TX205
1838-1840
3rd Mun
New Orleans (La.) Police Jail of the Third Municipality.
- Daily reports, 1838-1840.
- 2 v.
The origins of the Police Jail of the Third Municipality are somewhat
obscure. Internal evidence in the records of the Police Jail for the city of
New Orleans suggests that that institution was used by the three
municipalities after 1836. The likelihood of this use is supported by the
1836 charter which gave the municipalities the right to continue using the
jail, provided they paid their proportional shares in support of the facility.
The records described below indicate that the Third Municipality had a
separate jail by early 1838. Those records are signed by the Captain of
the municipality's Guard, suggesting a supervisory relationship between
the police agency and the jail establishment. This relationship is further
supported by resolutions of the Third Municipality Council during the mid-
1840's referring to an officer as "Second Lieutenant and Jailer." In 1847
new legislation placed the Police Jail of the municipality under the control
of the First Lieutenant of the Guard.
The records are manuscript volumes, in French, consisting of daily
reports, 1838-1840 [TX205, 2 v.]--includes names of slaves admitted
each day, along with the names of their masters and a statement of how
they were brought to the jail (by their masters, by the Guard, as
runaways, etc.). Also included are statistical reports giving the number
entering and being discharged each day, along with the total number in
jail each morning; the number of males and females employed in the
public works; the number sick; and the number being detained without
being kept in chains.
Many of the "slaves" brought to the jail apparently claimed to be free
persons of color; these individuals are generally referred to as "s.d.L.,"
signifying "so-called free" in the space in the reports where the master's
name is usually recorded. Most of these free persons are listed by both
given names and surnames.
Available as items 2 & 3 of 35mm microfilm roll #89-325; filed under call
number TX430 1840-1851.
Inventory
TX205
1838-1840
3rd Mun
Daily reports, 1838-1840.
-
v. 1 February 1, 1838 - April 30, 1839
- v. 2 April 30, 1839 - March 31, 1840
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TX420
1852-1862
Record of prisoners committed to the Parish Prison, 1852-1862.
- 1 v.
The Parish Prison for Orleans Parish was erected in 1834 on the square
of land bounded by Orleans, St. Ann, Marais, and Treme Streets. It
remained in operation until the 1890's when the new prison was opened
on Tulane Ave. and Saratoga St. The 1856 report of the Orleans Parish
Grand Jury includes the following description of the prison:
"the Parish Prison ... contains 232 prisoners [and] was found in
good order; its courts, yards, passages, rooms and cells, clean,
and the prisoners, with one single exception, satisfied with their
food and treatment. Some complain of long confinement -- of
near a year -- waiting trial. Some slight repairs are wanted.
The Jury recommend that arrangements be made so that
"prisoners accused of capital crimes shall be separate and distinct
from those of minor offenses, and those who are serving out their
term of sentence, shall have no access to those waiting trial.
From its whole appearance, we are satisfied it is in safe hands,
and under the care of efficient officers, with good police
arrangements."
The prison appears to have been under the supervision of the Sheriff of
Orleans Parish and was governed by state law rather than by municipal
ordinance.
The manuscript record book (inclusive dates, June 18, 1852 - May 10,
1862) lists by date the name of each prisoner committed to the prison
along with the crime for which he was committed, and has columns
headed "where committed" and "how committed". Under "where
committed" is indicated the institution to which the prison was sent; in
addition to the Parish Prison, there are also entries for the Workhouse,
the Police Jail, the House of Refuge, and the Insane Asylum. Apparently
these other facilities shared quarters or were adjacent to the prison
during a portion of the period covered (there are few, if any, listings for
the Workhouse or the Police Jail after 1852). The column "how
committed" contains various kinds of information for different prisoners
and for different time periods. In some cases it refers to the court
ordering the commitment, while in others it lists the term of the prisoner's
sentence or some reference to other action involving him.
The officer or agency responsible for maintaining this volume is not clear.
There is a handwritten label attached to the book's spine that reads
"Dept. of Police, 1842 [sic]." This suggests the possibility that the record
was kept by the police as a means of keeping track of the whereabouts
of prisoners, rather than as a record of the prison itself or of the Sheriff's
Office. Because of its similarities to records of other jail/prison facilities,
however, the record has been classified along with those records.
Available as item 4 of 35mm microfilm roll #89-325; filed under microfilm
call number TX430 1840-1851.
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TXA420
1842-1852
1st Mun
New Orleans (La.) Workhouse of the First Municipality.
- Record of vagrants entering the Workhouse, 1842-1852.
- 1 v.
The Louisiana Legislature in 1840 passed an act to permit the
establishment by the three municipalities of workhouses or prisons to
house and employ "all persons legally committed by any magistrate
authorized to commit vagrants." On March 14, 1842, the Sheriff of the
Criminal Court notified the First Municipality Council that he would no
longer accept vagrants or others sent to the Parish Prison for violations
of municipal ordinances. The Police Committee of the Council proposed,
and the body accepted, an ordinance establishing a workhouse, house of
refuge, and prison for the First Municipality. This new facility was to be
established in "that part of the police jail adjoining the parish prison."
The workhouse, etc. was governed by a board of inspectors made up of
the Mayor, Recorder, and members of the Police Committee. The
keeper of the police jail served as warden of the institution. He was
instructed to keep the inmates in secure custody; to superintend their
labor; to keep a list of all tools and other property used by the inmates;
and to keep a bound register of the names of the prisoners committed to
the workhouse (along with their places of birth, times of commitment, and
dates of discharge).
The record is a bound volume in French [TXA420], giving the date of
commitment, name, place of birth, length of sentence, date of discharge,
and "observations" for each inmate.
Available as item 1 of 35mm microfilm roll #89-370; filed under the call
number noted above.
Inventory
TXA420
1842-1852
1st Mun
Record of vagrants entering the Workhouse, 1842-1852.
- April 2, 1842 - May 31, 1852
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TXA
3rd Mun
New Orleans (La.) Workhouse of the Third Municipality.
- Records, 1844-1851
- 2 v.
The Louisiana Legislature in 1840 passed an act to permit the
establishment by the three municipalities of workhouses or prisons to
house and employ "all persons legally committed by any magistrate
authorized to commit vagrants." On June 13, 1844, the Third
Municipality Council ordained the establishment of a facility to serve as a
reformatory, asylum, and jail on the site of the Washington Market. The
institution was placed under the charge of an Inspection Bureau, headed
by the Recorder, which was to "purchase and make contracts for all
necessary material, for the various prisoners works; [and] order the kind
and amount of work the prisoners shall do ..." The Council also elected
a principal keeper for the workhouse.
The records are manuscript volumes, in English, described as follows.
- Statement of provisions on hand, purchased, and consumed in the
Third Municipality Workhouse, 1844-1850 [TXA160] --
- daily
inventory, with monthly recapitulations, of the kinds of food,
etc. on hand. Also includes records of the individuals or
firms from which those stores were purchased.
- Register of persons committed to the Third Municipality
Workhouse, 1844-1851 [TXA420] --
- records for each individual prisoner his number; name; age; height;
complexion; color of hairs and eyes; marks; place of birth;
whether or not naturalized, educated, or married; habits;
and occupation. Also gives the date of commitment, term
of sentence, date to be discharged, and remarks (usually a
reference to the actual discharge). Also included in the
volume are records of the provisions consumed in the
workhouse hospital during 1847; statements of the sick
persons admitted to the hospital in 1847; and a record, by
name, of the persons dying in the hospital during the same
year.
Available as items 2 & 3 of 35mm microfilm roll #89-370; filed under call
number TXA420 1842-1852 1st Mun.
Inventory
TXA160
1844-1850
Statement of provisions on hand, purchased, and consumed in the Third
Municipality Workhouse, 1844-1850.
TXA420
1844-1851
3rd Mun
Register of persons committed to the Third Municipality Workhouse,
1844-1851.
- October, 1844 - May, 1851
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TXA
New Orleans (La.) Workhouse.
- Records, 1851-1857.
- 5 v.
By ordinance #351, approved on November 5, 1852, the Common
Council provided for the annual election of a principal warden and a
deputy warden for the city workhouse and prison. The principal warden
was instructed to keep the inmates in secure custody; to superintend
their labor; to keep a list of all tools and other property used by the
inmates; and to keep a bound register of the names of the prisoners
committed to the workhouse. He was also required to make regular
reports of the expenses, sales, and other financial aspects of the
workhouse operation. The ordinance also provided for the acceptance
by the New Orleans workhouse of vagrants from Jefferson Parish, at a
charge of twenty-five cents per day. Rules and regulations for the
officers of the workhouse, and rules "as to the time which shall be
devoted to labor by the prisoners" were to be furnished by the
committees on prisons and courthouses of the Common Council.
In 1854 ordinance #1608 added new reporting requirements for the
warden, calling for regular accounting for provisions, supplies, etc., used
by the workhouse. Other ordinances subsequently changed the make-up
of the facilities work force.
The report of the Orleans Parish Grand Jury, dated July 7, 1856,
includes the following description of the Workhouse:
"In the City Work House are one hundred and forty prisoners,
most of whom were engaged in various kinds of work, and though
by no means working hard; yet, from their movements, it appeared
hard for them to work, and the Jury could only come to the
conclusion, that when they are out of the work house, they are
citizens of leisure. The yards, shops, rooms, &c., clean; no
complaints as to food, and the general appearance of the place
creditable to the Wardens."
Ordinance #2824 (July 7, 1855) put the operation of the Workhouse out
to lease beginning on August 1, 1856. The municipal authorities did,
however, retain supervisory rights over the activities and business of the
lessee. The original lessee abandoned his lease to the city early in 1857
and operation of the workhouse returned to the municipal authorities until
a new lease went into effect on September 1 of that year.
The records are manuscript volumes as described below.
- Inventories of stock on hand, 1851-1856 [TXA160] --
- records of
inventories of provisions, clothing, bedding, cooking
utensils, office furniture and books, yard utensils, medicine,
and tools for stone cutting, painting, carpentry, and
cooperage. Each is signed by the warden. Also included,
at the end of the volume are various accounts and related
financial records of the Workhouse. The book was
originally used by the warden of the Second Municipality's
Workhouse and was continued in use after consolidation in
1852.
- Record of medical care administered to the inmates of the
Workhouse, 1854-1856 [TXA205m] --
- records of treatment
administered to inmates in both the male and female
departments of the institution. The names of the prisoners
and the remedy prescribed are noted, and in some cases
the illness being treated is also indicated. The records are
very brief and written in pencil. Also included within this
volume are records of the stone-cutting operations of the
Workhouse for the period May 2, 1853 - January, 1855.
- Record of work performed by the Workhouse, 1852-1856
[TXA440, 2 v.] --
- the first volume (1852-1856) is arranged
by the municipal agency for which the work was done (e.g.,
streets and landings, schools, city hall, etc.) Also included
are records of the coffins made and delivered. Volume two
(1854-1855) is arranged by the internal departments of the
Workhouse (i.e., carpenters, stone cutters, the oakum
department, blacksmiths, and tailors). The records include
details of the work performed, and references to the agency
for which the work was done.
- Account book, 1852-1857 [TXA446] --
- warden's account book with
the city. Accounts are listed separately, with dates and
descriptions of activities indicated. Also included in the
volume are a number of loose statements dealing with
various activities of the Workhouse.
Available as items 4-8 of 35mm microfilm roll #89-370; filed under call
number TXA420 1842-1852 1st Mun.
Inventory
TXA160
1851-1856
Inventories of stock on hand, 1851-1856.
- December 31, 1851 - April 30, 1856
TXA205m
1854-1856
Record of medical care administered to the inmates of the Workhouse,
1854-1856.
TXA440
1852-1856
Record of work performed by the Workhouse, 1852-1856.
- v. 1 1852-1856
- v. 2 1854-1855
TXA446
1852-1857
Account book, 1852-1857.
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