CHAMBERSBURG – The Franklin County Jail is now the home of the Franklin County Historical Society, but it was once the home of some of Chambersburg’s most dangerous criminals. “The Old Jail” as it is known now was built in the year 1818 and was a functioning prison for over 150 years, until the year 1971.
The building itself is a Georgian-style structure of stone and steel and is surrounded by a 20-foot limestone wall. There are two sections of prison cells, each three stories high with more cells located in the basement or “dungeon” as it is referred to by visitors and staff. Outside the stone walls is an exercise yard and the ominous gallows where executions took place.
The first and second “floors” of the prison cells housed the men, and the third floor was where the women prisoners were kept. The basement was where the most dangerous criminals were kept along with the segregated prisoners. The prisoners down in the basement would be chained to the floors; the rusty rings can still be seen today.
One particularly disturbing cell housed an insane prisoner who used his fingernails to dig into the heavy wooden door before committing suicide. The scratched door is still a part of the cell.
Some of the most notable prisoners to call the Old Jail home were David “the Robber” Lewis, who was somewhat of a celebrity in the state of Pennsylvania. Lewis was born in Carlisle in 1790 and was known as the “Robin Hood of Pennsylvania” due to his generous nature of giving stolen money to the poor and downtrodden. While many of these alleged “donations” can not substantiated, there is no doubt that Lewis was a wanted criminal.
Lewis died in 1820 from gunshot wounds inflicted while trying to escape capture. He has the distinction of being the most famous man to escape from the Franklin County Jail.
Another famous tenant of the jail was Capt. John Cook, one of the men who was captured after the failed John Brown raid on Harper’s Ferry in October of 1859. Cook, who was a native of Charlestown, Virginia, which would later become West Virginia, was a scout for John Brown, and was tasked with capturing George Washington’s great-grand-nephew and setting free slaves throughout Maryland and Pennsylvania.
When he was captured he betrayed his colleagues by giving their names to authorities. He would be charged with murder and insurrection and like John Brown would be executed, however, not at the Franklin County Jail.
The Old Jail would only see a handful of inmates meet their fate on the gallows. The first execution would take place in 1879, and the last execution would take place in 1912 when Waynesboro native and murderer, William Reed’s sentence was carried out. Reed was sentenced for shooting his ex-girlfriend, Sarah Mathna three times with a .38 caliber revolver after a heated argument in May 1911.
An interesting bit of history left behind by the inmates at the prison is the graffiti left on the walls. Colorful anecdotes and messages had been scribbled on the walls with pencils in several of the cells, and some very impressive artwork decorates the walls of the basement cells. The historical society is working to get the artwork documented and preserved as well as safely removing decades of old paint that will reveal yet-to-be-seen bits of history.
The legacy of the Old Jail goes beyond the men and women who were incarcerated there. The jail was just one of five buildings that were spared when the Confederate Army set Chambersburg on fire in 1864, and it was rumored to be one of the stops along underground railroad. There is a hidden room in the basement of the prison that adds legitimacy to the claim.
Today, the Old Jail houses a genealogy library and serves as a museum for both the jail and other exhibits donated to the Franklin County Historical Society. In 1970, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places to secure its legacy.
The Old Jail is located at 175 E. King St. and is available for tours by appointment only. For details, readers may visit the website at: www.franklinhistorical.org.
