Introduction
The 1811 Old Jail and attached 1839 Jailer’s House offers visitors a rare view into the lives of those who lived and were incarcerated within its walls. The third jail built in Lincoln County, the Old Jail operated from 1811 to 1913, and it housed prisoners accused of a variety of crimes. From 1820-1824, the Old Jail also served as the Maine State Penitentiary after Maine separated from Massachusetts. In 1824, a new state prison was built in Thomaston, Maine. After 1913, the Old Jail saw sporadic use. In 1955, Lincoln County transferred the building to the Lincoln County Historical Association for ongoing stewardship and use as a museum.
Volunteer docents guide visitors through the Old Jail and Jailer’s House in the summer months. During tours, visitors learn about the differences between crimes and punishments of the past and those of today. Visitors walk through the jail cells and experience firsthand what it may have been like to be incarcerated within the cells. The cells are dark and tight spaces, composed of thick granite walls and heavy metal doors.
Visitors also get a glimpse into the life of the jailer and his family and consider what it may have been like to live in the nineteenth-century Jailer’s House. Some rooms in the Jailer’s House offer rotating displays and exhibits. At the end of the tour, visitors leave with a real sense of the hard work that came with being the jailer’s family, the experiences of the prisoners, and the odd juxtaposition of family life and criminal incarceration.
The First Two Lincoln County Jails
In the colonial period, Lincoln County encompassed much of the state of Maine, extending from Brunswick to Canada. When the county was first incorporated, Pownalborough served as the shiretown, or county seat. Another one of Lincoln County Historical Association’s museums, the Pownalborough Court House, was the center of the early criminal justice system in historic Lincoln County. On the grounds of the Court House, an old blockhouse from the fort previously on the site, Fort Shirley, served as the first jail in Lincoln County. By 1793, this jail was deteriorating and prisoners were escaping. Additionally, the county seat moved to Wiscasset, and many in the community began to call for a new jail that was more secure and centrally located in the new county seat.
John North submitted a plan for the second jail in Lincoln County to the 1793 Court of Sessions for Lincoln County. In January 1793, Attorney Jonathan Bowman accepted the plan during the court term. Notes accompanying the plan called for a new jail “forty feet in length and twenty feet in width.” The plan outlined a jailer’s house as well, measuring “36 feet in length and 18 feet in width.” It also called for walls and partitions of the jail crafted from “pine or hemlock timber, 12 inches thick, to be lined with 2 and ½ inch oak plank spiked on, and then lathed and plastered.” Planners estimated the new facility would cost 450 pounds. In 1795, the second jail was constructed near the present day intersection of Washington and Churchill streets in Wiscasset.
The second Lincoln County jail housed prisoners for sixteen years. Though only in use for a brief period, the second jail was quickly plagued with escapes and overcrowding. Fourteen inmates escaped during this period, and the community pressured Lincoln County officials to erect a more secure facility by 1806. After 1811, this second jail no longer housed prisoners and instead served as the town poorhouse.
Establishing the 1811 Old Jail
In 1806, Lincoln County officials appointed Abiel Wood, Jeremiah Bailey, and John Merrill Jr., to a committee tasked with assessing the conditions at the 1795 Jail. They worked to determine if the structure could be reinforced and improved in order to eliminate the escape problem, or if the county should just build a new facility. They ultimately recommended a new two story facility. They submitted a report that included details for a stone jail and wood framed jailer’s house on the land of Robert Elwell. For the next three years officials examined, debated, and finally resolved the issue. They approved construction of the Old Jail on the land of Abiel Wood and Thomas Nickels for the sum of $8000.
The cornerstone for the Old Jail was laid on August 1, 1809. In 1810, the Lincoln County Court of Sessions passed a resolution to add a third story to the structure to accommodate those incarcerated for indebtedness. In addition to a third story, the planning committee also requested a barn, woodhouse, and fence. These additions increased construction costs significantly, and the committee asked for an extra $7,000 to complete the project. Some of this construction work was not completed until 1818. In the end, Lincoln County spent approximately $22,000 for the Old Jail and attached Jailer’s House. In contrast to the previous two jails, the Old Jail is a three story granite structure with walls that are forty-one inches thick. There are six cells on each of the first two floors, and the third floor features four less-secure “apartments.”
Officials transferred prisoners to the Old Jail in mid-1811, and they submitted a complete report to the Court of Sessions at the May 1812 term. The 1811 Old Jail served Lincoln County, officially, for 102 years until 1913. From 1913 to 1953, the Old Jail sometimes housed prisoners when overcrowding necessitated.
Prisoners
People accused of a variety of crimes walked through the doors of the 1811 Old Jail. Jails, as opposed to prisons, usually only hold people for a year or less. For the most part, those incarcerated in the Old Jail were accused of petty crimes such as vagrancy, larceny, and drunkenness. However, at times, those accused of more serious crimes spent time in the Old Jail before their trial. Before 1835, the Old Jail also held those who were in debt to another person/party. Debt was a criminal offense before 1835, and debtors were incarcerated until they could pay off their debts.
A variety of people also spent time in the Old Jail, including men, women, children, those with mental illnesses, and sailors. Wiscasset is a maritime area, and so many prisoners were incarcerated for deserting their ship or mutiny on board. Visitors can look through copies of the original jail logs and learn more about many of the prisoners, including their name, physical description, how long they were incarcerated for, and what crime they were accused of.
Many of these prisoners served their sentences in one of the twelve cells on the first two floors of the Old Jail. Each cell contained one or two beds and a waste bucket. The open cell windows exposed prisoners to the elements, and natural sunlight offered the only source of light in the cells. On the walls of many of the cells, there are remarkable examples of prisoner graffiti, such as a beautiful drawing of a large sailing ship, a detailed navigational map of the world, a cartoon-like drawing of a soldier, fragments of poetry, and names and dates. Other interesting features of the Old Jail that offer insight into prisoners’ experiences include the grooves worn into the floor by the feet of prisoners shackled to the wall and the marks on the window bars where prisoners attempted an escape.
The Jailer’s House
The brick house that sits next to the Old Jail dates to 1839. The original Jailer’s House, built in 1811 along with the Old Jail, was a wooden structure. In 1838, a fire destroyed this structure. Everyone inside the house and the jail survived the fire, but the house was a total loss. In 1839, Lincoln County officials replaced the destroyed structure with a two and a half story brick house.
Visitors get to tour parts of the brick Jailer’s House, including the nineteenth century kitchen. In this room, guests learn about the prisoners’ diet, which consisted of staples like gingerbread and tea. Oftentimes, the jailer’s wife cooked meals for up to fifty prisoners in addition to her own family. Other rooms in the Jailer’s House display rotating exhibits.
Later Years
In October 1913, the Lincoln County Commissioners voted to close the 1811 Old Jail. The Old Jail officially closed on November 16, 1913, and all remaining prisoners were transferred to Rockland, Maine. The commissioners also released Sheriff Doyle, the jailer at the time, from duty.
The Old Jail saw sporadic use after 1913. In 1932, prisoners again spent brief periods in the Old Jail. Two 8-foot steel cages were installed on the third floor to accommodate prisoners awaiting transfer to Kennebec County Jail or to the State Prison in Thomaston. During Prohibition, the Old Jail served as a storage space for confiscated liquor. In 1953, officials stopped using the building for storage or short confinements.
On January 25, 1955, the Maine State Legislature authorized Lincoln County to sell, assign, transfer, and convey all interest in the Old Jail property to the Lincoln County Historical Association for the consideration of one dollar. Since that time, the 1811 Old Jail and attached Jailer’s House has welcomed visitors.
