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Recollections of time spent in Kansas & Missouri State Penitentiaries at the end of the 19th Century ... Read more

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Mark Twain once famously said "there was but one solitary thing about the past worth remembering, and that was the fact that it is past and can't be restored."  Well, over recent years, The British Library, working with Microsoft has embarked on an ambitious programme to digitise its collection of 19th century books.

There are now 65,000  titles available  (that's an incredible 25 million pages) of material ranging from works by famous names such as  Dickens, Trollope and Hardy as well as many forgotten literary gems , all of which can now be printed on demand and purchased right here on Amazon.

Further information on The British Library and its digitisation programme can be found on The British Library website. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Mark Twain once famously said "there was but one solitary thing about the past worth remembering, and that was the fact that it is past and can't be restored."  Well, over recent years, The British Library, working with Microsoft has embarked on an ambitious programme to digitise its collection of 19th century books.

There are now 65,000  titles available  (that's an incredible 25 million pages) of material ranging from works by famous names such as  Dickens, Trollope and Hardy as well as many forgotten literary gems , all of which can now be printed on demand and purchased right here on Amazon.

Further information on The British Library and its digitisation programme can be found on The British Library website. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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An Excerpt from the book-

Guilty! This word, so replete with sadness and sorrow, fell on my ear on
that blackest of all black Fridays, October 14, 1887.

Penitentiary lightning struck me in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas. I
was tried in the United States District Court; hence, a United States
prisoner.

The offense for which I was tried and convicted was that of using the
mails for fraudulent purposes. My sentence was eighteen months in
the penitentiary, and a fine of two hundred dollars. I served sixteen
months, at the end of which time I was given my liberty. During the
period I was in prison I dug coal six months in the penitentiary coal
mines, and was one of the clerks of the institution the remainder of the
term. Getting permission to have writing material in my cell, I first
mastered short-hand writing, or phonography, and then wrote my book: "A
Kansas Hell; or, Life in the Kansas Penitentiary." My manuscript being
in short-hand, none of the prison officials were able to read it, and
did not know what I was doing until I obtained my liberty and had my
book published.

This, no doubt, will be the proper place to give some of my antecedents,
as well as a few of the details of the crime for which I was sent to
the penitentiary. I spent my youth and early manhood at Indianola, Iowa,
from which place I removed to Nebraska. After residing for some time in
Columbus, of that State, I was appointed by the governor to assist in
organizing the Pawnee Indian Reservation into a county. When organized
it was called Nance County, being named for Hon. Albinus Nance, then
governor of the State. I held the position of county clerk of that
county for four consecutive years. During this time I organized
the Citizens' Bank. I was its cashier at first, and, later on, its
president. I had a lucrative business and was doing well. My wife's
health failed her; she became consumptive. My family physician advised a
removal to the South. I closed out my business at a great sacrifice, and
came to Atchison, Kansas. Here I located, and made it my future home.
Soon after my arrival I commenced the publication of a daily newspaper,
known as the "Times." In the county in which I located I found one of
the worst and most corrupt political rings on the face of the earth.
This combination had controlled the politics of the county for almost a
quarter of a century. Soon I became involved in a terrific newspaper war
with the members of this political organization. An election of county
and State officials was soon to take place. In order to test the
strength of the contending elements, in my newspaper, I presented
the name of Hon. W. D. Gilbert as a candidate for district judge in
opposition to the ring candidate. A sharp fight ensued. Mr. Gilbert
was elected by an overwhelming majority. This was the first time for
twenty-five years that this ring had been defeated. The members of
it were very sore. Looking upon me as the principal spirit, I was the
object toward which they directed all their shafts of spite.
... Read more

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The following pages treat of hell—A Kansas hell and a Missouri hell. Those who desire to peruse works that tell about Heaven only, are urged to drop this book and run. I was an inmate of the Kansas penitentiary for sixteen months, and make mention of what came under my own observation in connection with what I experienced. While an inmate of this prison I occupied cells at various times with convicts who had served terms in the Missouri prison. From these persons I gathered much useful material for my book. After my release I visited the Missouri penitentiary, and verified the statements of those criminals, and gathered additional material from the prison records and the officials. I have written chiefly for the youth of the country, but all ages will be deeply interested in the following pages. A large majority of the convicts are young men from sixteen to twenty-five years of age. They had no idea of the terrible sufferings of a convict life, or they surely would have resisted temptation and kept out of crime. The following pages will impart to the reader some idea of what he may expect to endure in case he becomes entangled in the meshes of the law, and is compelled to do service for the State without any remuneration. Every penitentiary is a veritable hell. Deprive a person of his liberty, punish and maltreat him, and you fill his life with misery akin to those who wander in the darkness of "eternal night," I think, when the reader has perused the following pages, he will agree with me, that the book has the proper title. That this volume may prove an "eye-opener" to the boys who may read it, and prove interesting and instructive to those of mature years, is the earnest wish of the author. ... Read more

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Formatted for the Kindle. Linked Contents.

Contents
CHAPTER I. MY INITIATION AND CRIME
CHAPTER II. THE COAL MINES
CHAPTER III. THE COAL MINES (Continued)
CHAPTER IV. THE PUNISHMENTS OF THE PRISON
CHAPTER V. SUNDAY IN THE PRISON
CHAPTER VI. SCENES IN THE HOSPITAL
CHAPTER VII. ESCAPES FROM PRISON
CHAPTER VIII. THE PRISONERS
CHAPTER IX. FORTY-EIGHT HOURS IN HELL
CHAPTER X. STOLEN HORSES
CHAPTER XI. CANDIDATE FOR THE STATE SENATE
CHAPTER XII. A DARK HOUR
CHAPTER XIII. FREEDOM
CHAPTER XIV. THE CONVICT'S HOME
CHAPTER XV. THE WORK OF THE CONVICT
CHAPTER XVI. THE MISSOURI PRISONERS
CHAPTER XVII. THE MISSOURI PRISONERS — (Continued)
CHAPTER XVIII. PRISON DISCIPLINE
CHAPTER XIX. NOTED CONVICTS
CHAPTER XX. THE EX-CONVICT ... Read more