New York State Prison Inspector - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Inspector of State Prisons was a statewide elective office created by the New York State Constitution of 1846. At the New York state election, 1847

New York state election, 1847

The 1847 New York state election was held on November 2, 1847, to elect the Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of State, the State Comptroller, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, the State Engineer, three Canal Commissioners and three Inspectors of State Prisons, as well as all members of...

, three Inspectors were elected and then, upon taking office, so classified that henceforth every year one Inspector would be elected to a three-year term. The Prison Inspectors appointed wardens and keepers, and supervised the prison administration in general. They were required to visit jointly four times a year each one of the state prisons. Besides, each one of the Inspectors was allotted the special care to one of the then existing three state prisons (Auburn State Prison, Sing Sing State Prison

Sing Sing

Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services in the town of Ossining, New York...

and Clinton State Prison

Clinton Correctional Facility

Clinton Correctional Facility is a New York State Department of Correctional Services state prison for men located in the Village of Dannemora, New York. The prison itself is sometimes colloquially referred to as Dannemora, although its actual name is derived from its location in Clinton County,...

) where he had to attend to business for at least one week per month.

In 1876, a constitutional amendment abolished the office of State Prison Inspector, pending the appointment of a Superintendent of State Prisons who would take over the duties of the Prison Inspectors. The first Superintendent was Louis D. Pilsbury, appointed by Governor Lucius Robinson

Lucius Robinson

Lucius Robinson was an American lawyer and politician. He was the 26th Governor of New York from 1877 to 1879.-Life:...

on February 17, 1877.

List of Inspectors of State Prisons

Name	Took office	Left office	Party	Notes
John B. Gedney John B. Gedney -Life:He was a member of the Gedney family, and lived at White Plains, Westchester County, New York. He married Ann McFarquhar .He was one of the first three Inspectors of State Prisons elected on the Whig ticket in 1847 under the New York State Constitution of 1846, and drew the one-year term,...	January 1, 1848	December 31, 1848	Whig	drew the one-year term
Isaac N. Comstock Isaac N. Comstock Isaac Newton Comstock was an American politician from New York.-Biography:He lived at Albany, New York. He married Elizabeth Hussey Isaac Newton Comstock (January 25, 1808 Saratoga County, New York - March 24, 1883) was an American politician from New York.-Biography:He lived at Albany, New York....	January 1, 1848	December 31, 1849	Whig	drew the two-year term
David D. Spencer David D. Spencer David D. Spencer was an American editor and politician from New York.-Life:...	January 1, 1848	December 31, 1850	Whig/Anti-Rent	drew the three-year term
Alexander H. Wells Alexander H. Wells Alexander H. Wells was an American lawyer, editor and politician from New York.-Life:...	January 1, 1849	December 31, 1851	Whig
Darius Clark Darius Clark Darius Clark was an American physician and politician from New York.-Life:...	January 1, 1850	December 31, 1855	Democratic	two terms; elected on the Democratic and Anti-Rent tickets in 1849, on the Democratic ticket in 1852
William P. Angel William P. Angel William Pitt Angel was an American lawyer and politician from New York.-Life:He was the son of William G. Angel and Emily P. Angel . He practiced law at Olean...	January 1, 1851	December 31, 1853	Democratic/Anti-Rent Anti-Rent War The Anti-Rent War was a tenants' revolt in upstate New York during the early 19th century, beginning with the death of Stephen Van Rensselaer III in 1839....
Henry Storms Henry Storms Henry Storms was an American merchant and politician from New York.-Life:He was an Assistant Alderman from the Twelfth Ward in 1826 and 1827....	January 1, 1852	December 31, 1854	Democratic
Thomas Kirkpatrick Thomas Kirkpatrick (New York) -Life:He lived in Albany, New York and was an alderman, elected in the Tenth Ward in 1843, and Overseer of the Poor.In 1853, he was elected, on the Whig ticket, Inspector of State Prisons, and was in office from 1854 to 1856....	January 1, 1854	December 31, 1856	Whig
Norwood Bowne Norwood Bowne Norwood Bowne was an American newspaper editor and politician from New York.-Life:...	January 1, 1855	December 31, 1857	Whig/Anti-Nebraska Anti-Nebraska Party The Anti-Nebraska Party was an American political party formed in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Its founders, including Salmon P. Chase, held deep moral opposition to slavery, and were thus appalled by legislation that could lead to more slave-holding states... /Anti-Rent Anti-Rent War The Anti-Rent War was a tenants' revolt in upstate New York during the early 19th century, beginning with the death of Stephen Van Rensselaer III in 1839....
William A. Russell William A. Russell (New York) William A. Russell was an American politician from New York.-Life:He was the son of Congressman David Abel Russell and Alida Russell.He was Sheriff of Washington County from 1850 to 1852....	January 1, 1856	December 31, 1858	American Know Nothing The Know Nothing was a movement by the nativist American political faction of the 1840s and 1850s. It was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by German and Irish Catholic immigrants, who were often regarded as hostile to Anglo-Saxon Protestant values and controlled by...
Wesley Bailey Wesley Bailey Wesley Bailey was an American newspaper editor and politician from New York.-Life:He learned the printer's trade, and was a Minister of the Reformed Methodist Church. He also taught school in DeWitt, New York. In 1833, he married Eunice Kinne , and they had six children...	January 1, 1857	December 31, 1859	Republican
William C. Rhodes William C. Rhodes (New York) William C. Rhodes was an American newspaper editor and politician from New York.-Life:In January 1845, he married Fanny P. Maxwell at Elmira, New York.He published with George W. Mason the Elmira Gazette from 1841 to 1848...	January 1, 1858	December 31, 1860	Democratic
Josiah T. Everest Josiah T. Everest Josiah Terry Everest was an American lawyer and politician from New York.-Life:...	January 1, 1859	December 31, 1861	Republican
David P. Forrest David P. Forrest -Life:He was Clerk of Schenectady County from 1850 to 1852. He was Mayor of Schenectady in 1859.He was an Inspector of State Prisons from 1860 to 1862, elected in 1859 on the Republican ticket; and from 1865 to 1867, elected in 1864 on the Union ticket...	January 1, 1860	December 31, 1862	Republican
James K. Bates James K. Bates James K. Bates was an American physician and politician from New York.-Life:...	January 1, 1861	December 31, 1866	Republican	two terms; elected on the Republican ticket in 1860, on the Union ticket in 1863
Abraham B. Tappen Abraham B. Tappen Abraham B. Tappen was an American lawyer and politician from New York.-Life:...	January 1, 1862	December 31, 1864	Union	elected on the Independent People's War Democrats War Democrats in American politics of the 1860s were adherents of the Democratic Party who rejected the Copperheads/Peace Democrats who controlled the party... and Republican tickets
Gaylord J. Clarke Gaylord J. Clarke Gaylord Judd Clarke was an American newspaper editor, lawyer, poet and politician from New York and Texas.-Life:...	January 1, 1863	December 31, 1865	Democratic
David P. Forrest David P. Forrest -Life:He was Clerk of Schenectady County from 1850 to 1852. He was Mayor of Schenectady in 1859.He was an Inspector of State Prisons from 1860 to 1862, elected in 1859 on the Republican ticket; and from 1865 to 1867, elected in 1864 on the Union ticket...	January 1, 1865	December 31, 1867	Union National Union Party (United States) The National Union Party was the name used by the Republican Party for the national ticket in the 1864 presidential election, held during the Civil War. State Republican parties did not usually change their name....	second term
Henry A. Barnum Henry A. Barnum Henry Alanson Barnum was a United States Army officer during the American Civil War and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.-Early life:...	January 1, 1866	December 31, 1868	Republican
John Hammond John Hammond (New York) John Hammond was an American manufacturer, Union Army general and politician from New York.-Life:...	January 1, 1867	December 31, 1869	Republican
Solomon Scheu Solomon Scheu Solomon Scheu was an American businessman and politician from New York.-Life:...	January 1, 1868	December 31, 1873	Democratic	two terms
David B. McNeil David B. McNeil David B. McNeil was an American politician from New York.-Life:He was the son of Col. David Breakenridge McNeil David B. McNeil (1818 Essex County, New York - April 15, 1897 Auburn, Cayuga County, New York) was an American politician from New York.-Life:He was the son of Col. David Breakenridge...	January 1, 1869	December 31, 1871	Democratic
Fordyce L. Laflin Fordyce L. Laflin Fordyce Luther Laflin was an American businessman and politician from New York.-Life:...	January 1, 1870	December 31, 1872	Democratic
Thomas Kirkpatrick Thomas Kirkpatrick (New York) -Life:He lived in Albany, New York and was an alderman, elected in the Tenth Ward in 1843, and Overseer of the Poor.In 1853, he was elected, on the Whig ticket, Inspector of State Prisons, and was in office from 1854 to 1856....	January 1, 1872	December 31, 1874	Republican	second term
Ezra Graves Ezra Graves Ezra Graves was an American lawyer and politician from New York.-Life:He was First Judge of the Herkimer County Court from 1845 to 1855 and from 1860 to 1863, also Surrogate from 1847 to 1855 and 1860 to 1863.He was delegate to the 1856 Republican National Convention...	January 1, 1873	December 31, 1875	Republican
Moss K. Platt Moss K. Platt Moss Kent Platt was an American merchant and politician from New York.-Life:He was the son of William Pitt Platt and Hannah Kent ....	January 1, 1874	March 1, 1876	Republican	died in office
George Wagener George Wagener -Life:From 1831 to 1849, he lived on the Bluff Point, the peninsula between the two northern branches of Keuka Lake in Jerusalem, NY. He was Supervisor of the Town of Jerusalem in 1843, and a Justice of the Peace in 1844...	January 1, 1875	February 17, 1877	Democratic	legislated out of office by Amendment of 1876, office taken over by Superintendent of State Prisons
Rodney R. Crowley Rodney R. Crowley Rodney Rufus Crowley was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was a New York Inspector of State Prisons from 1876 to 1877.-Life:...	January 1, 1876	February 17, 1877	Democratic	legislated out of office by Amendment of 1876, office taken over by Superintendent of State Prisons
Benjamin S. W. Clark Benjamin S. W. Clark Benjamin S. W. Clark was an American merchant and politician from New York. He was the first New York State Superintendent of Public Works.-Biography:...	March 2, 1876	December 31, 1876	Democratic	appointed to fill vacancy in place of Platt
Robert H. Anderson	January 1, 1877	February 17, 1877	Democratic	legislated out of office by Amendment of 1876, office taken over by Superintendent of State Prisons

Superintendent of State Prisons

Austin Lathrop (prison) circa 1894
John B. Riley (prison) circa 1914

List of Inspectors of State Prisons

Superintendent of State Prisons

Further reading