Old crimes revealed in 1890s, 1900s, York County Jail logbooks
- Tammy L Wells
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Many of us have heard the term “that’s highway robbery!” These days, the expression tends to mean that something is far too expensive – “they want how much?” for a dozen eggs, a chuck roast, or a basic, no frills, new car.
Well, in 1893, highway robbery happened right here in York County. A Biddeford man was arrested and charged with committing that crime, and spent several months incarcerated at York County Jail, awaiting trial.
The man, who used three aliases according to jail records, was committed to the jail – the facility at that time was on Court Street in Alfred – on June 15 and was discharged for later trial. How the trial turned out is not revealed in jail records – nor are there any details of what the alleged highway robbery entailed. The information about the man and others committed to the jail comes from a logbook (also called a calendar) kept by the jail superintendent. It is a very basic, but fascinating, record of the people who spent time at the jail, whether for a mere 24 hours, or for much longer.
This and other tidbits of information turned up as county jail officials began the task of digitizing records of those who were committed to the facility, said York County Sheriff William L. King.
“The logbooks and (some) old booking photographs were found squirreled away in the inmate records room,” said King. He said there were also photographs of 17-year-olds booked into the jail – something that would not happen today, since only those 18 and older are incarcerated at Maine’s county jails.
The old York County Jail, at Court Street and Saco Road in Alfred, was built in 1869 and would have been where folks awaiting trial or most of those convicted and sentenced to serve time would have done so. (Those sentenced who were considered maximum security prisoners would have served their time at the Maine State Prison in Thomaston, built in 1824). A new York County Jail was built in the 1970s on Route 4 – and in the early 2000s, beset by overcrowding, the current facility on Layman Way, off Route 4, was constructed.
The record books from the late 1800s and early 1900s list people charged with an array of crimes, from vagrancy to being a common nuisance, to bastardy – the latter a crime of failing to acknowledge and provide maintenance for a child fathered out of wedlock.
According to 1871 statutes provided by the Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library, a woman claiming she was pregnant by a man refusing to acknowledge the child could request criminal prosecution against him. After questioning the woman, a justice of the peace could issue a warrant for the man’s arrest, according to the statutes. Subsequently, a court would hear evidence, and a jury would decide if the man accused was indeed the father of the child. If so, he would be ordered to give a bond to pay the child’s maintenance, along with assistance to the mother, and held in jail until he did so.
Some charged with bastardy admitted to it, like a man committed to York County Jail on October 25, 1879. He was discharged five days later, on Oct. 30, after agreeing to recognize paternity. He paid the sum of $200 for the child’s care and maintenance, and also for sheriff’s fees.
The logbooks reference other crimes for which people were incarcerated.
In 1880, a Kennebunk woman was sentenced to 90 days in jail, fined $100 and costs of $8.37 “for keeping intoxicating liquor for illegal sale.” She was arrested on Feb. 5, 1880, and discharged from the jail on May 5. Later on the day she was released, she was charged with intoxication, readmitted to the jail, and following conviction was fined $5, plus $3.97 in costs.
In July 1880, a woman was sentenced to 30 days in jail for vagrancy – not an uncommon occurrence. Throughout December 1893, about 40 people, described as tramps, were sentenced to 60 or 30 days in jail. By 1900, some charged with being a tramp were sentenced to 60 days hard labor, according to the logbooks, which does not indicate what the hard labor might have entailed.
In addition to the terms “vagrant and tramp,” the statutes of 1883 also reference, “rogues, vagabonds and idle persons,” and the circumstances under which those in either category could be charged.
“Whoever goes about from town to town or from place to place in any town, asking for food or shelter, or begging, or subsisting upon charity, shall be deemed a tramp,” according to the 1883 statutes. If the individual threatened harm, set a fire in the street, broke into a home or carried a weapon, hard labor was part of any sentence.
The “rogues, vagabonds, and idle persons” were described thusly: “going about in any town in the county begging; persons using any subtle craft, jugglery, or unlawful games or plays, or for the sake of gain pretending to have knowledge in physiognomy, palmistry, to tell destinies or fortunes, or to discover lost or stolen goods; common pipers, fiddlers, runaways, drunkards, night-walkers, railers, brawlers, and pilferers; persons wanton or lascivious in speech or behavior, or neglecting their callings or employments, mis-spending what they earn, and not providing for the support of themselves and their families.”
Sentences imposed for those convicted included incarceration and a work requirement, if able, the statutes noted.
While the laws concerning tramps, vagrants and others changed over time, they appear to have been fully repealed in 1975.
Moving ahead to 1900, five men were committed to York County Jail on July 18 and released Aug. 16 following their conviction for “walking on the railroad tracks,” according to the logbook of that year. There was no indication where they lived, or in what community the railroad tracks were located. They were each fined $5 each and assessed $9.20 in costs.
In another 1900 case, a Saco woman was charged with being a common nuisance and was ordered to pay $500 bail to assure her appearance at trial, at which she was convicted and sentenced to nine months in York County Jail. The definition of “common nuisance” at that time, was not explained – but fast forward to 2003 and a “common nuisance” in Maine statutes refers to buildings, for which an owner may be charged with a misdemeanor: “Buildings used as houses of ill fame or for the illegal sale or keeping of intoxicating liquors, scheduled drugs or resorted to for lewdness or gambling,” among other matters. The 2003 statute goes on to say that “a person who keeps, allows or maintains a building, place or structure declared by the Superior Court to be a common nuisance, upon the filing of information, commits a Class E crime.” Whether that was also the case in 1900 is unclear.
The jail inmate logs are among a treasure trove of documents owned by the County of York, which was created in 1636 in the province of Maine – a part of the Massachusetts colony during the reign of King Charles I of England. Maine remained part of Massachusetts following the Revolutionary War, until March 15, 1820, when it gained its independence from the bay state. York County is in the process of digitizing many of its records, with a view to making them publicly available online.
Tammy Wells is a media specialist with York County government.
Photos B and D: A number of old jail logbooks dating from the late 1800s were found at York County Jail on Layman Way about a year ago. They show a basic record of who was incarcerated at the 1869 jail on Court Street.
