State Prison at the close of the fiscal year, March 31, was 181;
received from July 1, 54; discharged, 40. The balance gained to the
Institution during the nine months, ending as above, was $1,247.
The Directors say that, under a resolution of the General Assembly,
twenty of the convicts have been employed in the manufacture of
school-apparatus, and the report very properly advises that these sets
be sold to the School Societies 25 or even 50 per cent. below their
actual cost.
What a pity it is they could not have taken the advantage of some
school apparatus to fit themselves to obtain an honest livelihood. A
strange anomaly this--convicts working for schools!
* * * * *
NOT MY MOTHER!--Well, do you see, at night we used to amuse each
other by telling our tricks, urging one another on in daring vice and
wickedness. Amongst us we had one uncommon bright girl--a first rate
mimic, and she used to make us roar with laughter. Well, this fun had
been going on for weeks; she had gone through most of her characters,
from the governor to the turnkey, when she starts on a new tack, and
commenced taking off Parson Cowper and Father Therry: some way it did
not take, so she went back to Newgate and took off Mrs. Fry to the very
life, but it would not do; we did not seem to enjoy it--there was no
fun in it for us. So then, she began about the ships leaving, and our
mother’s crying, and begging of us to turn over a new leaf; and then,
in a mimicking, jesting sport she sobbed, and bade us good-bye.
Well, how it happened I know not, but one after the other we began
to cry and say, “Stay, not my mother! Not my mother!” Said one: “Let
Mrs. Fry alone; Father Therry must not be brought here, nor Parson
Cowper--stay, stay!” Well she did stop, but tears were shed the
whole of that night. Every thing had been tried with me; good people
had sought in vain to convince me of my evil ways; but that girl’s
ridicule of my mother I could not stand! Her grief was brought home
to me, and not to me alone, but to many. I do believe that night was
a great blessing to many. I was so unhappy, that the next day I tried
to get out of sight to pray; and when I got to a hiding place I found
three girls on their knees. We comforted each other, and then how we
spoke of our mothers! Mine was dead; she left this world believing
me past hope--but the picture of her grief made me earnest in search
of that peace which endureth for ever.
OFFICERS FOR 1852-3.
PRESIDENT--James J. Barclay.
VICE-PRESIDENTS--Townsend Sharpless, Charles B. Trego.
TREASURER--Edward Yarnall.
SECRETARIES AND COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCE--
William Parker Foulke, Edward Townsend.
COUNSELLORS.
Job R. Tyson, Garrick Mallery.
ACTING COMMITTEE.
James J. Barclay, Townsend Sharpless, Charles B. Trego, Edward Yarnall,
William Parker Foulke, Edward Townsend, Job R. Tyson, Garrick Mallery,
F. A. Packard, Jeremiah Hacker, William Shippen, Charles Ellis, A. T.
Chur, Morris Wickersham, M. W. Baldwin, Mark Balderston, Joshua L.
Baily, Thomas Latimer, Josh. T. Jeanes, John M. Wetherill, Horatio C.
Wood, John Lippincott, John J. Lytle, Henry M. Zollickoffer, William S.
Perot, Benjamin J. Crew, Isaac G. Turner, William U. Ditzler.
⇒ Quarterly Meeting of the Society, 2nd second day (Monday) of January,
April, July and October.
INSPECTORS OF THE STATE PENITENTIARY FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF
PENNSYLVANIA.
John Bacon, Richard Vaux, Hugh Campbell, Singleton A. Mercer, Andrew
Miller.
WARDEN--John S. Halloway.
RESIDENT PHYSICIAN--D. W. Lassiter, M. D.
MORAL INSTRUCTOR--Thomas Larcombe.
CLERK--William Marriott.
TEACHER.--George Neff.
VISITING COMMITTEE OF THE EASTERN PENITENTIARY.
Townsend Sharpless, Edward Townsend, James J. Barclay, A. Theodore
Chur, Joshua J. Jeanes, Matthias W. Baldwin, Joshua L. Baily, John
Lippincott, John J. Lytle, Horatio C. Wood, Isaac G. Turner, Benjamin
J. Crew.
INSPECTORS AND OFFICERS OF THE PHILADELPHIA COUNTY PRISON.
PRESIDENT.--Jesse R. Burden, M. D.,
TREASURER.--T. C. Bunting, M. D.,
SECRETARY.--E. A. Penniman,
Edward C. Dale, Samuel Palmer, Robert O’Neill, Hugh O’Donnell, Thomas
E. Crowell, Godfrey Metzger, Charles T. Jones, Joseph K. Howell, Joshua
S. Fletcher, William Elliott, Samuel McManemy, John T. Smith.
SUPERINTENDENT.--Anthony Freed.
DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENTS.--William B. Perkins, John Mirkil.
CLERK.--Wm. J. Crans.
MATRON--E. McDaniel.
PHYSICIAN--Dr. J. C. Wall.
MORAL INSTRUCTOR.--Rev. Wm. Alexander.
ASSISTANT KEEPERS--C. Stagers, William Sharp, H. C. Snyder, Alexander
Campbell, F. Laird, J. B. Haines, A. Morrison, Alexander Burden, J.
Watt, G. Kirkpatrick, William McGrath.
VISITING COMMITTEE ON THE COUNTY PRISON.
William S. Perot, Dr. William Shippen, Jeremiah Hacker, H. M.
Zollickoffer, Thomas Latimer, Paul T. Jones, Morris S. Wickersham, John
M. Wetherill, Charles Ellis, B. B. Comegys, William U. Ditzler.
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation errors have been fixed.
In the Notices at the start, “arranged and expresse” changed to
“arranged and expressed”
Article IV has been renumbered from III in the original.
Page 114: “to known how many” changed to “to know how many”
Page 140: “cir-circuitous process” changed to “circuitous process”
Page 154: “and my cutlash” changed to “and my cutlass”
The text from the inside back cover, which was a continuation of the
Recent Notices section, has been relocated to the start so the section
is complete.