William Johnson’s brief story is recorded by Isaac Hopper on page 193 of volume 2 of his diary record for the Prison Association of New York.  Johnson came to Hopper on December 10^th, 1849 after being released from Sing Sing Prison in October of that same year.  A native of Virginia, William Johnson was an African American man and although only 22 years old had been incarcerated for 5 years.  He was convicted of burglary in the third degree, which is defined by the New York State Penal Codes as, “knowingly enter[ing] or remain[ing] unlawfully in a building with intent to commit a crime therein."¹  Burglary in the third degree is considered a class D felony, the penalty for which is up to 7 years of incarceration.  

Johnson was released from Sing Sing because his sentence expired.  He recounts a story to Isaac Hopper of three weeks before he was released, in which he was struck with a cane repeatedly by a man by the name of Mr. Babcock.  Johnson says that the reason for the beating was that he told Mr. Babcock he had not even been pushed in prison until that moment. Babcock shoved Johnson when Johnson picked up a piece of bread out of a basket in the kitchen, despite Babcock signaling to Johnson that he could take a piece.  

Johnson’s lack of abuse in his 5 years in prison angered Babcock, who consequently beat him with his cane.  

Johnson’s story is interesting because it provides some potential insight into the lives of free African American men in the northern states while African Americans were still enslaved in the south.  Hopper doesn’t provide any detail on whether Johnson was actually guilty of burglary in the third degree, but there is a trend of men of color being convicted of this same crime throughout the diary.  This could be an indication of African American men being accused and convicted of this crime because it was difficult to prove and easy to prosecute.  A class D felony is the lowest of the classes, but it still results in a significant prison sentence.  

Sources

1. New York Penal Laws. Article 140 Section 20: Burglary in the third degree. http://ypdcrime.com/penal.law/article140.htm?zoom_highlight=burglary