Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1906-01-31
A CONVICT'S ROMANCE
ODD WAY IN WHICH A LIFE PRISONER
WON His FREEDOM.

~he story of the Construction o
the Old statehOuAe ut AIbRny-Th'
Price OF a Genius Who Saw and
Grasped His Opportunity.
vouched for by the late Henry Smith
who said he learned the fact through
being speaker of tie assembly, there Il
an interesting bit OF history connected
with the old statehouse at Albany
where it has stood for years, the fines
example of pure Doric architecture II
this country, on the easterly side Of En
gle street, between Pine and Steuber
streets, Its walls and partitions all OF
solid stone, very much as If its halls
rooms and stairs had been carved out
within huge block Of marble.
1t was completed In 1942, costing the
state about $350,O00. 1t is built entirely
of Sing Sing marble, guarded and cut
within the prison walls.
The old capitol being inadequate to
accommodate the increasing business
of the state, this additional building
was planned and built and Is still used
for the Offices Of the state comptroller,
the state engineer and surveyor and the
state banking department.
In a spirit Of economy it was decided
to have as much as possible of the
work done by the prisoners from the
material found within the prison walls
at Sing Sing, fairly good material, too.
but not the best, as 1t is a soft marble,
as evidenced by the wear which now
shows so plainly in the steps and by the
crumbling Of some Of the stones from
exposure to the weather. ALI the mate
rial was cut to completion within the
walls Of the prison under such plans
that when shipped to Albany there
would be no further work necessary
except practically to lay one stone up
on another, and so on until the whole
was assembled In the completed build
ing.
To accomplish this detailed plan
system Of marking the stones was nee
essary. The plans were carefully made
and a system Of marking deliberately
laid out by the architect in charge, who
found In the prison at Sing Sing life
prisoner whose record showed him to
be an engineer Of the highest ability
and who seemed as competent as any
man In the country to carry out the
work TO be done in the prison, and nat
urally he was not unwilling to follow
his chosen profession in preference to
doing the manual labor Of cutting or
quarrying stone So, following the
spirit Of economy referred to above, the
plans In detail and the system Of mark
ing were turned over to him and the
whole work at that end given over to
his full superintendent and absolute
control.
In due time the stones In their vari-
Gus shapes and sizes and in quantity
for the whole building were delivered
in Albany and the work of construc-
ton commenced in accordance with the
plans and system Of marking original
ly furnished. With the very first stone
there was trouble. 1t not only did not
fit the place, but none Of the stones
marked to adjoin it fitted it, and, fur
Their, 1t did not seem ever intended for
the place the number indicated. In
vestigatIon brought out that the stones
were not Of the sizes or shapes speci-
fed and shown on the plans, and, as to
the system Of marking, it was quite
evident that the stones brought togeth-
er by 1t had no relation whatever to
each other.
The bewildered architect hardly knew
he was a candidate for the
asylum or possibly for Sing Sing. How
over, q careful verifcatiOn of his plans |
and his marking system proved their |
correctness, and the blame fell square
" upon the civil engineer, the life pris-
oner. He was questioned, taken severe
" to task and roundly rated for his in
and threatened and abused.
He met It all calmly. ut looks to me
like mighty good joke on you fellows.
Anyway it is the best joke have heard
since came to Sing Sing"
AS to their continued threats he said:
"What can you do to a life prison
err"
Finally, in answer to the abuse and
slursN as to his capabilities as an en-
yineer, he said he had changed the
plans both in dimension and shape
where they had dlverged from purity
# style, and the system of marking
le had changed altogether, but II the5
could fad some one who understood
lis system the building would go up
complete and perfect, excelling the
original plan. But" he added, with =
;rin, "you can probably get out new
Itoae a good deal quicker than you
AN work out my system"
Then the state officials said, 1--WE win
AXE you to Albany and force you to
,ut up the building"
He said, mo"
They pointed out the advantage Of
life in Albany for time in preference
o Sing Sing.
He said, mo"
They tried to bargain with him.
He said, Secure my pardon and I
will stand by you until the building is
They offered to have him pardoned
Ifter he ha proved what he said By
Inishing tho building.
He said, No"
Then they said they would compel
i'm to do 1t anyway.
He said he could be compelled to
york in prison, but not in Albany, and
hat even in prison they could compel
i'm to do only manual labor unless he
hose and that the price Of his genius
n grasplng the opportunity that had
ONE his way was full pardon.
What else was there to dor
He was pGrdoned, and the old state