Smyrna times., 1933-05-03
OLD PAPERS IN
WALLS OF JAIL
Find Can In Walls of Old Do
yer Jail With History
Revealed
TEARING DOWN OLD JAIL

With the demolition of the old
Kent county jail, located on the
north side of the old State House
on Dover Green, which the con-
tractors have had considerable diff
ficulty in razing because of its al
most impenetrable obstruction and
which had to be dynamited to COM
pletely lay the walls low, some in
teresting data concerning the jail
and the history Of Dover over
sixty years ago has been found.
While the jail had no cornerstone,
in tearing down the last wall of the
old jail, workmen found in an up
per corner of the building rusty
tin can which rolled out as the
wall fell. In the can was found
letter written by one Henry Todd
bearing the date of September 20,
1871, which gave the names of the
builders of the jail as Alonzo Rey-
nolds Of Port Deposit, Nd. and
Charles Hillyard, Of Dover. The
cost of the building, according to
Mr.. Todd's letter, was S34 800, ana
as REYNOLDS, of Port Deposit, was
one Of the builders, it is presumed
the stone was secured from the
quarries at Port Deposit, Md. The
letter also refers to the brick Coun-
ty Building, which was recently
turned around from the Dover
Green to face the State building
plaza as having been built in 1858
/ by William Groves, of Wilmington.
Under this building, when it was
moved last Fall, was found an un-
4 derground Jail with cells. Further
1 information given in the letter
written by Mr.. Todd, who was a
surveyor in Dover, gives the names
of various State officials of that
time: Governor James Ponder, of
Milton; Secretary Of State John H.
Paynter; United States Senators
Thomas F. Bayard and Eli Sauls-
bury, and Congressman Benjamin
T. Biggs. The judges of the Della
ware courts at that time are given:
Chief Justice Edward Gilpin and
Associate Judges Edward Wooten,
of Sussex county; John w. Hous-
ton, of Kent county, and Leonard
E. Wales, of New Castle county,
and Chancellor Daniel M. Bates.
The members of the Kent county
bar of that date included Joseph F.
Comegys, afterwards Chief Justice;
Eli Salisbury, Edward Ridgely,
George v. Massey, H. w. Draper,
James L. Wolcott and Martin B.
Hillyard, the letter records. An
other interesting paper found in
the old tin box was a copy of the
obituary addresses delivered on the
occasion of the death of the Hon.
John M. Clayton, in the United
States Senate on December 1886,
by the Hon. Thomas F. Bayard. .Sr.,
of Delaware, a Mr.. Crittenden, of
Kentucky, and Mr.. Cullen, of Del
aware. A list of the county off1c-
ials of Kent county, as well as the
officials of Dover at that time were
also included in the tin box. The
county officials included Moses
Harrington, Register of Wills; John
Slay, Recorder of Deeds; Alexand-
er J. Taylor, Register in Chancery
and Clerk of the Orphans Court;
4 Benjamin Donho, Prothonotary,
and Samuel Hargadine, Sheriff.
Dover's Town Committee and Al
dermen included: Joseph p. Com
eggs, Edwin M. Stevenson, James
w. Robinson and William Fisher,
with Jonathan Pratt as Alderman.
Mr.. Todd also placed in the tin can
survey made by him Of farm
near Dover, the penmanship and
tracing being in most wonderful
state of preservation. The local
contractors demolishing the old jail