Captain Elam Lynds (1784–1855) was a prison warden. He helped create the
Auburn system
The Auburn system (also known as the New York system and Congregate system) is a penal method of the 19th century in which persons worked during the day in groups and were kept in solitary confinement at night, with enforced silence at all times. ...
, which consisted of congregate labor during the day and isolation at night, starting in 1821 and was
Warden of Sing Sing The Wardens of Sing Sing are appointed by the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
* Elam Lynds (1825–1830)
* Robert Wiltse (1830–1840)
*David L. Seymour (1840–1843)
* William H. Peck (warden) (1843–1845) ...
from 1825 to 1830.
Early life
Elam Lynds was born in
Litchfield, Connecticut
Litchfield is a town in and former county seat of Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,192 at the 2020 census. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are located within the town. There are also three unincorpora ...
in 1784. His parents moved to
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...
, when he was an infant. He learned the hatter's trade and worked at it for some years.
War of 1812 service
In the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...
he held a captain's commission in a New York regiment.
Auburn State Prison
The
Auburn State Prison
Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, United States. It was built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility.
History
Constructed in 1816 as Auburn Pris ...
's South Wing was opened in the Spring of 1817, and fifty-three prisoners were transferred there from nearby counties.
Lynds was made the first principal keeper, and four years afterwards he became
Warden of Auburn State Prison.
Lynds devised the main features of the
Auburn System
The Auburn system (also known as the New York system and Congregate system) is a penal method of the 19th century in which persons worked during the day in groups and were kept in solitary confinement at night, with enforced silence at all times. ...
of imprisonment. When Lynds took charge of Auburn in 1821, he felt that discipline was lax, with guards only interested in preventing escape.
Lynds, believing that chaining prisoners in a dungeon failed to produce "a good state of discipline," resorted exclusively to beatings.
Speaking in 1826 to visiting commissioners, Lynds explained:
In 1821, locals rioted to protest the inmates' treatment.
[Prisoner mutinies were a continual source of concern for prison authorities of the period, partly because they worried that prisoners would receive aid and support from those living nearby and partly because they recognized that prison riots could form the nucleus of a wider popular uprising. For a discussion, see ] Even his own staff objected to Lynds's brutal methods.
In spring 1821, keepers refused to flog a prisoner.
[
] The keepers were fired and a blacksmith named Jonathan Thompson carried out the flogging.
[Accounts of the incident vary. According to Hall's (1861) ''The History of Auburn'', the incident began with the refusal of prison keepers to whip "three disobedient convicts." Other sources generally report that three keepers refused to whip one convict. (See ) Sources also differ about whether the keepers were fired in succession, with each fired when he refused, and about whether Thompson volunteered or was paid.] When Thompson left the prison, he was
tarred and feathered
Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture and punishment used to enforce unofficial justice or revenge. It was used in feudal Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier, mostly as a ty ...
by a crowd. Henry Hall, in ''The History of Auburn'' (1861), described the scene:
Retirement and death
After his retirement from the prison service he lived in New York City, where he died in 1855.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynds, Elam
Wardens of Sing Sing
Wardens of the Auburn Correctional Facility
1784 births
1855 deaths
Tarring and feathering in the United States