Joseph Outhwaite
Isaac Hopper tells the story of Jospeh Outhwaite on page 199 of volume 2 of his diary of records for the Prison Association of New York. Outhwaite was an immigrant to New York, originally from England. He was convicted of grand larceny in October of 1846, and was sentenced to Sing Sing for five years. Outhwaite was convicted under the name Joseph Alderson, and it is unclear why he was convicted under an alias. The use of an alias raises some interesting inquiries into this relatively popular practice in the mid 1800’s. It’s possible that the alias he chose was simply an Americanization of his given name.
Outhwaite provides an interesting story to Hopper, one that highlights the abusive nature of Sing Sing authority figures at the time. Outhwaite tells the story of another man, John Taylor. Taylor was another prisoner in Sing Sing who had been sick for a number of weeks but had not been placed in the hospital. Based on research surrounding the conditions of the hospital at Sing Sing, it’s possible that Taylor was thought to be faking illness to get out of working. Taylor was punished harshly for refusing to follow an order in the file shop, though his reason was because of his illness. The deputy keeper of the file shop, Solomon Lockwood determined that Taylor deserved punishment and ordered him to be showered. Taylor was refused the opportunity to plead his case to the warden, and he was taken to the shower-bath. While Taylor protested and asserted that he had done no wrong, Lockwood went to get Robert Lent, who arrived with a club and armed guards. Taylor was beaten by Lent and forced into the shower-bath.
He was then left in his wet clothes locked in his cell for three days, despite his open wounds from the beating. After three days he was finally taken to the hospital.
Outhwaite tells this story to Hopper to highlight the brutality in Sing Sing. It is an insight into the dynamics of the prison and the willingness of the prison’s authority figures to abuse their power. Outhwaite calls Lent and Lockwood intemperate, implying that both men are so brutal because of their alcoholism. It’s possible that Outhwaite hoped Isaac Hopper would be able to help reform the conditions of the prison, and telling him this story was a means of verifying the mistreatment.

An armed guard standing by the guard house at Sing Sing. The armed guards were used to protect the abusive keepers.