xt7x3f4kqc56 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7x3f4kqc56/data/mets.xml Kentucky 1961 newsletters English Eddyville, Ky.: Kentucky State Penitentiary This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed. Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically. Physical rights are retained by the owning repository. Copyright is retained in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. Please go to https://exploreuk.uky.edu for more information. Castle on the Cumberland Kentucky State Penitentiary -- Periodicals Journalism, Prison -- Kentucky Castle on the Cumberland, October 1961 text Kentucky State Penitentiary v.: ill. 28 cm. Call Numbers HV8301 .C37 and 17-C817 20:C279 Castle on the Cumberland, October 1961 1961 1961 2021 true xt7x3f4kqc56 section xt7x3f4kqc56

@wfﬂ Mmﬁwﬂmﬁﬁ

OCTOBER A9é/

4. Volume I. Number IV

CASTLE ON THE GUMBERLdND

0 ct ober, 196 1

AIMINIS'IRATION

Léﬂlﬂ OF CONTENHS

AN—

The Honorabﬂe Bert T. Combm wardentg Page (In Memorium) i
Governor
Enstitution News 2
W1 Is on. W. Wyatt
Lt. Governor Editorial 8
W; Go Oakley, Sports Report 9
Welfare Gommdssionen'
Articles; 12
Dr. Harold Black.
Director of Corrections aﬂxchange Page 1h
,‘Luther Thomas Lloyd T. Armstrong meet the Prisoners 16 V
warden Deputy'warden
_ Tall Tales: 18
'Kathlyn 0rdway 'Wo T. Baxter
' Business Manager Guard Captain Department Reports 19
Rev. Paul Jaggers: Poetry 11, 21
Chaplain
Deputy warden's Page 22
Henry E. Cowan William Egbert
.SmPervisor of Vocational Crossword 2b
= Education Instructor
Statistica & Movies ' 25
--Barole Commissionr— STAFF
Dr. Fre¢ befatt
Lawr n J. Show
Executive Director gngzor
Walter Fergus” Billy Howell: Joe White
Chairman SportSsEaitm° Art Editor
I Simeon Willis Ernest Thompson Stanley Brawner Charles Pa
'VMember Mbmben- Lithographer Garrett,
Secretary

'State Fenitentiary at Eddyville.
money order at:

ArticleSLare solicited,
revise any material submittedt
_,essarily reflect those of the

The CASTLE ON THE CUMBERLAND is published monthly'by the inmates of the Kentucky
Subsorigtiensg
CASTLE ON me CUMBERLAND, ,
Penitentiary, Eﬂdyville, Kentucky, and by inmates at the Chief Clerk's
but the CASTLE reserves the right to reject,

Opinions expressed in this magazine do not nec-
administration»
to reproduce any gart of this magazine, Erovided proper credit is given.
E08$ib16, a marked copy of the quoting pubﬁication is requested.

one dollar a year, payable'by
Shbscription Dept., Kentucky State

Office.
edit, or
Permission is hereby granted
'Where

IN WORIIM

William L. Jones, the big friendly‘
man who served as warden of the Ken-
tucky State Penitentiary since 1959,
passed away last month, the victim of a.
heart attack.

mr. Jones died Shortly after return=
ing to his home from the hospital in Pan 3
ducah, where he had just undergone the‘
second of two recent operations.

Not many men on the mountain knew
warden Jones: personally, for he felt
that it was in the best interests of the
prison that he stay off the yardias much
as possible. As he told aufriend not
long before his death, "I just can't say

no to those boys."

Yet the prisoners: sensed his band-'3
ness, and many of them felt something‘|
quite like personal loss when he died.

Mr. Jones wan a native of Caldwell 3
County, and for many years he operated
t~farm there. From 1928 to 1939, he
was a manager of the University of Ken-"
tucky's experimental farm at Princeton.
In l9h2, he began the first of four
terms in the State Legislature as the 1
Representative from Trigg and Caldwell

Counties. On December 51, 1959, he
came to this institution as warden, a
post he retained until his death on the
19th of last month.

survived} by his wife,
Mildred, aadaughter, Inoretia, and two
sons, Billy and Jimmy Jones, as well as ‘
three~ brothers, Frank, Bernard, and 3
Eugene, and a sister, Eloise Jones.

Mr. Jones)~ is

1. FRJM WARDEN LUTHER Jom

. knowledge of the magnitude
] itiessof my position.

- sured that I shall exert every effort to
@ fulfill the
3 justice and fairness for all.

l of all the personnel and the inmate body

, which should be our goal.

' warm reception I have received from the
_ your expressions of confidence.
[ loyal to your institution and the work

} are multiple,
; FIIL them.

a best honor him by continuing to go-w

I assume my duties as Warden of Ky.
State Penitentiary with great humility,
sincerity of purpose, and with complete
and complex-
You may be as-

duties of my office cons-
cientiously and capably tempered with

I solicit the cooperation and loyalty

alike. With unity of purpose, we can
obtain the highest peak of efficiency

I would be remiss if I did not ack-
nowledge the splendid cooperation and

prison staff. I am deeply grateful for
your cordiality and friendliness and

This I will ask of each of you: Be
you are doing. It is important work and
well worth doing. Our responsibilities }
but weCANAN'DWILLFUL—

I feel secure in the knowledge that
you will give to me the same cooperation
given to my predecessor and good friend,
Killian L. Jones. we all feel a sense;
of great loss since his demise. we can

FDRWHRD.

ensue ON THE comm

AVE W

/:i

EARCﬂ CROWD TURNS OUT “IO PAY
LAST RESPECTS T0 WARDEN JONES

An estimated 700. to loco persons paid

- their last respects to warden William
L. Jones, 'who passed? away September‘
19th.

The Funeral was heId at the First
Baptist Church in Print eton at 3 pm on
the 22nd o: i;est m.onth. At the request
of the family three ministers, Reverend

'Berry Ginn, Pastor of the church, Rever-

end Roy Honeyoutt, former Easter, and
Reverend Paul daggers, Chaplain of the
prison, officiated at the funeral.

Among the hundreds of persons attend-
ing were -Governor Bert Combs, welfare
Commissioner Carlos Oakley, Director of
Corrections Dr. Harold Black, ‘Warden
Davis of the LeGrange reformatory, and

Commissioner of Agrioulture Emerson WDoo"

Beaohum, in addition to a large number
of guards, prison officials and em-
ployees. A man who had served aprison
sentence under warden Jones, came to pay
his respectsstoo.

The church was filled by an unusually
large number of floral wreaths, brought

J by the crowd of mourners that turned out

for the funeraI.

Serving as regular pedlhearers were
luther Thomasudwhc had since been apnr
ointed warden to succeed Mr. Jones-n
Deputy'Whrden Edoyd To Armstrong, Re-
creational Director Emerett Cherry, and
Receiver, Marshall Seely; as well as
Edwin Lamb, Brad lacy, George Petitt,
and George Conway. Serving as honorary
padlhearers were William Tanner, James
G. White, Hayden Hall, John Davis, Sgt.
Grissett, and Charles Holloman.

Mr. Jones.was laid to
HilI.Cemetery, Princeton.

The present circulation of this magazine
is 500 cepies, of which some 200.copies
are sent to outside subscribers«

rest at Cedar

IUTEER THOMAS IS NEW WARDEN

Luther Thomas, a—native of Cadiz and
presently sheriff of Trigg County, has:
been selected to fill the vacancy left
by the sudden death last month of war-
den William L. Jones

me. Thomas Was appointed to the post
on September 22 by welfare Commissioner
Carlos Oakley. He took the oath of ofﬂb~
ice at this institution the following
day.

nr. Thomas, 59, has servedzin various
public offices since l95h,'when he began
a l6—yean~term as Trigg County Tax.Com-
missioner. In l%7, he became Sheriff
of Trigg County. He has been a presi-
dent of the Cadiz Lions Club and dir-
ector of the Kentucky Sheriffs' Aesociau
1310110

For several years mr. Thomas owned an
ante dealership in.Cadiz, and he is cur?
rently a partner in e. farmrimplement
outlet there.

Harriedrand the father of two sons,
Hr. Thomas is distantly related to for-
mer ESP warden ML W} Thomas. His wife
will complete his term of office as
sheriff.

In a statement to the Paducah SUN

DEMOCRAT, warden Thomas said he planned
"no immediate changes" at the institu-
tiOﬂo

"I just plan to do the best job I can
possibly do," the'Warden went on to say.
"I like people, I like to work with
them. I hope I can be of some service

to the people in this new task.

II III *

The CASTLE would like to take this
opportunity to ‘welcome warden Inther
Thomas to the institution and wish hhn
every success in his new job.

'CASTLB ON THE CUMBERLAND

Rage 2

Institution News

WHY NOT GIVE YOUR MOMCH A BREAK?
SLOW DOWN IN THE MESSHAIL!

Ever wonder what the hurry is. all
about in the messhall? You know what we
meanwmeveryon'e sits down at the table
and immediately begins shoveling food
into his mouth like a starving wolf,
fighting against time to finish his meal
before the row he's sitting in is disa-

. missed.

If you happen to be at the head of
the line, you're lucky.
just enough time to eat comfortably and
decently before the exodus begins. But
if you're unfortunate enough to land
more than 5 or 6 rows back, you’ll have
to hustle to finish in time. And that's
not very good for tempers, stomaéhes, or
anything else.

Until recently we were under the im-
press ion that this sort of thing was the
fault of the officers who dismiss the
rows. We've found that this just isn't
$00-

In talking to Deputy Warden Armstrong
and some of the officers around the hill
we find that there is no time limit on
eating-dthat everyone wants the men to
have a: reasonable time to eat their food
in comfort. The trouble is, none of the
imrates seem to know this.

Sometime in the past, we suspect,
there was a- time-limit set in the mess-
hall, “£361” everyone had to finish within
the limit or go hungry. Perhap's that's
how all the hurry began. We Wonder
sometimes how the officers assigned! to
the mesahall can stand the sight of IZOQ
men shoveling food into their mouths as
if they were trying to win an eating
contest.

3:0 why not slow down and enjoy your
food, and give everyone behind you a
chance to do the same thing? Naturally
there's no excuse for dawdling, and
we‘re sure that it wouldn't be permitted
for very long. But there simply isn't
any reason for all the present rush.

You ' 11 have _

CARD 0F THANKS

I wish to express; publicy my thanks
for the many kindness es; shown me and my
family by the inmates and administration
of this institution: during the recent
funeral of my father.

Particularly I wish to thank Mr.
Lloyd T. Armstrong for his sympathy and
cooperation, and Mr. Mosely, for the
kindness he showed me and the members of
my family.

My special thanks go, too,
Penn, the inmate who offered me all the
money he had to help offset the expenses
of my trip to the funeral.

--Haro ld "Dutch" Fe 16.113 11--

to Buck ,

”that there are still some

COUNTY HERALD,

, CUMBERND COLLEGE EXCHANGE WITH CASTLE

The editors of the CIMBERLAND BCI'D,
an exoelle nt paper published by the stu-
dents of the Cumberland College of
Ni lliamsburg, Kentucky, have sent us
copies of their paper and indicated a
desire to exchange with us.

We're glad to have the opportunity,
since reading their papers reminds us
young maple
who aren't .he ll-bent on destroying them-
selves. And perhaps the students there,
many of Whom, we understand, will be
going into the ministry, will gain in-
sight into the problems and needs of men
in prison.

Also on our exchange list is the news;
bulletin of the Oweneboro-Daviess- County
Chamber of Commerce, whose Executive VP
was kind enough to write us a note of
encouragement, as well as the LYON
another fine little
paper.

All of these papers, in addition to
the prison exchanges from all over the
country, are placed in the library for
general circulation after we have finish-
ed" them here.

CASTIE ON THE C'LMBHHAND

’ .
Eli

Ease}

Institution News

~~number, but his

‘ the bunk in Tommy’s cell,

' JAIIBIRD MAKES HIT WITH FELLOW mm

There's an honest-to-goodness jail-

bird in Three-Shop these days.

thought to assign him 9a
name is Bird-”Tweety

Birdn-and as far as the fellows in the

shop are concerned, he's number One.

No one has

Tueety Bird is an.Ehglish sparrOW'who
nukes his home during the daylight hours
in Tommy Wilson's shirt pocket. At
night, we understand, Tweety takes over
while Tommy
makes out on the flooro

The friendship between Wilson and the
little sparrow began when another in-
mate, Bobby Jones, found him, apparently
deserted by his mother, in a nests He
was a scrawny, sickly little fellow in
those days, and for a while it looked as
if he'd have to be consigned to Boot
Hill.

New, several weeks later, good food
and plenty of attention from Jones and
Wilson have transformed Tweety into one
of the plumpeet, prettiest little Spar-
rows in the vicinity. One of the sauc-
iest, too.

While Wilson is busy at the pinochle
table, Tweety Bird? siips out of his
pocket and hops about, noisily kibitisw
ing the game and begging, from time to
time, for flies, which the Three-Shop
crowd is glad to provide for him.

When his little belly is full and the
card game seems to be going to his.sst-
isfaction, Tweety 'will primp hie
feathers and hop off to make neW‘ con-
quests among the cone.

He likes to find new fingers to climb
on, but he likes even better to hop his
way up to the shoulder, or even the
head. But it"s dangerous to let hﬁn;
Be 8 inclined to “Have accidents" up
there. we suspect he does it deliber-

.Sertomas

ate 1y.

And while Tweety is apt to be arro-
gant and bossy in his strange new sur--
roundings, he's generally a pretty good-
natured little guy. The only thing that
really makes him mad is to have his tail
feathers mussed. When that happens,
he twists around and tries to peck the
offender. If he misses, though, he's
content to scold a bit and let it go.

Tweety shows no signs of wanting to
fly off into the wilderness ‘whioh all
the books say is his natural habitats
He's perfectly content to stay in
prison, where he has hundreds of earthr
bound prisoners to do his bidding.

Tweety Bird, like many of his human
counterparts, has become institutional-
inedd

JACKSON, MICHIGAN ERISONERS HELPING
TO SUPPORT JUVENILE HOME

(Condensed from the SEECTA$OR)

According to a recent release from
Hobbycraft Supervisor Hank Newcomb, 50
men at SM? have donated articles to the
Club (collecting funds- to help
support a near-bankrupt juvenile home )
for their sale at the Jackson County
Fair in late August.

Articles to date have totaled a lit-
tle over $600 in value, and the SPEC-
TATOR is urging all men to contribute to
help the kids get a break to prevent the
from being in our circumstances someday.

And Dave Barry is quoted in the SPECTAEDR
as saying this about the population ex-
plosion:

"A woman is delivering a child every
50.ninutes. we've got to get hold of
that woman and stop hart"

CASTIE ON THE swam

Rage h

wﬁ

7",.-.”- 4

an ;—-r-—n~t Irm- "f,

.‘x- maven . .,

‘1£¥:215..-24. 5‘1“".72: A. ‘1‘

ﬂiiﬁmﬁrmﬁm ". 3‘71?“ W“? 777th

r o'aamm‘uum L5: r-Z'.

umuae'ck‘zvnzinunhl

Institution None

mm PRISDN now 78 mane OLD

Endyville may not be this country's
oldest prison, but she's no Johnnyucomew
lately, either.

The Civil war had been over lose than
an years when she was born, and she was
all of 5 years old when Teddy Roosevelt
end'hio "Rough Riders" oharged San Juan
Hill during the Spanish American Whr.
By the time world War I broke out, she
was in her teens, and when the Bomb wee
dropped. on Hiroehime, Endyrille Prison
was a worlddueary old women of 62.

And, although Endyville has been in
physioal existence for 78 years new, you
can put her age at 81 if you add the

EhJear gestation neriod between the time .

one was oonoeired by an aot of the Gena
oral Aesembly in 1880 (under Governor
Luke P. Blaekbwn) and the time cone“-
truotion nae begun during the first year'
of the administration of Governor J.
Prootor Knott (lBBﬁhB?)o

Hocording to an interesting dooument
gaseed on to us by Business: Manager
Kathlyn Ordwey and ontitled‘"lnetitution~
ed Schedules Part I, General Buformation”
crowded oonditione at the old Frankfort
Erison oaueed e bill providing for eons»
truotion of a branch penitentiary to be
introduoed to the Enron, 1889 legielaa;
ture. The bill beoume en aot by gunning
both houeee of the Aesombly on.&pril 7th
of that year.

The not provided for e Eamon oomme
iseion to eeleot a site of from 200 to
600 acres. Eight uoreo were to be sure
rounded by a well not more than 25 feet
high, and a maximum of 500 cello were to
be oonetruoted. Prieon labor, the not
etated, was to he need whenever poeea
ible. An appropriation of $150,000;wuo
voted for the purpoee of Erelininary
nurvey and beginning oonstruetiono

The eommisuion, engointed on Mey'h,
1880 by Governor Blackburn, mane uioitm
to several other otate prisons and doe

oided that the new-Kentucky institution
ueuld be patterned after the grison at'
Joliet, Illinois. With the general plan
of the institution in mind, they then
began to shop around for land.

“Climate and other advantages" decid-
ed the commission in favor of an 87~
acre site (far short of the 200 to 600
enreea recommended by the not) in.Eddyh
ville. The land was purchased at a cost
of $h000, $1h00 of which was contributed
by the oitizena ofiﬂddyville, presumably
in the hope that the prison anroll
would bring nevarooperity to the town.

The commission also recommended the
end of "brute force and horror" and
"%..the absolute oondemnation of'corpor~
ed punishment as an instrument of die-
cipline and order.“ Their report -went
on to urge that the prisoners be given
educational and religious advantages, w;
well an more humane treatment in genre,
oral. Governor Blackburn agreed, and
drew.up e not of rules. along theee
112358. I

One hundred and fourteen ~convictee
were pressed into'serrioe to build Endy~
ville Erison, in addition to 50 stone-
mnsone imported from Italy to do the
more intricate work, including the great
unsuyyorted arch that forms the ceiling
of Cellhouse One. Instead of the gran
nosed 8 acres, IOé-acree were enclosed
by a well 18 feet high. Native Grey
limestone wee used to erect the wells,
us well as the original administration
building and 5 cellhoueee, ell of which
are in use to this day. The yrieon was
oompleted in $886 at an original cost of
only $275,000, 9 figuremmhat seems rid—
ioulouely low in this era of Buand-lo
million dollar penal giants.

The final result of all the labor and
planning was a bleak jumble of hewn
stone sitting atoP ax rocky hill over—
looking the Cumberland River, a place

(Con't on Page 6)

GASTLB'ON THE CUMBERLAND

Page 5

axe-crap!

P P 9':

'Ugav-x-u

WT"..- . .. _,A_,,____ a.-- ‘

Institution Newe

BDDYVMIE PRISON NOW 78 (Can't)

that came to be known are the "Castle on
the Cumberland" because of its resemb--
lance to aimedeival palaoe.

Additions were made to the inetitua
tion as yeanr.peeeed. In igoh, a 2—foot
coping raised the height of the mails to
20 feet, and Cellhouee h was erected
that year. Later on, two more hell"a
houses, a meeehall, and a eehool build»
ing were added. But for many yoare,
Eddyville Prieon wee, according to old-
thnere here, eadreary, rooky hole with
next to no growing thihge.to relieve the

starkneee of the yard. Recently, ell
that has been ohemged.
Lawns-”fine, thiok, green stretches

of grassemhave been planted inside and
outside the prieon, and flowers grow in
profusion on the hill. Eeoh spring and

summer, the whitewash crewe go over the ,

ourbinge, the etepe, the hospital, the
chapel, and other buildings, and every-
Where there is evidenee to indicate that
aalot of thought, ‘work, and planning
have gone into the face-lifting of old
deytille Prison.

None of this makes Eddytille a please
ant plaoe to live. no prison ever ie,
especially a marimemweeeurity prieoh
that was plennedito fit the penal needs

of the 19th Century, and that is how
overcrowded ehd ih need of erpahded and
increased feoilitiee for education, ihw

duetry, and reereetion. But what has
been done here is e good example of what
can be accomplished by Wmakihg do“ with
whatever is at hehdo

Found in the RIVERSIDE, Red Wing, Minoan

"One reaeon I don“t drink ie that I

like to know when 19m having a good
timeﬁ"

nNo man is teo big to he courteous,
but some are too little.W

"DOUGHEEL‘HV‘ j the DEAD 0N HILL

”Doughbelly", one of the most popular .
of the stray cats that roam the moun-
tain, was found dead one morning last
month. From the condition of the body,
it was suspected that the cat had died
of poisoning.

“Tomi, whether of the pussies, was
found suffering from severe pains and a
bleated stomach just aa dey- before ,
Boughbelly 'wee dieeovered dead, but he
recovered when one of the cone fed hhn
warm milk and grease to counteraot-the
poieon.

It is believed that the cats had
drunk water eontamineted'by the ehemical
used to purify the water in the swimming
peel.

”BUNNY BREAD" WED IN MESHALL

It may seem like a small thing, but
the serving of "free world" bread in the
meeehall is really eahig improvement»

The bread, referred to here as "Bunny
Breed", will replaee the coarse, orumbly
prison bread heretofore served.

CHIEF STEWKRD IEARNS TRADE IN PRISON

Chief Steward at the
trade right here in

Henry Griffin,
prison, learned his
Eddyrille Prieoh.

Mr. Griffin, we should hasten to
explain, has never served time as a
prisoner. Oh the contrary, he came to
work here "way back in $951 as a cell-
house guard. After that, he worked for
eome ﬁiyeare as an assistant steward hem
fore hineelf beeoming Chief, a position
he has held for h years new.

-"I just kinda picked up the trade,W
he related to this writer last month.
Get eseighed here as an assistant and
decided I'd like to keep on doing this

kind of work.m

(Gon't on Page 7)

CASTIE