"Those who desire to peruse works that tell about Heaven only, are urged to drop this book and run."
December 14, 2008 12:56 AM   Subscribe

GUILTY! This word, so replete with sadness and sorrow, fell on my ear on that blackest of all black Fridays, October 14, 1887. And so begins John N. Reynolds' The Twin Hells: A Thrilling Narrative of Life in the Kansas and Missouri Penitentiaries, a very detailed and eventful memoir originally published in 1890, archived online in its entirety (including illustrations).

A few excerpts...

From Chapter 11, Candidate for the State Senate (Reynolds ran for office while incarcerated): As I sat there in my solitude the question came to my mind as to what part of the great political play I would be engaged in were I a free man. Some months prior to this a petition signed by 5,000 people had been forwarded to President Cleveland for my pardon. Had I secured my liberty it was my intention to make the race for State senator in my district for vindication. Mr. Cleveland interfered with my plan by refusing my pardon. Thinking over the matter in my cell that Sunday afternoon, I determined that while the President had the power of keeping me in prison he should not keep me from making the race for the position I coveted.

From Chapter 14, The Convict's Home: The prison is supplied with a large library of choice books to which the inmates have access. They also are allowed to read daily newspapers, if they have money with which to purchase them. The managing officials of the Kansas pententiary are possessed of a very foolish notion in regard to the reading of daily newspapers. They will not under any circumstances allow a prisoner to take his home paper, or have access to any political daily. They claim that it excites the prisoner and makes his imprisonment more difficult to bear when he knows what is going on in the outside world.

From Chapter 19, Noted Convicts : The female prison is kept scrupulously clean, which reflects great credit upon those having the management of this department. In company with Doctor Lewellyn, the prison physician, I passed through the dormitory. Here I found a great curiosity. It was a baby prisoner, six months old. The little convict was born in the penitentiary. It is a colored child --- its mother being a mulatto, who was sent to prison for fifteen years for murdering two of her children. When on the outside, she lived with her paramour, a white man, and, as fast as children were born to them, she would murder them in cold blood.
posted by amyms (9 comments total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
Fascinating reading. Thanks for the post.
posted by nickyskye at 4:44 AM on December 14, 2008


OK, I'm hooked now and have to read the whole thing! Nice find.
posted by RussHy at 5:58 AM on December 14, 2008


I've got to favorite this, and save it for January, when work is slow, but I love this sort of stuff. I just finished The Jungle, which ends with the protagonist being set up for a 2-year stint, so this will shed some light on what for me was an un-finished history of Jurgis Rudkus.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:27 AM on December 14, 2008


First edition flip book from Internet Archive.
posted by stbalbach at 6:31 AM on December 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


His style is interesting. Non-tangible things are physical objects:

"I was the object upon which they directed their shafts of spite."

"The managing officials of the Kansas pententiary are possessed of a very foolish notion"

"GUILTY! This word .. fell on my ear"
posted by stbalbach at 6:55 AM on December 14, 2008


Excellent reading; thanks.

"Young man, as you read this, had you not better make up your mind
to go rather slow in pouring whisky down your throat in future?"

Another tale of daring and sorrow, from a century before: "Arctic Dawn"
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 7:39 AM on December 14, 2008


Why are prisons so fascinating? Oh man, but they are. I can't stop watching Prison Break and I can't stop reading this either.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 8:38 AM on December 14, 2008


Also, this line may be one of the most hilarious things I have ever read in any context: "No better handkerchief can be invented. They are stout, stiff and durable! They will bear all manner of nasal assaults!"

I'm imagining "nasal assault" as a new category of crime.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 8:40 AM on December 14, 2008 [1 favorite]


stbalbach, thanks for the link to the flip book. That's great.
posted by amyms at 8:48 AM on December 14, 2008


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