Did Cousin John Go to Jail?

As we do our family history research, some of us are horrified to discover that not all of our ancestors were law-abiding citizens. We may find cattle rustlers, murderers, extortionists, bigamists, and any number of people in our family trees accused of and possibly incarcerated for their criminal activities. Our first thoughts might be to skip over those people because of their misdeeds, but the notoriety of these ancestors should alert us to record sets we might otherwise miss.

Did you know that some states allow access to penitentiary records? Missouri is one of those states, and our friends at the Missouri State Archives (MSO) just announced that they have reached a milestone this month, completing a decades-long project of transcribing and indexing records from the Missouri State Penitentiary Register of Inmates. The project, begun in 1999, is the longest-running in the MSO's history. According to an email from Liana Twente, eVolunteer Coordinator for the MSO, the project included 150 years of records from 1836 to 1986, in 148 volumes, and the index that has been created with the assistance of hundreds of volunteers throughout the state now contains more than 158,000 entries.

Part of this record set is already on the Missouri Digital Heritage website, from 1836 through 1931, and when the additional years' worth of information is proofread and reviewed by the staff, the remaining years will be added. According to the Missouri Digital Heritage website, the "Missouri State Penitentiary was the first state penal institution west of the Mississippi River," opening in 1836 and remaining in operation until 2004. It was a "notoriously brutal prison," called by Time Magazine, "the bloodiest 47 acres in America."

If you think you had an ancestor at the state penitentiary, you can access the earlier records now. Be sure to scroll down below the search screen for additional information on the facility and what is included. As you can see, there is a lot on this first screen.

Searching on the unusual surname, "Buzan," yielded one result, and it revealed that John Buzan, born in 1857 in Illinois, was convicted of burglary and grand larceny in Cass County. He had been a teamster, was sentenced to five years in September 1890 and served four, being released under a "3/4 law." The exact location of the record is included and clicking on the "View Numerical Register" link at the bottom brings up the actual page in the register where John's entry is recorded. Here there is a physical description and details about the family, including mention of a wife in Kansas City that clinched John as a family member!

Kudos to the Missouri State Archives and all the volunteers who have made these records available to us. Don't be afraid to dig into this fascinating genealogy resource; you never know what you will find!

(Many thanks to StLGS tech team member, Bob Cejka, for bringing this completed project to our attention.)