Daviess County Tourism Tab

Page 25

About the 1889 Squirrel Cage Jail...

Great Escapes?

Were There

Any

YES!

calaboose. A short time later, the city marshal found that the suspects had sawed one of the January, 1899 — Two Pattonsburg men, hinges nearly off the door. A search revealed sentenced to 90 days for carrying concealed no saws. So, the two prisoners were handcuffed weapons, performed the magical feat of walking securely together. And yet, a short time later, through the bars of "chilled steel to liberty, and officers discovered their prisoners had cut a return to the freedom of plying their pilfering these handcuffs entirely off. vocation." Nobody quite knows how — and a grand jury convened at that time described this The two prisoners were searched again before being escorted to this rotary jail. This time the rotary jail as “unsafe for the safe keeping of search revealed a number of prisoners.” saws and burglar tools, taken Ed Conley and Adam Brown were partners in from their clothing. On Jan. 12, crime with a tramp hoodlum called "Moxie" who 1899, the Gallatin Democrat was responsible for the death of Constable Wm. declared: Parker on Oct. 29, 1898. During court proceed"How they got their implements ings, Conley was shown to have provided Moxie of destruction (while in jail at with the pistol used in the killing. Pattonsburg) is as much of a mystery as what was done with Conley and Brown were arrested the day after the bars of chilled steel that nighttime robberies occurred at Pattonsburg. Officers found a complete outfit of skeleton keys Daviess County paid the on Conley and Brown, arousing suspicions. The contractors to put in the cages and gratings, which Conley and men were promptly locked up in Pattonsburg's

his pal went through like a rat through a cracker box, cutting a hole wherever they desired and carrying off pieces of the grates as mementos." This escape from the rotary jail prompted a grand jury investigation, which condemned the jail as "unsafe for the safe keeping of prisoners" in 1899. The county court approved the condemnation ...but provided no means for jail repair and the county kept on using it.

The following lists a few of the more notorious local crimes during the latter years the jail was in use: (NOTE: Not all listed below involved incarceration in the Squirrel Cage Jail) 1955 – Sheriff A.F. “Buster” Clements crushed his hand in a car crash while chasing two Gallatin boys who escaped from the Caldwell County Jail. The sheriff underwent surgery after the thumb on his left hand was torn from the socket and bones shoved through the palm of his hand. The escapees were apprehended in KC after a 20-block chase involving six squad cars and four gun shots. 1957 – A bad check artist, using six different aliases, was finally jailed here; five Gallatin businesses robbed 1959 – Pattonsburg man faces murder charges, held in the Squirrel Cage Jail 1961 – Authorities ponder future of Squirrel Cage jail after state review; jail later significantly modified in 1964 1965 – Jamesport bank robbery 1967 – Murder trial to Buchanan County on change of venue, ends with conviction Aug. 31, 1967 – Three escaped from this Squirrel Cage Jail but were promptly captured in Liberty, MO, within the hour by Missouri State Troopers. Two prisoners, a Kansas City man facing murder charges and a Pattonsburg man facing burglary and larceny charges, broke out of jail and forced another prisoner to flee with them. The jail was not guarded since the sheriff and his wife were visiting a hospitalized deputy in St. Joseph at the time of the break. The escapees destroyed a cot and used a steel rod to break the cell lock. They then stole a car which had been impounded during the investigation of another case. Sept. 10, 1970 – One prisoner, jailed here on charges of disturbing the peace and forgery in Caldwell County, escaped by pushing up a loose roof section in the jail. He was later caught hitchhiking north on Hwy. 13 by a city night watchman. 1970 – Man murders wife outside a tavern on the Gallatin square, later sentenced to 10 years at the state penitentiary; 16-year-old Pattonsburg youth faces charges of murdering another youth Learn more about the 1974 – Man incarcerated here 1889 Squirrel Cage after pistol whipping two Gallatin Jail online. men at the Daviess Co. Country Club Click on this website: 1975 – Two men jailed after armed robbery at business west of Gallatin www. DaviessCountyHistoricalSociety.com

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More Information Like This on Display at the 1889 Squirrel Cage Jail Visitors Center, Gallatin

HISTORIC DAVIESS COUNTY

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Articles inside

County’s Namesake — Joseph Hamilton Daviess

4min
page 32

Other Daviess Countians You Should Know

2min
page 31

A Courthouse Antique: Seth Thomas Clock

8min
pages 29-30

Great Escapes from the Squirrel Cage Jail

3min
page 25

McDonald Team Room: Everyone Knows Virginia

10min
pages 27-28

Railroad Towns Grow in Daviess County

7min
pages 22-23

Public Hangings of Joe Jump and John Smith

3min
page 24

Lewis Mill on the Grand River

7min
page 21

Mormon War’ and the Governor’s Extermination Order

6min
page 20

Town’s Namesake — Abraham Alphonse Albert Gallatini

7min
pages 18-19

1869 Robbery, Murder at the Daviess County Savings Assn

19min
page 12

Daviess County’s First Jail: The ‘Pit Jail

6min
pages 16-17

Bugler Adolph Vogel Most Likely Killed Bloody Bill Anderson

3min
page 10

Gallatin Farmer Daniel Smoote Sues Jesse James

3min
page 13

After the Civil War: A Trail of Terror

3min
page 11

Indian Trails Lead Way for Today’s Roads, Highways . . . . . . . 1

5min
page 7

Architectural Antique Restored, Listed on National Register

3min
pages 2-3

Lawmen Who Called the Rotary Jail Home

4min
page 4
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