Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-09-17
TO EXHIBIT RELICS Of
FAMOUS LIBBY PRISON
Will BE Seen ut Washington During
Semicentennial Reunion
OF G. \. II.
ARE OWNED By CONFEDERATE
Door and Checkcrboard, All That
Remain of Noted War Building in
This City. in Possession of Captain
Is. &. White.

WASHINGTON. Sctembcr lG.-Two
exist OF that famous Confederate prison
in Richmond, are to he exhibited here
during tho Grand Army Semiccntennial
Reunion. They are the door OF the
prison, with names Of some OF those
who were incarcerated carved upon t.
and chcckcrboard which was sawed
out of tho floor. They are tho property
Of Captain -. g. White. a Confederate
veteran, who has lived here for many
years. and was for long time q cot
ton expert in tn" Department of Agri-
culture. Ills home is a. the Lincoln
Apartments. l2l Twelfth street. South
east. III" was n member Of Company
II. Seventeenth Virginia Regiment
torscyS brigade. rckct;'s Division
and LonIs;rccts Corps Of tn. ARM OF
Northern Virginia.
Grewsomc tales are told Of life in
Libby Prison by the Union soldiers who
were held there during the war
Thrilling escapes and continual at
tcmpts to get away are r.countcd
wherever old soldiers meet.
Dimensions of the Door.
The Libby Prison door is six feet
high and three and one-half feet wide
II is made Of Southern pine planking
an inch thick. five inches wide and
groovcd. 1t is braced by three cross
pieces. each an inch thick and eight
inches wide. On the back the marks
of the old-fashioned, pointed hinges on
which il hung are seen. and on tho ton
crosspiccc is the imprint and the
broken bolts of what was evidently n
stout iron bar or brace. The planning
originally painted dark brown. lis
now ashy gray with age The lock is
a cumbersome. old-stylcd one. sized six
by eight inches. and is SO rcd with
rust that it is impossible to tell
whether it ever was cnameled
The names of former prisoners rude
~ carved on these common old pIanks
are now OF great historic value Some
Of tho initials and names cut by tho in
mates OF Libby during their continc-
ment arc: y. ". Mundy. lieutenant
Company r. Scvcnty-third Indiana
captured on May 3. 1868: j. y smith,
lieutenant. New Hampshire Artillery,
captured on September 10. 1851 w De
Roster, Company + Eighteenth New
York; F. Waxman. Company +. Th.r-
tieth New York Volunteers"
One or two attempts at artistic cary
ing were made. but most of the prison
ers seem TO have been content with
plain lettering.
Hns Key n. Souvenir.
some years ago former member Of
tho Thirteenth New York Volunteers
who when n prisoner had carved his
name on the door. hearing that il was
in Washington, came to see II. lie
recognized il at once. and taking a
huge key from his pocket. tried IL In
the 'ock. and il worked all right lie
said the key had been used in the lock
when he was confined in Libby Prison,
and that on his release ne had secretly
brought il away as a souvenir OF his
enforced stay in Richmond.
The chcckcrboard was made AID
used by the prisoners in Libby Prison.
II is fourteen inches square. and made
of rough boards. worn smooth in spots
by the moving of buttons or stones that
were used by the soldiers as checkers.
The board was made by cutting the
square with knives. Rust-eaten nails
still obtrude slightly from tn surface
Of the board. This board was original
! ~ marked off on the prison floor 1t
was sawed from the floor when the
prison was being dismantled, and was
then bound with brass.
How Relics Were Preserved.
William y. Mountcastlc, long resi-
dent OF Brishtwood. was a merchant in
Richmond 1T the time Libby Prison was
being torn down and shipped, brick
by brick, TO Chicago at the time OF the
exposition there. Mr.. Mountcastle had
| been using il as a warehouse. He re-
moved the door and the chcckerboard.
Some years later the land in Chicago
n u-h hn I
set up outside the exposition grounds
became valuable and the old prison
wa torn down. so that these relics
now in Washington are all that remain.
mn f:pEEn n,I-f.t,uxS