Lost and abandoned america
Charles Manson's mother Kathleen Maddox was a prisoner at prison Charles Manson was born "no name Maddox" to 16-year-old Kathleen Maddox in 1934, according to hospital records unearthed for a 1987 Al Schottelkotte News special. He was born at Cincinnati General Hospital, which is where University of Cincinnati Hospital is today.
West Virginia State Penitentiary
Visting Area
In 1863, West Virginia seceded from Virginia at the height of the American Civil War. Consequently, the new state had a shortage of various public institutions, including prisons; the Wagon Gate was the only building at this site during the Civil War. From 1863 to 1866, Governor Arthur I. Boreman lobbied the West Virginia Legislature for a state penitentiary but was repeatedly denied.[3] The Legislature at first directed him to send the prisoners to other institutions out of the state, and then they directed him to use existing county jails, which turned out to be inadequate. After nine inmates escaped in 1865, the local press took up the cause, and the Legislature took action. On February 7, 1866, the state legislature approved the purchase of land in Moundsville for the purpose of constructing a state prison.[3] Ten acres were purchased just outside the then city limits of Moundsville for $3000. Moundsville proved an attractive site, as it is approximately twelve miles south of Wheeling, West Virginia, which at that time was the state capital.
The state built a temporary wooden prison nearby that summer. This gave prison officials time to assess what prison design should be used. They chose a modified version of the design of Northern Illinois Penitentiary at Joliet. Its Gothic Revival architecture "exhibit[ed], as much as possible, great strength and convey[ed] to the mind a cheerless blank indicative of the misery which awaits the unhappy being who enters within its walls."
The first building constructed on the site was the North Wagon Gate. It was made with hand-cut sandstone, which was quarried from a local site.[The state used prison labor during the construction process, and work continued on this first phase until 1876. When completed, the total cost was of $363,061. In addition to the North Wagon Gate, there was now north and south cellblock areas (both measuring 300 ft. by 52 ft.South Hall had 224 cells (7 ft. by 4 ft.), and North Hall had a kitchen, dining area, hospital, and chapel.[3] A 4-story tower connecting the two was the administration building (measuring 75 ft. by 75 ft. It included space for female inmates and personal living quarters for the warden and his family. The facility officially opened in this year, and it had a prison population of 251 male inmates, including some who had helped construct the prison where they were incarcerated. After this phase, work began on prison workshops and other secondary facilities.
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Dear Sir. I was razed
in McMechen & Wheeling & worked
at the race track under
big Bill & Charlie Stoneman
who put them big stones at
the prison & on the road. You
may know some of my ken folks
God knows they been enough
of us in & out of your place.
I'm a beenie(?) brother from
way back. Calif prison people
had me in the hole for 14
years. They done told a pack
of lies & built up so much
fear that there is fear of
what they made up to
start. Frist time I steeped
in your (????????) 4 years (???)
& Calif has a transfer tryp(?) with
other states. Would you accept
me at your place. I got 9
lifes & don't want out no
more. I'm a good worker &
I give you my word I'll
start no trouble. I've
been in prison hallways
over 30 years & never
lied to you & never rated.
That should count for
something some where.
Thank you
Charles Manson
1. Will you accept me. If
so I may git there on them
old CCC roads that we
built for you a while ago.
I can't seem to git no mercy
from Calif.
Warden Donald Bordenkircher's response: "It will be a cold day in hell."
Charles Manson letter to the warden of west virginia state penitentiary requesting to be transfered there
Cells
Toward the end of its life as a prison, the facility was marked by many instances of riots and escapes. In the 1960s, the prison reached a peak population of about 2,000 inmates. With the building of more prisons, that number declined to 600 – 700 inmates by 1995. The fate of the prison was sealed in a 1986 ruling by the West Virginia Supreme Court which stated that confinement to the 5 x 7-foot (2.1 m) cells constituted cruel and unusual punishment.Within nine years, the West Virginia State was closed as a prison. Most of the inmates were transferred to the Mt. Olive Correctional Complex in Fayette County, West Virginia. A smaller correctional facility was built a mile away in Moundsville to serve as a regional jail
Leader of aryan nation cell
Violent History
In the late 1800s Moundsville took over all executions for the state. In all, 85 men were hung and nine electrocuted. The executions were only a small part of the violent past at Moundsville. Suicide, murder, and violent punishments contributed to the death of hundreds of inmates. Because of poor record keeping, the exact number of inmates who died violent deaths while incarcerated at Moundsville is unknown.
In 1886, prison officials were exposed for hiding whips and other items, used to punish incorrigibles, from the state inspectors. But after one of the superintendent's resigned from the prison, he did a "tell all" interview with The Enquirer, exposing the violence and torture on inmates by prison officials.
Lunch Room
Executions
From 1899 to 1959, ninety-four men were executed at the prison. Hanging was the method of execution until 1949, with eighty-five men meeting that fate. The public could attend hangings, which were public until June 19, 1931. On that date, Frank Hyer was executed for murdering his wife. When the trap door beneath him was opened and his full weight settled into the noose, he was instantly decapitated. Following this event, attendance at hangings was by invitation only.[5] The last man executed by hanging, Bud Peterson from Logan County, was buried in the prison's cemetery because his family refused to claim his body.[4]
Beginning in 1951, electrocution became the means of execution. The electric chair, nicknamed "Old Sparky", used by the prison was originally built by an inmate there, Paul Glenn.[4] Nine men were electrocuted before the state prohibited capital punishment entirely in 1965.[4] The original chair is on display in the facility and is included in the official tour.[2]
Old Sparky
Wagon Gate building where the hung people
Old Pics and weapons on display
Night Pics
The following are excerpts from the interview describing the atrocities:
KICKING JENNY::::::
"It is an instrument invented and built in the prison. It is made somewhat in the shape of a quarter-circle, with the highest end about three or four feet above the platform upon which it is set. The prisoner is stripped naked and bend over upon the machine.
His feet are fastened to the floor with ropes, while his hands, which are stretched over the upper end, are tied with roped attached to small blocks, by which a tension so strong that the frame of the prisoner can almost be torn in two can be made with a slight pull.
After the prisoner is placed in position the Superintendent, or whoever does the whipping, takes a heavy whip, made of sole leather, two pieces of which, about three feet long, are sewed together, and the ends scraped slightly rounding, the lash being three inches broad at the handle, tapering to a point. With the whip, the prisoner is beaten until he is almost dead, or the strength of the man who is doing the whipping gives out.
THE shoo fly
"That infernal 'kicking Jenny' was not the only instrument of torture. There was the 'shoo-fly,' an instrument so arranged that the victim could be placed with his feet in the stocks, his arms pinioned and his head fastened so that he could not move it. Then someone would take the hose and turn the water full upon the prisoner's face. This was kept up until the victim was partly strangled to death.
Imagine a man receiving a stream of water from an inch nozzle full in the face without the power of changing his position; then think of that stream being ice-cold water, and you can form an idea." According to popular legend, the prison buildings were built on an old Native American burial ground.
Some believe that the legend coupled with its violent past is why it is haunted.
The Yard
