2017 Fall Newsletter

Miami County Jails On May 26, 1854 the Kansas – Nebraska Bill passed the United States Senate and was signed into law on May 30, 1854 by President Franklin Pierce. This bill opened to white settlement the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. On August 16, 1855, the First Territorial Legislature passed an Act incorporating the Paola Town Company. On August 25, 1855 Lykins County Kansas Territory was established and Paola was named the permanent Seat of Justice. In August 1858 the people of Osawatomie presented a petition for a vote to establish the permeant location of the County Seat by vote of the majority of county residents. Paola won the election by a majority of 48 votes. The need for a County Jail was recognized by the Board of County Supervisors (today – Commissioners) as early as 1857 when a committee of E. W. Robinson, W. R. Wagstaff and A. T. Ward was appointed to advertise for sealed bids for building a jail, letting the contract and superintending its construction. W. B. Nichols, T. A. Granter and E. W. Robinson were ap pointed to select a site for the new jail. The Rock Jail It wasn’t until 1859 that Lykins (Miami) County had its first jail. The journal of the County Board of Supervisors dated Jan uary 11, 1859 reads: The motion to appropriate Two Thousand six hundred and fifty dollars ($2650) [$75,714]* for building a jail being in order, was taken up and discussed. J. M. Ellis offered the following substitute which was adopted. That Fifteen Hundred dollars ($1500) [$42,857] be appropriated for the purpose of Building a jail. The ayes and nays being called the vote stands as follows: - Ayes – Shannon, Nichols, J.M. Ellis, Sweeting, & Konig Nays – A. Ellis, Stokes, Granter, Walthall On motion the plan already adopted for the jail was rejected except so much thereof as represents the ground plans of the wall and Cells – the height to be one story. The jail was a stone structure that cost about $2,600 ($74,286* in todays money) which was situated on West Wea Street behind the building on the Northwest corner of Silver and Wea Streets. On March 25, 1861 William Clark Quantrill was arrested at Stanton. He was brought to Paola and confined in the jail. Based on a Writ of Habeas Corpus issued by Judge Thomas Roberts on April 2, 1861, Quantrill was released from jail. He quickly fled to Missouri. On September 29, 1866 a $100.00 ($1,515 today) reward was posted for the “apprehension of MATT BERGE who broke jail at Paola, Kansas.” On July 6, 1867 the Miami County Republican reported on July 3rd a “case knife, made into a fine saw had been given one of the prisoners, with which they sawed off the hinge of the door and two made their escape.” One was charged with horse stealing and the other was “serving a term of imprisonment.”

On September 30, 1869 an auger was passed to a prisoner from the outside and by morn ing three prisoners had made their escape. The Western Spirit dated June 5, 1885 reported “A prisoner, named Elijah Blackmore, slipped out of jail last Wednesday night. He was sentenced for larceny. Sheriff Shoemaker is looking for the culprit but hasn’t found him yet.” The Miami Republican reported on Sunday night October 25, 1885 “about 7 o’clock four prisoners escaped from the Miami County jail. All of them had been sentenced by Judge Wagstaff and were to have been taken up to the penitentiary this week. Joseph Williams was convicted for burglary and larceny and sentenced to 8 years. Ed Prather, convicted for burglary and larceny, sentenced to 6 years; Dan McCuish, convicted for larceny, sentenced 1 year and (Harry) Raven, a colored man, convicted for embezzlement, sentenced 2 years.” The Miami Republican article continued: Page 9

Jim Bousman