Series I. Subseries B. Letters of Application and Recommendation for Positions of Penitentiary Keeper, Agent and Physician, 1796-1797, 1812-1816 and 1819.

Containers:

Box 1-2.

Scope and content:

This subseries is housed in 23 folders and contains correspondence related to the appointment of Penitentiary Keeper, Agent and Physician. During the antebellum years, the penitentiary keeper (later superintendent) was elected annually by the General Assembly. Abraham Douglass, who had served since 1807, left the position in 1812 and William Campbell replaced him. Campbell served until 1816 and was replaced by Samuel P. Parsons, a member of the Board of Inspectors. Records in this subseries include letters of application for the positions of Keeper, Agent and Physician, and letters and petitions of support for individual candidates sent to Governors James Barbour and Wilson Nicholas and members of the Council of State in 1812, 1813 and 1816. Applicants for Penitentiary Keeper include: Richard Armstrong, Edward Cahill, Robert Courtney, Thomas Drake, John Kelso, David Lewis, Joseph Mayo, Abijah Price, Ellis Puryear, Henry Shore, Lambert Smyth, Lewis Sowell, William D. Taylor, John Wright and George Wyatt. Applicants for Penitentiary Agent include: James A. Campbell, Samuel S. Carter, Samuel Lemaine, Thomas Staples, Philip Triplett and Stephen Woodson.

Access and use

Contents