Ancestor in Prison during Census

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

My two times great-grandfather James Hunter Castleman (b. 1858) was in Goochland, Virginia at the 'State Farm' in the 1900 census. A quick Google search indicated it was a prison, as I suspected given all the 'boarders' were men and their occupation was listed as 'convict'.

My question is how would I find out what he was convicted of exactly? I knew my great-grandfather was not raised by either of his parents, but in a foster home according to the census. My father said he never spoke of his family and never mentioned his parents or the fact he had siblings which I discovered while doing research. I'm assuming James and his wife Sallie were divorced since he turns up married to another woman named Rosa in 1908 and they had a son together. However, Sallie mentions being widowed in one census and in another as divorced.

 

[mcfb50]

I'm at work so can't post the actual clipping, but there's one short blurb in the Virginia Pilot newspaper Jan 10, 1899 page 10 stating James H Castleman was arrested for assault of an 11 year old step daughter. It was sent to a grand jury.

 

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

I'm at work so can't post the actual clipping, but there's one short blurb in the Virginia Pilot newspaper Jan 10, 1899 page 10 stating James H Castleman was arrested for assault of an 11 year old step daughter. It was sent to a grand jury.

Yikes! That's horrible. Plus adds more confusion as Sallie was only ever married once to James...so unsure where the step-daughter comes into the picture

Thanks so much @mcfb50

 

[mcfb50]

I just checked another archive and in 1903 there was a petition to pardon him. He had been sent to prison 4 years prior and it was now believed he was victim of a conspiracy.

I didn't see the outcome reported.

 

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

Goodness! The plot thickens it seems. I definitely need to get to the bottom of this especially given a conspiracy might be involved. Would local court records go back that far? I assume they keep things like this on file for quite some time.

Also, what archives are you using? Thanks so much for your help!

 

[mcfb50]

Glad to help! I love the newspaper research so I subscribe to Newspapers.com and another site. Sometimes you can find articles on tge free sites, but the search engines are trickier.

I just checked and you can view the first blurb at the Library of Congress newspaper archive.

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/l...man"&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1


Here's another place you can look:
http://www.theancestorhunt.com/blog/20-best-sites-for-free-online-historical-newspaper-research

 

[mcfb50]

Annoucement that it was going to trial: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/l...man"&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1

 

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

Nothing like your trail being announced in the Washington Evening Times! I really must get to the bottom of this as it sounds fascinating.

 

[mcfb50]

Nothing like your trail being announced in the Washington Evening Times! I really must get to the bottom of this as it sounds fascinating.

Recently I followed a newspaper story that did the 1908 version of "going viral" throughout the US. It was fascinating to watch the story and it's changes and the varying attitudes reflected in the reporting as it swept through the country.

One article dated April 14, 1899 shows that a Frederick County jury tried the case and brought in a verdict of guilty with a sentence of ten years in the penitentiary. (The girl's name is listed so I won't copy it here).

This one is from The Richmond Times Dispatch, August 7, 1903 page 6. Just found it online on page 6--didn't even know about this archive until now.
http://virginiachronicle.com/cgi-bin/virginia?a=d&d=TD19030807.1.6#

 

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

Good grief! From the sound of the article it does seem like he was wrongly accused! How horrible for him and to be accused of such a horrendous crime, too. Thanks so much for finding these articles. I'm currently looking into the Frederick County Court office to see if they still house the records for incidents back this far or if they were rehoused somewhere else.

You're a veritable whiz with newspaper research! I love old newspapers, too! Such a fascinating window into the past. Over at the Ladies' Tea there are a lot of interesting articles posted about women & their lives during the ACW era, you'd enjoy them I think.

 

[Drew]

Glad to help! I love the newspaper research so I subscribe to Newspapers.com and another site. Sometimes you can find articles on tge free sites, but the search engines are trickier.

I just checked and you can view the first blurb at the Library of Congress newspaper archive.

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86071779/1899-01-10/ed-1/seq-8/#date1=1836&index=16&rows=20&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&words=Castleman+H+James&proxdistance=5&date2=1922&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext="james+h+castleman"&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1


Here's another place you can look:
http://www.theancestorhunt.com/blog/20-best-sites-for-free-online-historical-newspaper-research

Thanks very much for these links. Invaluable to anyone nosing around the past - really appreciate it!

 

[mcfb50]

Thanks very much for these links. Invaluable to anyone nosing around the past - really appreciate it!

You're welcome!

Here's one more link that I couldn't find yesterday from my tablet:
http://www.theancestorhunt.com/newspaper-research-links.html

 

[Keiri]

Lawyer here. Court records can go back that far, but usually they would be in storage, donated to the archives or historical societies (as they are here in Wis.), or sadly destroyed or ruined. The first place to start would be the court in question's websites. They usually indicate who you need to contact to obtain a copy of an older file. it isn't an easy trail to follow and you may have to make some calls. The second place to check is the local historical society, and then the state historical society. They sometimes have this info on their webpage. If they don't, shoot them an email as they are the ones likely to know. Good Luck.

 

[Keiri]

Anecdotally, my great uncle was in prison in 1930. Newspapers for the area were not online yet, so I tracked down some original jail documents through the local state archive. Those didn't say the crime either. I contacted the courts, got routed around to three different departments until I got the right one. The archives lady looked in their ancient file system and - no surprise - found nothing. My last name is often butchered. What I would give to have access to just rifle through... On the other hand, you can do just that here in Wisconsin. It's crazy. I study waupaca history and got to go to the archives and page through all the old criminal files and handwritten judge's notes and clerk records. It's a fascinating and fun thing to do if you have that option.

 

[mcfb50]

Here's an earlier article from 1902 that said the governor refused to pardon him. It gives the court and term when he was convicted. (page 6)

http://virginiachronicle.com/cgi-bin/virginia?a=d&d=T19020604.1.6#

Do keep us posted if you learn the outcome. Politically it would have been safer for a governor not to grant the pardon.

 

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

Lawyer here. Court records can go back that far, but usually they would be in storage, donated to the archives or historical societies (as they are here in Wis.), or sadly destroyed or ruined. The first place to start would be the court in question's websites. They usually indicate who you need to contact to obtain a copy of an older file. it isn't an easy trail to follow and you may have to make some calls. The second place to check is the local historical society, and then the state historical society. They sometimes have this info on their webpage. If they don't, shoot them an email as they are the ones likely to know. Good Luck.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I've checked out the local county courthouse website and will shoot them an email along with their local archive library they listed who keeps historical documents for the county. Hopefully the records aren't lost forever as it would be interesting to find out what actually went on since its a new chapter in the family history I discovered quite by accident.

Anecdotally, my great uncle was in prison in 1930. Newspapers for the area were not online yet, so I tracked down some original jail documents through the local state archive. Those didn't say the crime either. I contacted the courts, got routed around to three different departments until I got the right one. The archives lady looked in their ancient file system and - no surprise - found nothing. My last name is often butchered. What I would give to have access to just rifle through... On the other hand, you can do just that here in Wisconsin. It's crazy. I study waupaca history and got to go to the archives and page through all the old criminal files and handwritten judge's notes and clerk records. It's a fascinating and fun thing to do if you have that option.

That stinks you weren't able to find the information you were looking I know records often get ruined in floods, fires, etc. in local courthouses. Heck, even a storage warehouse in NYC housing 19th century birth records caught fire about two years ago. So, while I hope for the best in tracking down the records, I won't hold my breath, but I figure its worth a try if nothing else.

That's wonderful they let you page through the old files! I worked at an old library branch in college and loved going through the old magazines and newspapers they had, plus their repository of local yearbooks from 1910s - 1930s. Its always awesome when you get that kind of special look into the past.

 

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

Here's an earlier article from 1902 that said the governor refused to pardon him. It gives the court and term when he was convicted. (page 6)

http://virginiachronicle.com/cgi-bin/virginia?a=d&d=T19020604.1.6#

Do keep us posted if you learn the outcome. Politically it would have been safer for a governor not to grant the pardon.

Thanks so much! I surmised from where he lived it was Frederick County, so this article confirms it so at least I'll be reaching out to the right county. And I'll keep you posted on any developments. Hopefully I turn something up since there's certainly an interesting story hiding here.

 

[Discipulus]

My g-grandfather went to prison for attempted murder (he shot my g-grandmother three times). For genealogy purposes it is actually pretty good to have a criminal ancestor because there are so many more records (even more true for ancestors who were dependent on the government). Court records are the best. In my ancestor's case, the court records were destroyed in a courthouse fire. However there were newspaper articles, hospital records, and prison records (with picture of inmate).

There are many genealogical articles online on how to research a criminal ancestor.

http://www.cyndislist.com/prisons/general/

 

[Frederick14Va]

Virginia habitually does rather well with retaining old court probate records. Majority are archived at the local jurisdictional level... Others sometimes stored offsite commonly with the State Archives as part of the Virginia State Library in Richmond... Those prior to 1865 are iffy depending on the county/city in question since many courthouses were torched during the war...

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Good Gravy Anna Elizabeth, what a horrendous story!! If we're allowed to jump to the end where he was set up ( disclaimer being 100% of the time bar none we believe a child stating an assault happened ), could be a genyoo-ine Black Widow, ' widow ' in the picture. You know, female sees better prospect for husband, gets rid of this one while also being able to keep all he owns by having him arrested for something considered then as now just beyond, beyond heinous.

What a crazy event to find in one's tree! If you come across anything else, please post here? Poor guy. The thing is, now having met him it's a little hard not knowing how he fared later. Also would love to know how the next husband survived.