Prison Work

Prison Work. . , The 1790 structure, the remains of which you see in this corner of the prison yard, served as the work house, primarily for making nails. One goal of the colony in opening New-Gate Prison was "profitably employing" prisoners. Still, experienced miners had little success teaching the imprisoned men to work the copper mine and this work was abandoned before the Revolutionary War began. , In lieu of unprofitable copper mining, the General Assembly introduced nail making. In the early 1800s, the prison Overseers gradually replaced the production of nails with activities such as shoe making and barrel making (otherwise known as cooperage). Officials also instituted a man-powered treadmill for prisoners unskilled at other trades. In the four-story cell block where the treadmill was housed, approximately thirty men were required to walk on the rotating steps to grind grain. , "[useful employment] effects in deterring from the commission of crimes, and in correcting the habits of the indolent and refractory, who are already tenant of our prison, cannot be questioned." , New-Gate Prison Overseers Report, 1823 , At the height of the prison years, the prisoners' daily routine started with rising at 4:00 a.m. to work in the prison yard. The work ended around 4:00 p.m., at which time prisoners descended back into the mine to sleep. Initially prisoners were shackled while they worked, but this practice was ultimately abandoned, as was allowing prisoners to earn an allowance for making more items than their daily quota. In 1806, approximately thirty prisoners used the workshop to secretly make false keys using the pewter from buttons on their clothes. They were able to unlock their chains but the insurrection that followed ended quickly when one of the ringleaders was killed. , "Our living was poor and scant, and we grew thin and lean under hard labor and insufficiency of diet, and were becoming unable even to stand up all day." , William Stuart (New-Gate Inmate), Sketches of the Life of William Stuart, 1854 , ( photo captions ) , , Illustration from, "Diary of an Early American Boy," Eric Sloane, 1962. , , An example of a treadmill housed at the Brixton House of Correction in London, circa 1823.