New-York tribune., 1903-01-11
OLD HALL OF RECORDS.
Hiao,y as a Revolutionary Prison
RrutoLity and C,ueLties Recalled.

,r, a,,i+;op of the ..old Hall of Records" or
the sRegister's Office. as 1t Is caileo pg So MANY
iawvers and others. which was begun OH -noHu"'
lest will arouse the regret of many persons pc
oo,,so ,t is looked upon as only the Oldest out
the only public building connecting the peope -
to-day with Revolutionary times during th' N"i
of the Revolution, beginning with the occui"'ioi'
=. Ne,,yorx nv the British in 1776, until Evacua-
,o nav in 17S3 il was crowded promiscuously Will
felons of the worst character, prisoners OF war anu
others who had incurred the enmity OF the BRUSH
authorities and ruled over oy the ilio
Provost Marshal. Cunningham whose orutail'S anu
cruelties have caused his name TO oe eAecldteu.
II Is charged that American generals ana soluleis
are starved TO death in this building, many oelhs
relieved of their sufferngs by the ADMINISTRATOR
of arsenic in their rations- In some OF 'he IeNoi
Of the New-York Historical Society this note was
r,ade bv Ethan Allen. who was a prisoner there
hou+ that time: The stencil of the jail, Whlch
voc very, loathesome and unhealthy, occasloned d
boarseness of the lungs which proved fatal 10 many
who were confned
ho+ber prisoner noted this: $50 closely were we
ol,ad that when our bones ached at night from
living on the hand planks, and we wished to turn
II could only be done by word of command, being
so wedged and compact as to form solid mass OF
human bodies. The allowance to each man was
TWO pounds of hard biscuit and two pounds OF raw
pork per week, Dut no iuei "ds aii wan
to dress it.
Another noted that crowded in were the weii the
sick and the dying, the newcomer and the prisoner
by long confinement, ana tndt tHeis was
ever in mind that terrible inscription All nope
abandon We who enter here There is tradition
that Nathan Hale the martyr spy, spent his last
night previous death in this prison.
The building constructed ABOUT lf5i. WneH the
civ was helow Wall-st. the City Hall being where
the Subj Treasury stands. The need of room In
the City Hall made the removal of the jail there
from necessary and the building Of the new jail.
whenever a public or benevolent work was under
taken, it was the custom of the province to grant
lottery o raise the money and in this way
ga GOO raised for the new jail. AS the building
advanced the plan changed for three stores,
and additional lottery grant was voted Inc
site regarded as remote from the city, anG was
by the size of the "Workhouse,' then on the site
road to Boston. leading from Spring Garden at
the junction of Fulton and Ann SITS. and Broadway:
1t was surrounded by the various implements of
punishment, such the plory, the whipping post,
The stocks and the gallows.
The prison itself horrible. but it had grea ter
horror in the dark and damp dungeon beneath,
crowded with murderers and the worst criminals,
at will of the Provost 1t is believed to be the
last of the Revolutionary prisons in the country.
ard 1t continued to be rebel prison down TO
Evacuation Day At the time of the capture OF
Burgoyne the surreptitlously sent to
Ethan Allen then prisoner In IT, in loaf of
TO have called down through the chimney to the
prisoners below: Shout. you rebesi Burgoyne is
taken" 1t is said that Evacuation Day Provost
Marshal Cunningham refused to release his prison.
till the last minute. and when Washington s
troops approached the prison he threw down the
KEYS at the door and then made his eScape with
the last detachment of the British forces.