An Inventory of Records Relating to the Penitentiary at the Texas State Archives, 1846-1921, undated

Agency History

"An Act to Establish a State Penitentiary" was passed in 1848 by the Second Legislature. It authorized the selection of a site and building of a prison. The act established a governing body of the penitentiary as a three-member Board of Directors, appointed by the Governor, with the approval of the Senate. Over the years, the name and composition of the Board changed. In 1881, the Legislature reorganized the prison system, abolishing the Board of Directors, and creating in its place a Penitentiary Board, consisting of the governor, the state treasurer, and the prison superintendent (Chapter 49, 17th Legislature, Regular Session). In April 1883, the administrative system was again reorganized, with the board comprised of the governor and two commissioners appointed by the governor (Chapter 114, 18th Legislature, Regular Session). In 1885, the board composition changed once more, to three commissioners appointed by the governor (House Bill 562, 19th Legislature, Regular Session). This board was succeeded by the Board of Prison Commissioners in 1910, composed of three commissioners appointed by the governor (Senate Bill 10, 31st Legislature, 4th Called Session).

Direct management of the prison was through the Superintendent (also called Inspector for a brief period), appointed by the Governor. In 1853, a financial agent was appointed to handle financial matters. Other officials were added to the system, including assistant superintendents, inspectors of outside camps, and physicians. Of the prison officials, the superintendent and financial agent had the most direct dealings with the Board and Governor in the management of the prison system.

The prison system began as a single institution, located in Huntsville, known as the Huntsville Penitentiary. County sheriffs escorted prisoners there and the convicts were put to work in various shops and factories housed within the institution. One such industry was a cotton/woolen factory, operated prior to, during, and after the Civil War. In addition to supplying its own needs, materials were distributed to counties for the families of military personnel, and, if available, to needy families. Cloth was also sold to Confederate forces when supplies permitted. Other types of industries included the manufacture of shoes, wagons, and furniture. Some farming was done by the prisoners which partially supplied their food needs.

In 1871, following a recommendation of the Reconstruction Convention (Chapter 21, 12th Legislature, 1st Called Session), the penitentiary was leased to private individuals. These men, known as lessees, paid the state for the convict labor and use of facilities, and in turn, managed the system, including clothing and feeding the convicts and paying the guards. The state kept an inspector or superintendent on site to observe the prison operations and report back to the Board or Governor. It was during this period that the outside camp system was firmly established. In addition to the use of convicts in and around the prison, the prisoners were hired out to large labor employers, mainly plantation owners and railroad companies. Brutalities to convicts, especially in these labor camps increased, leading to several internal and legislative investigations undertaken to clarify and correct such situations. Other problems with the lessee system included an increase in escapes, and seemingly less emphasis on or concern with the convicts' personal hygiene and prison sanitation, resulting in a increase in sickness and deaths in the prison population. It was also during this period, in the late 1870s, that the method for conveying prisoners to the penitentiary changed. Instead of county sheriffs or deputies escorting the prisoners, private agents were hired to perform this service, resulting in a large savings for the state ($39 vs. an average of $77.18 per convict).

The need for another prison was recognized during the 1870s as the penitentiary became overcrowded. Rusk Penitentiary, initially known as the East Texas Penitentiary, was built in the late 1870s - early 1880. Its main industry, an iron foundry and blast furnace, was developed with the intention of selling raw iron and iron products. While the iron industry was never very successful, Rusk did supply the iron castings used in construction of the State Capitol.

The state regained direct administrative control of the prison system in 1883. The Board decided to lease some of the prison shops to private individuals and contract out unskilled or surplus convicts to plantation owners, railroad companies, etc. (It was convict labor in a granite quarry which supplied granite used in building the State Capitol.) The goal of the penitentiary Board was to eventually employ all convicts on state account, either in shop industries or on state leased or owned prison farms. In order to achieve this, additional farms were purchased and some shops were renovated or expanded. Some of the state farms were used to house special classes of convicts. One such farm contained male convicts with consumption and other lung diseases. Another housed the female convict population.

In 1893, with the intention of assisting the ailing iron industry at Rusk, construction began on a standard gauge railroad, known as the Texas State Railroad. It was completed to Palestine in 1909/1910 and was somewhat of a failure as a source of revenue. The iron furnace at Rusk had shut down and the railroad did not get the tonnage for haul it had anticipated. After several years of operation, the authority for the railroad was transferred from the Prison Commission to the newly created Office of the Manager of the State Railroad, and later to the new Board of Managers of the State Railroad.

In 1911, under the authority of the Board of Prison Commissioners, the prison system began operating on state account. Prisoners were housed and worked in one of the two prisons or on a state prison farm. The shop industries slowed down while the prison farms expanded. This arrangement made it more difficult to provide education and other reform measures. Such measures were generally practiced at Huntsville, with some teaching extended to a couple of prison farms by the early 1920s. In 1918, the penitentiary at Rusk was closed. The buildings were converted into an asylum for insane blacks. This complex later became the Rusk State Hospital.

The Texas Prison Board replaced the Board of Prison Commissioners in 1927. This Board, along with the prison manager, had exclusive management and control of the system, unlike its predecessors. The Board formulated the policies and the manager carried them out. During their tenure, changes in the system included more emphasis on prison reform, teaching, recreation--including the establishment of the Texas Prison Rodeo--and a new method of classifying prisoners.

Today, the Hunstville Penitentiary still serves as the central institution in the prison system. This system is managed by the Board of Criminal Justice through the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Inmates work in shop industries, on construction projects, and on state farms. They receive occupational skills training through their work and have access to educational programs. Other resocialization measures are available, such as programs involving religion, recreation, and physiological and psychological health care.

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Scope and Content

Types of records include correspondence, reports, financial documents, legal records, and blueprints and maps, dating 1846-1921, and undated. Date gaps within each record type exist. Correspondence consists of incoming letters only, and is scant after 1882. Reports are also few after 1882. Financial documents exist throughout the period but are scant during the 1850s and 1870s. Other record types are scattered throughout.

These records document the state penitentiary system in Texas from the early years through the beginning of the twentieth century. They reflect activities of various penitentiary officials, especially the superintendent and financial agent, and governors involvement with the prison system. A wide range of subjects are covered, including cloth production and distribution during the Civil War, investigations of financial agents, treatment of convicts, conveyance of convicts to the prison, leasing of the prisons, contracting for convict labor, repairs and additions to the Huntsville facilities, construction of Rusk Penitentiary, the iron industry at Rusk, purchase of state farms, the Texas State Railroad, and routine financial affairs. Coverage of the prison system is negligible after 1911, consisting of a few documents through the early 1920s. Documentation after this point is confined to published biennial, annual and other reports. Major topics not covered in these records are the pardon/parole system; the establishment of the House of Correction and Reformatory, an institution for youthful offenders; and the final disposition of the penitentiary at Rusk. Mention of these issues, for the most part, is limited to published biennial reports.

These materials are not the actual records from the prison system. Instead, they consist of materials which, at some point in the past, were removed from records of variousstate agencies, primarily Governor's records, records of the Secretary of State and of the Comptroller.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

None.

Restrictions on Use

None.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item and cite the series), Records relating to the Penitentiary. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession numbers: unknown

No accession data exists for these records.

Processing Information

Laura K. Saegert, July 1988, April 2002

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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