A New Foundation Laid is One for the Ages; 178 Main Street, Owego, New York

By John Ricklefs —

On Monday, March 3, 1851, a special meeting of the Tioga County Board of Supervisors took place at the courthouse. As stated in the March 6, 1851, edition of the Owego Gazette, “The object of the meeting was stated to be to take into consideration the propriety of building a new jail. 

The law in relation to County Prisons was then read by Judge Avery (Charles P.). On motion of Mr. Miller (Abram H.), seconded by Mr. Hollenback (George W.), Resolved, “That a new jail shall be built.” 

It was then resolved that a committee of three county supervisors was to travel to Elmira to tour the jail there and then put together a duplicate draft of the facilities, and present their report at a follow-up special meeting on March 20, 1851. The committee was also tasked with receiving proposals for the construction of a new sheriff’s headquarters and jail, with a maximum dollar allowance of $6,000. 

At the March 20 meeting, two petitions were received from two groups of county inhabitants requesting, “That if new county buildings are to be built, they be located at or near the center of the county.” 

It was resolved at that meeting, as according to the March 27 Owego Gazette, “That the said building be located on the Court House lot, between the Court House, and the Clerk’s office, fronting westward. Resolved, that we build a new Jail and Jailor’s House of the size noted in the specifications before the Board, and build the Jail of brick, and lined with 2-inch oak plank, and 1–2-inch iron, spiked to the bond timbers, and confined at the top and bottom by bars of iron 2 1-2 by 3 1-4 inches, placed horizontally, bolted to the bond timbers.”

“You can make a plan, but you can’t plan the outcome,” and the location plan for the new sheriff’s quarters and a better-fortified jail was changed, and that did not sit well with some critics. 

In the June 26, 1851, edition of the Owego Advertiser, the editor raised a stink by stating, “The work of building a new jail has finally been commenced. The Board of Supervisors, last winter, passed a resolution that the jail should be built between the Courthouse and the Clerk’s Office, and obliged the Trustees to remove the Engine House. What has induced them to change the location, we do not know.” 

The Engine House at the time between the courthouse and the county clerk’s building was the home of Croton Fire Company No. 3, and possibly other Village of Owego fire companies. 

So, why the need for a more secure county jail? Besides the fact that the jail section of the 1823 built courthouse was quite small, it was likely that the county supervisors had hoped to curb the issue of simple jailbreaks. 

On Saturday, May 24, 1851, in the late evening, three prisoners awaiting separate trials escaped by lifting a piece of a rotten floor plank and exiting through the cellar.

Donald F. Revelon (the paper spelled it as Revelland) was a horse thief, Peter Ten Eyck a leather stealer, and thirdly, a boy who had stolen money from the grocer, Mr. Timothy P. Patch. Upon an inspection of the after effect, the Owego Gazette on May 29 reported the “floor being nothing more than a mass of rotten planks, which were a very easy matter to pry loose from the spikes which formerly held them. From appearances the whole operation was performed with no other aid than the hands of the prisoners except a small stick not over 12 or 15 inches in length, which was found in the vacant cell.”

The two elder jailbirds were eventually captured and during the July term of the County Court, Revelon was indicted for escaping and given a 15-day sentence, while his charge of larceny was dropped by the prosecution. Another prisoner at the time was John M. Thurston, who was awaiting trial for the bludgeoning murder of his brother-in-law Anson Garrison. At the time of the triple escape, it was suggested to the county judge that Thurston be relocated to Elmira for safekeeping until his trial began, but Judge Charles P. Avery concluded that the Tioga jail was sufficient for Thurston’s safekeeping.

Owego Gazette, August 7, 1851: “Elizabeth Williams was, the other day, convicted before Justice Ripley of petty larceny for stealing a pair of socks, a nightgown, etc. from Spaulding’s Tavern in this village, and sentenced to 15 days’ imprisonment in the county jail. But having no cells at command, the Department’s Sheriff, Robbins D. Willard, locked her up in a jury room on the second story of the Courthouse. 

Determined not to be satisfied, even in the comfortable quarters designated to her, as soon as the darkness of a moonless night covered the earth,she opened a window and jumped to the ground. However, she was heard by the family, who pursued and recaptured her before she had sufficiently recovered from the shock to make her escape from the yard.

In the Nov. 6, 1851 edition of the Owego Advertiser, the question was raised, “Who is the architect that furnished the design for our County Jail?” They saw it as an “ill-shaped pile of brick and mortar” and marveled at how the Board of Supervisors would ever allow a building like that to be constructed. 

The article concluded with the statement, “We would not trust the architect to design a smokehouse; and we cannot imagine why such a deformity has been permitted in our village.” 

The Owego Gazette, on Nov. 13, 1851, countered by declaring that the Elmira contractor, Ichabod Conklin, had fulfilled his agreement to the “T” by completing the job just as ordered by the county supervisors. The editor of the Gazette stated,“The county has got just such a jail as it bargained for. It is large enough for its legitimate purpose, and in the strength and security of its cells we do not believe it has any superiors”. 

October 9, 1851, Owego Gazette: “The new jail and jailer’s residence are nearly completed, and we think prisoners, once confined in it, will stand a good chance to stay there until they are let out,” or so they thought. 

Almost 173 years later, in November 2024, the same building still stands as a testament to the confidence of the 1851 county supervisors who were convinced it would endure as a superior structure truly meant for the ages. Except for the adjacent jail portion, which was removed in 1884.

(This story is an excerpt from an upcoming book release titled “THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE OWEGO LAW ENFORCEMENT SCENE” Vol. 1: 1791 through 1899, and authored by John P. Ricklefs.)