Behind bars in Weston County

The tales of Newcastle’s earliest jails and their inhabitants

By Bri Brasher 
with Leonard Cash
NLJ Reporter 
 
While information on the location of Newcastle’s first jail is unknown to Cash, his files on the next jails in Newcastle are extensive and filled with tales of their inhabitants. Cash explained that the only records he found of that first jail, constructed before 1890, was a call for bids to have the jail moved, though neither location was mentioned in the bid.
The first information on the next jail was published in the Weston County Democrat’s June 9, 1890, issue. It was reported that the county commissioners received bids for the construction of a jail building with steel cells, to be located behind what is now the courthouse building. The hope was that the jail would be completed by the time district court sat in session. Cash said the courthouse was not yet constructed at this time. 
The Weston County commissioners selected a site for the $5,000 jail building, and work was to begin immediately, according to a July 23, 1890, article in the Weston County Democrat. Bids for the construction work were reported in the local news around this time too, for which F.A. Buse was the cheapest. A. Burnham bid $2,410 for the construction job, C.F.W. Sasse bid $2,199, and F.A. Buse bid $1,965. Next, contractor Buse was hard at work with a large construction crew as of Aug. 7, 1890. Also in August of 1890, Cash’s research indicated, Block 8, Lots 1 and 2, were purchased by the county for the jail. The county paid $600 to the Lincoln Land Co. The remainder of the costs totaling $5,000 likely came with materials, according to Cash. 
Next, the Newcastle News reported on July 10, 1890, that the county commissioners closed a deal with the Diebold Safe and Lock Co. for steal cages in the new county jail. Cash explained that most of the older businesses in town likely still have safes from this same company. On July 30, 1890, another report on the jail was published in the local news, stating that the jail was built to the east of the McLaughin building, which Cash said stood in the empty lot to the west of the library. The building was the closest standing reference to the jail site at that time, and Cash said a current reference would be between the courthouse and the city hall.
On Aug. 1, 1890, the News Letter Journal also reported that contractor Buse had secured the contract to build the jail for $5,000, writing, “Five thousand dollars will be expended for this popular hostelry.” Cash said “hostelry” is an old word for an inn or hotel. The jail was almost completed as reported on Sept. 26, 1890. The new cells were installed the day before. 
The exact date of the jail’s opening is unknown, though it must have been completed by Nov. 7, 1890, because the policeman Shively needed a bit of work done to put the jail in order. He wanted a carpenter, and a contractor was actually in jail at the time for stealing $150 worth of saw teeth. So, Shively put the prisoner to work making a coal shed for the jail. 
The first breakout from the jail was in 1982 when Henry Cusick gave a saw and other tools to the prisoners, who used them to escape, and Cusick was then convicted. The next breakout in Cash’s records occurred in 1898, when a prisoner by the last name of Quinn escaped through a hole in the window gratings that was cut out by a prisoner several years earlier. The article in the local news stated that the jail staff used a heavy chain to replace the missing bars, but the chain was reportedly broken, and the prisoner escaped through the old hole. A search ensued, and at the time of the article, the prisoner had not been found. 
The tales continued into February of 1903, when the only prisoner in jail, Leroy Welliver, made his escape by digging a hole in the brick wall. 
“Those old bricks, they were soft bricks. He had a pair of scissors and took to the bricks!” Cash said.
(Ed. Note: Later that same year, the jails most infamous prisoner, Diamond Slim Clifton was taken from the jail in the dark of night and met his end at the end of a rope a couple of blocks away — but that’s a whole other story!)
Welliver had been charged with horse stealing. Cash said Welliver was a morphine fiend with an unstable mental state, and law enforcement was actually happy to have him gone. He was not likely to be tried in court if caught. 
Then, in September of 1907, Oscar Jack was held for horse stealing, and he made an escape by climbing to the top of his cell window and over the broken bars at the top. The news reported that at the time of press, he had not been found. 
It was explained that Jack’s clothes caught and held him fast, but a cellmate disrobed him. When he reached the ground, his clothes were returned to him. His cellmate confessed to assisting him.
Nearly five years later, in January 1912, Sheriff Hackney caught a Mr. Jackson, whose real name was Charles W. Bratton. Jackson stole 12 horses belonging to a Converse County party, and he’d reportedly worked in the vicinity for a number of years on various ranches. The News Letter Journal reported that he was “ready to take his medicine,” which Cash said meant he was ready to serve his punishment. 
The summer of 1912 brought more conflict to who would be keeper of the jail, as reported in the July 18, 1912 issue of the News Letter Journal. In an article titled, “Court’s Order in Owens-Hackney Contest,”
John Owens (contestant) and Ralph B. Hackney (contestee) fought over the Weston County sheriff’s seat. Cash explained that Hackney was elected sheriff, and the former Sheriff Owens refused to give him the keys to the jail. The judge ruled that Owens must turn over his title and keys, according to Cash. 
The next report on the jail came on Jan. 8, 1914, when a Mr. Sweet was building a sidewalk at the jail, and A.N. Nicole was repairing the sewer. The peace did not last long, however. On Sept. 3, 1914, the News Letter Journal reported that three men made their escape from the local jail by digging bricks from the wall. It was said that one of the men was a musical artist who played his mouth organ to cover the sound of the others digging out the bricks. Two of the men were in jail for breaking into a freight car to steal goods and the other was a horse thief, according to Cash. All escaped before their trial. 
The tails of the first jails will continue in next week’s History on Main series with Leonard Cash.