Some of the
most of fun I have had in a long time was researching Illinois Department of
Correction records for a client writing a book. I say “fun” with a little trepidation because
I realize at the time of the incarceration, I am sure family members were less
than thrilled to find out their spouse, children or siblings were being locked
up for committing a crime. But these records
from many years ago can spark your imagination for what in the world they were
thinking when they robbed someone of .89 cents and ended up in prison for 3
years. Or why they used 4 alias’ – maybe
that’s why you couldn’t find them in a census record??
If you have relatives and ancestors that spent
time in one of these correction centers, or suspect they may have had a
vacation to the pokey, the records can be a goldmine of information. Sometime they contain name of parents, and
siblings. They also might identify the
years of entry and date of discharge, as well as their appearance, religion,
age and health conditions.
Illinois
State Archives
The Illinois
State Archives has a variety of records from the Department of Corrections for
the following prisons.
1.
Alton
State Penitentiary 1833-1975
2.
Centralia
Correctional Center 1979-1999
3.
Dwight
Correctional Center 1933-1938 (limited to photos)
4.
Joliet/Stateville
Correctional Center 1874-1975
5.
Menard
Correctional Center 1869-1973
6.
Pontiac
Correctional Center 1869-1978
There are various
records including Register of Prisoners, Discharge Registers, Hospital Case
Registers, and Psychologist & Psychiatrist Registers, just to name a few.
Below is an
example of a Prison Record found at Joliet/Stateville Correctional center in
1914:
Also below are
close-up snips of this record showing various alias’ used by the criminal, name
of his mother, and punishment received while serving time. Yes, it’s true, John/James/Thomas/Albert got
in trouble for swimming in a fish tank while locked up. Now why they had a fish tank at the Joliet
prison is a research project for another day.
Cook
County Archives
At the Cook County
Archives, there is a Criminal Felony Index Book from 1872-1983. If your ancestors possibly had a dust up with
law enforcement, then the record below from 1878 is what you might find:
Note that the actual
case files from 1899-1927 have been destroyed.
While these files are missing, there is still some detail found on the
microfiche index that makes it worth the time to review. Below is a small example that includes the
case #, if they used an alias, and the nature of the crime:
OTHER CRIMINAL RECORDS IN THE US
Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com has a
robust catalog of prison records from all over the world. Most of them are found under the Wills,
Probate, Land, Tax and Criminal section.
Below is a listing of the US records found when I searched the keyword
Prison:
Collection
|
Alabama,
Convict Records, 1886-1952
|
Alcatraz,
California, U.S. Penitentiary, Prisoner Index, 1934-1963
|
Arizona,
Prison Records, 1875-1929
|
Atlanta,
Georgia, U.S. Penitentiary, Prisoner Index, 1880-1922
|
California,
Prison and Correctional Records, 1851-1950
|
Georgia,
Andersonville Prison Records, 1862-1865
|
Georgia,
Central Register of Convicts, 1817-1976
|
Historic
records of the Fifth New York Cavalry, First Ira Harris Guard
|
Idaho, Old
Penitentiary Prison Records, 1882-1961
|
Leavenworth,
Kansas, U.S. Penitentiary, Name Index to Inmate Case Files, 1895-1936
|
Louisiana,
State Penitentiary Records, 1866-1963
|
McNeil
Island, Washington, U.S. Penitentiary, Photos and Records of Prisoners
Received, 1887-1939
|
Montana,
Prison Records, 1861-1968
|
New Mexico,
Prison and Correctional Records, 1905-1958
|
New York,
Clinton Prison Admission Ledgers, 1851-1866, 1926-1939
|
New York,
Governor's Registers of Commitments to Prisons, 1842-1908
|
New York,
Prisoners Received at Newgate State Prison, 1797-1810
|
New York,
Sing Sing Prison Admission Registers, 1865-1939
|
Pennsylvania,
Prison, Reformatory, and Workhouse Records, 1829-1971
|
Prison diary,
of Michael Dougherty, late Co. B, 13th. Pa. Cavalry
|
Prison Life
in Andersonville
|
Prison Press
(Waupun, Wisconsin)
|
Texas, Prison
Employee Ledgers, 1861-1938
|
The True
Story of Andersonville Prison
|
Web: Chester
County, Pennsylvania, Criminal and Prison Record Indexes, 1681-1911
|
Find My Past
Find My Past also
has a few Prison collections.
Title
|
Colorado,
State Penitentiary Prisoner Index, 1871-1973
|
Georgia,
Andersonville Prison Records 1862-1865
|
Nebraska,
Prison Record Index, 1870–1990
|
Family
Search
A simple search
of the word Prison on Family Search brings up hundreds of collections both
online and at the library. One such collection
is the Prison Registers for San Quentin 1851-1897. The below example shows the prisoners name,
crime, when received, term of sentence, county sent from, and when discharged.
All of the
nuggets of information that you can find from these records make it a very
important tool for family research. This,
of course, assumes you had ancestors with a colorful past. Is it bad that I wish I had more criminals in
my own family?
