled another special grand jury the following year to examine the Jail and "ascertain its conditions". Their findings were delivered on August 5, 1869:

"We find that in respect to the number of cells as compared with the average number of persons confined therein, also in respect to the arrangement of the Jail, which is such that the sexes cannot be securely separated and persons charged with all grades of crime and juvenile offenders are promiscuously confined. Afro in respect to the fact that there is no hospital department to

which persons afflicted with contagious diseases can be removed or persons seriously ill can be properly cared for. That in all these respects, the condition of the Tail is such that increased accommodations are called for and the other

evils complained of demand attention. We do therefore respectfully present that the welfare of the community and the prover care of the persons confined in the Tail imperatively call far immediate action and additional accommodations. We do further present and recommend that the Board of Supervisors be urgently requested to give their early and earnest attention to the consideration of this subject in order that the evils com^plained of may be removed "1B

Two years later in 1871, the Prison Association of New York became alarmed about the state of overcrowding at the Westchester County Jail, as noted in its 1871 inspection report:

The stately stone prison at White Plains is, unquestionably, the most overcrowded, and also the mast populous of any jail in the State - excepting, of course, the Tombs in New Yo,*.

As repeated visits of inspection there were one hundred and thirteen prisoners found in this jail, fifteen being females. At the last inspection, seventy-two of the inmates were found lodged in the sixty-four cells, and the remaining forty-one were bunked in the corridors. The cells are along a central oblong block three tiers high, and with the corridor open all around. There is no attempt or passibility of separating the male from the female prisoners, except as they are respectively locked in their cells.

The rapid increase of crime and vagrant pauperism in Westchester county would justly alarm its citizens, if they would, at the jail and the almshouse, examine into the sources and nature of the evils . There is a record of facts relating to the sources of crime and disorderly life in Westchester county, the grloss intermingling of criminals, vicious, and pauper elements of the population, the utter failure of reformatory results in the convicts, whether at White Plains jail or Sing Sing prison, and a record also of the actual cost of crime in this county, which must be carefully studied by thoughtful citizens.. With twice as many prisoners as it has cells, and with crime and vagrancy rapidly increasing in this county, and with an aggregate cost of crime and pauperism that is almost unparalleled, the work of reform and entire change in the methods of cure and of prevention of the social ulcers will need to be skillful and thorough. "

That same year, a special grand jury criticized the "herding of prisoners^" and made an urgent plea for expansion of the County Jail:

"We find that there are but thi four cells in the Jail and that there are now over one hundred persons confined therein for almost all grades of crimes, consisting of males and females of mature age and juvenile offenders and that the sexes are separated siwly by placing the females in the upper tier of cells and that conversation carried on in one cell or upon either tier of cells can be distinctly heard anywhere within the Jail.

The pent excellent sanitary condition of the Jail is in our judgement entirely due to indefatigable exertions of the Sheriff and the Jailor. That the need of a place for the confinement of female prisoners in the Jail separate from and outside the enclosure where males are confined is so glaringly manifest and confessedly imperative that it would seem to be an oortunity on our part at once unnecessary and offensive to call your attention to a matter which for several years past has been presented to the Court and through the Court to the Board of Supervisors of this County by different bodies of Grand Jurors and not only has this improvement been recommended by them but it has been urgently advocated by the Sheriff, County Judge, District Attorney, Prison Physician and others but has failed to receive the attention due so important a subject and the undersigned deem it their duty fn an press it upon the attention of the Court and urge that pauper measures be adopted to suppress the evils attendant upon this indiscriminate herding of prisoners by building an addition to the present Jail Building that shall afford the necessary increased accommodations. " 28

Four years later in 1875, another grand jury issued new findings that prodded the Westchester County Board of Supervisors to act on jail conditions_ Their report was dated March 4, 1875:

". We have personally visited our County Jail and have become firmly convinced that a separation of the sexes therein is urgently necessary both for the sake of morality and convenience and have also become firmly convinced that some manner of work or employment would greatly benefit both the health and morals of the prisoners as it would also be of much pecuniary aid and saving to

the county, We ,respectfully prtesent our above convictions to the Board of Supervisors of Westchester County and urgently call their attention to the necessity of their taking immediate action in the matters referred M."

In an unusual move that reflected much frustration, the same grand jury re-adopted €ts resolutions concerning the County Jail on December 6, 1875, urged that "the Board of Supervisors make a proper appropriation to remedy the existing evils" 30, and ordered that a copy of their grand jury minutes be served on the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

The following year, the Westchester County Board of Supervisors was

still struggling with fund€ng and bonding the long-delayed enlargement of the County Jail, as indicated in a report by its Committee on Repairs and Supplies, dated December 13, 1876:

^"The Committee recommends that it should be so enlarged that the sexes should be separated, that there should be hospital accommodations, and accommodations for witnesses detained by order of Courts and for juvenile offenders, whose crimes in many instances are more technical than real. The whole matter of enlarging the Jail or not enlarging it turns, of course, on the expense.

Your Committee felt the cane of guarding the expenditures of the County, and fully realize the necessity of economy in all expenditures. The plans and rough estimates which were submitted to the Board last year are again submitted. Your Committee believes them to be as near what is needed as can now be brought forward. Your Committee would recommend, if the Board should think now to make the improvement that the expense should be limited to not exceed 3D, 306 and it should be extended over a period of ten years ""

Legislative resistance and public indifference contributed to the long postponement of needed changes to the 1856 Jail. Public officials largely reflected the public mood about crime and punishment in 19th century America. "The poor conditions of many nineteenth-century jails in America were generally acknowledged. Concern for this state of affairs was voiced by scattered groups across the country, but these groups were not able to effect a great deal of change. By and large their condemnations fell on unconcerned and unsympathetic ears" 32 In the absence of any national or state standards, conditions of confinement in local jails were slow to improvement. "In the nineteenth century, notable changes took place in the function of jails... Changes in conditions and functions in the jail did not take place in all jails at the same time. Jails were locally operated and consequently affected by local matters. The speed with which a jail changed or initiated a new practice seemed to be subject not only to legislation but also to local, state, and regional considerations. Some jails changed overnight, but others took many decades to change even in the smallest way." "

The urgent concerns of the Physicians to the Jail, the Prison Association of New York, and the presentments of four grand juries did not seem to be formally addressed until the 1880's, when a new wing at the rear of the County Jail was finally constructed to house females in custody and create a hospital ward. In 1883, the Committee on Repairs and Supplies of the Westchester County Board of Supervisors authorized a $14,300. contract to Edward O'Rourke to provide larger quarters at the

The jail is built of granite, and is 68 feet long and fifty wide, with a T addition, or extension, on the south end. It has thirty-six cells in three separate stories, twelve in each story. They are built of brick and are in the middle of the building, with a hall about twelve feet in width running around them. There are two doors leading from the interior - the entrance ft the north end and that connecting with the addition on the soutfir. The whole building is occupied for jail purposes, there being no industries, as in Sing Sing Prison.

The Women^'s Department is in the addition at the rear on the top floor. There are also hospital accommodations on the south end on the second floor, where sick prisoners may be cared for without endangering the other inmates The jail, including the culinary department, is kept clean, neat, and in good order,

The Sheriff receives from the County Board of Supervisors $,3 per week for keep* each prisoner. This cowers the expense of board, washing, cleaning, and the wages of jailor.

The general condition as to health is good. There are no protracted cases of sickness. A physician - Dr. H. E. Schmid of White Plains at present - is appointed by the Board of Sid erwsors who regularly visits the jail and supervises its sanitary affairs. The prisoners have three meals a day, and

the materials are all good and wholesome. The beef is usually boiled, and they also have stews and soup. For supper they generally have coffee and bread. They always receive enough to satisfy their ap^petite. No clothing is furnished by the county, except in extreme cases where prisoners really need it, which does not often happen.

The cells, which are 12 feet by 8 feet in dimension in the main jail, are built of brick and cement and arranged in tiers The beds or bunks are about 7 feet long. There is a ventilator in each cell connected with the roof Usually only one occupant is assigned to a cell, but when the jail is overcrowded there are two.

There is no provision made for daily instruction. It is the opinion of the Sheriff that about BO per cent of the prisoners received in the jail have been of intemperate habits, which are mainly the came of their crimes.

The prisoners are permitted to interchange letters with their friends, subject to the examination of the Sheriff. Religious services are held Sundays, and the ladies of the Women's Christian Temperance Union periodically visit the jail to talk and sing with the inmates. Tracts are occasionally distributed among the prisoners. Money is rarely, if ever, given to a prisoner on his discharge, Prisoners are allowed to converse with one another during the day,

Disci^pline is strict but not severe; the comfort and health of the prisoners are well taken care of; the moral influences thrown around them are most salutary, and have been attended with encouraging results. "~4

In that some year, the New York State Legislature enacted Chapter 687 of the Laws of 1894, which designated the office of Sheriff in Westchester tour .° : _ salaried position and authorized the Board of Supervisors to fix an annual salary not to exceed $10,000. payable monthly. It also authorized the Sheriff to employ a Jailor at an annual salary of $1,200. Five years later in 1899, the State Legislature expanded the Sheriffs authority to employ an Assistant Jailor for $900. , a Day Watchman at the Jail for $940., a Night Watchman at the Jail for $900., and a Cook at the Jail for $540. per year. In 1910, four additional positions were authorized: Jail Warden at $1,540., Assistant Warden at $1,040., Physician to Jail at $904. and Matron to Jail at $600. per year.

In 1897, the Westchester County Board of Supervisors created a special committee to determine the possibility of building a new jail on a new site, due to its limited capacity. The committee suggested a site near the county almshouse at Eastview . As an alternative, the Board decided to enlarge the 1856 Jail at a cost of $65,000. in 1898 and remove an unsightly 25-foot high wooden fence that surrounded the jail facility. Five years later in 1903, the original 1856 locking mechanisms (purchased for $503.50) were finally removed and replaced with the Pauley Locking System at a cost of $6,000. In 1910, Sheriff Henry Scherp approved the installation of electric lights (with all wiring in iron conduit) at the County Jail for the sum of

$325.

In 1914, the County Jail held 120 inmates, which was overcrowded because the City of White Plains also used the facility as a Iockup. The following year, the County of Westchester acquired the 440-acre Cochran Farm in Eastview for $175,000. and the Board of Supervisors authorized the building of a Penitentiary & Work House on the grounds at a cost of $500,000. for construction and furnishings. Unlike the Jail, which held inmates awaiting trial, the new Penitentiary would confine persons sentenced to short terms of imprisonment by the Courts in Westchester County.

The final design of the facility resulted from site visits to the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, the New Jersey Reformatory at Rahway, the Connecticut Reformatory at Cheshire, and the Ontario Provincial Penitentiary at Guelph in Canada. The building plans were approved by the N.Y. State Commission on Prisons in December 1915. The following Biblical verse was engraved above the front entrance to the new Penitentiary: We that is slow tro anger is better than the mighty and he that ruuleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh the city"

(Proverbs 16:32).

During 1916, construction of the Westchester County Penitentiary was completed. The next year, it was officially opened and was first operated by the Westchester County Department of Public Welfare. Its first Warden was Calvin Derrick, who reported directly to V. Everitt Macy, the Commissioner of Charities and Correction. The new institution e* wed 2 deputy wardens, 18 officers, an employment counselor, and a psychiatrist. Sentenced prisoners were then transferred from the 1856 Jail to custody at the new County Penitentiary.

size of any county jail in the county. Provision has been made for co4aplete classification and segregation of the various types of prisoners br~vught into this jail. It is expected that the new jail will meet the requirements of the county for many years to come and the county officials are to be

congratulated upon taking this needed and very forward move to take care of the prisoners arrested within its borders. "36

Just prior to the opening of the new County Jail in Valhalla, the last Warden of the 1856 County Jail - John H. Hill of Dobbs Ferry - retired after a long career. A focal newspaper later summarised his legacy:

"Although hundreds of prisoners, many of them notorious as killers and for other violent crimes, were held in the jail, there was seldom any serious tr~ourble, particularly during the long regime of the late John H. Hill, who was the last warden there. Mr. Hill retired at the end of 1931, after ZB years of service, when the old jail was closed.

So peaceful were things during most of this period that Warden Hill was able to derette a part of his time raising a special breed of chickens - known as Japanese silkier - in pens outside the jail. ""

Text Box: JOHN H. HILT. (1857-1932) was the longest-serving and last Warden of the 1856 County Jail. He was appointed in 1903 and retired after 28 years of service on January 1, 1932 at the age of 74. That same year, the old jail passed into history and the old Warden passed away on July 19, 1932.

According to an obituary in The New York Times, Hill was born in Yonkers but lived the last 37 years of his life in Dobbs Ferry, where he was active in community affairs. He served as a Village Trustee for 26 years and in 1926 was selected as president of the tillage, having been incorporated as a municipal corporation in 1873. Prior to his appointment as Jail Warden, Hill had

been elected to the position of Overseer of the Poor in the Town of Greenburgh for four one-year terms. At the time of his retirement in 1932, Warden Hill was earning an annual salary of $2,800. and had a staff of fifteen (3 Assistant Wardens, 7 Deputy Sheriffs, 3 Matrons, 1 Physician, and 1 Cook) with an operating budget of $58,800. He was survived by his wife, Catherine, and Iwo of his four sons, one of whom was a fingerprint expert for the County of Westchester. Warden Hill was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Hastings. An account in the Dobbs Ferry Register indicated that: "Mr. Hill had an excellent record at the jail and during his Iong service not a single break took place. When not at his home, he could always be found at his office in the jail, where he spent the best part of his time. To his countless friends he was known as the 'Governor'." 38 (Photograph courtesy of Westchester County Department of Public Safety)

Moynahan, James M. and Earle K, Stewart, The American Jail: Ifs Development and Growth, Nelson-Hall Publishers (Chicago: 1980).

Rosch, John, Historic White Plains: A History of the City of White Plains, Harbor Hill Books (Harrison, NY: 1939).

Scharf, J. Thomas, History of Westchester County. New York, L. E. Preston & Co. (Philadelphia, PA: 1886).

Shonnard, Frederick and W.W. Spooner, History of Westchester County. New York, The Winthrop Press New York: 1900)

Smith, Henry T., Westchester County in History: Manual and Civil List - Past and Present (1683-1914), Henry T. Smith, Publisher (White Plains, NY: 1913).

Struble, Mildred, "Westchester County Jail: 1856-1957", The Westchester Historian (White Plains, NY: Westchester County Historical Society, Vol. 33, No. 3 - July, August, September 1957), pp. 86-88.

The American Architect and Buildin^g News (Boston: Houghton, Orgood & Co., Vol V, No. 166 -- March 1, 1879), pp.68-87.

Withey, Henry F. and Elsie Rathburn Withey, Biogra^phical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased), New Age Publishing Co. (L.os Angeles, CA: 1956).

The author gratefully acknowledges the research assistance provided by Principal

Archivist Elaine Massena and her staff at the Westchester County Archives and

Records Center in Elmsford; Evelyne H. an, Executive Director of the Bedford Historical Society; Nancy Hadley, Archivist at the American Institute of Architects in Washington, DC; Edward Varno, Executive Director of the Ontario County Historical Society; Lorraine Kennerly, General Manager of the White Plains Rural Cemetery: Christopher Marinaro, Office Manager at the Westchester County Historical Society: Maryann Marshall of the Historical Society Serving Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown; James A. 6iliberto, Legislative Librarian at the N.Y. State Capitol in Albany; and Georgette Hedberg of the Dobbs Ferry Historical Society.

ENDNOTES:

1 Westchester County Archives, Board of Supervisors Records (1853), "Presentment of

brand Jury: June 8, 1853", Series 216 A-0306(1)L, Folder 18. These records are hereafter referenced as "WCA-BOSR".

2 Westchester County Archives, Board of Supervisors Minutes (1854-1858), Series 215, A-0302(4), pp. 34-36.