Padraic:

Hello Folks, Welcome back to another episode of “Hoppers Diary: Declassified,” I’m Padraic Condon

 

Nate:

And I’m Nate Serlin!

 

Padraic:

and in today's episode, titled “A journey to redemption; Formerly Incarcerated People of Mid-Nineteenth-Century New York '', we will be exploring the theme of redemption through the stories of important figures that appear throughout the diary of Isaac T. Hopper. In each of these cases, these characters went through a point of their life where they were struggling, due to poor decisions and circumstances from their past. Although at one point or another these characters all went through a point of struggle, these are stories of success, and we want to highlight their perseverance. With all these characters there was something internal that did not allow them to settle for the situation they found themselves in, and they knew deep down they deserved better than how they were previously living their life. In this podcast we will explore what got these characters into trouble in the first place, and how these characters were able to redeem themselves from their negative past, and the struggles they went through while trying to do so.

 

Padraic:  You already heard about Isaac T. Hopper and the great man he was in the first episode of this series. If you haven’t listened to it, you should so that you get the Hopper story. But let me give you a quick reminder: Isaac Hopper was born in 1771 in the state of New jersey. Hopper grew up living an interesting life living as a Quaker. In his Young adult years he was known as a slave abolitionist in the Philidelphia area helping and protecting Both free African Americans and African Americans who escaped slavery, from being captured. After helping countless African Americans he made the transition to being a prison reformer and that is what we will be focusing on today. Through his time as a reformer his goal was to help and support previously incarcerated people who were having a hard time getting back on their feet. We will get into this later but the prison system does nobody any favors in terms of setting people up for success. He keeps track of almost all the people he assists through his diary, where he writes down interactions, background of characters, how they get to prison, the condition they are in when released, and the journeys of redemption. Overall the main aspect of Hopper that you must know is that he was a great man doing anything he could, to ones that had difficulty helping themselves.

 

Nate:

In this episode, Padraic and I are each going to tell the stories of two people from the diary in this episode, as their stories center around redemption and success. Our colleagues have done a bunch of other podcasts on other interesting stuff from the diary, so make sure to give them all a listen.

 

RE Taylor

 

Padraic:

Nate, why don’t you kick us off with our first person. I hear he has quite the story to tell.

 

Nate:

There’s no doubt about that. RE Taylor is our first character on the docket. His story is one of the longer ones from the diary, covering two pages and change. Before I launch into his story, I want to take note of his name. RE Taylor is an abbreviated name, one of very few in the diary.

 

Padraic:

So what, he has a nickname? So do I.

 

Nate:

Very funny Paddy. It’s not just a nickname, it’s a code name. It’s meant to keep his real identity private. This small detail gives us a peak behind the curtain at just how high status this gentleman really might’ve been since Hopper usually gave the full name of each person whose story he recorded.

 

Our story begins in Georgia, where Taylor was born to a presumably wealthy household. We learn that as a young man, Taylor is sent to Princeton College, sometime in the early 1830’s. Princeton is the 4th oldest college in the United States, chartered in 1746. By his arrival, it had served as the US Capitol in 1783, graduated James Madison, our 4th president, and William Caldwell who would soon be tapped as the confederate army general. Much like today, it came with a certain status and price tag in the 1830’s.

 

Now the town of Princeton, NJ by the early 1830’s had seen a steep decline in agriculture, and it became a booming business town. We can only speculate that it was where Taylor began to pick up his entrepreneurial spirit we’ll see down the road.

 

In 1835, Taylor began attending the Theological Seminary at Andover. This was an institution born in 1807 out of the split between Unitarian and Calvinist churches. It actually received nationwide press recognition and was one of the most significant religious events of its time. Now when our story takes place, the school was associated with Princeton, and in 1908 would become associated with Harvard.

 

Padraic:

To say he was well educated is an understatement

 

Nate:

And that’s one of the things I love about his story. He’s not the typical person we read about in the diary, most of whom are not well-educated and are members of the working class. It goes to show that anybody can find themselves in Hopper’s Office.

 

Now in 1835, Andover was one of the largest towns in the Massachusetts commonwealth. Nicknamed “the home of America '' for its importance in the early colonies, it had been an industrial powerhouse from its inception. This was a wealthy area, and we can imagine that Taylor continued to grow his connections and status here.

 

In 1841, Taylor made a move to Saco(Sock-Oh) Maine, to be the minister for his first parish. He was stationed at T Episcopal Church, the third oldest church in Maine in what was then a relatively poor congregation. Now the town of Saco (Sock-Oh) was founded in 1631, and underwent an industrial boom in the early 1800’s, which led to large scale development in many facets, especially in terms of factories.

 

Padraic:

Ugh Hey Nate, I’m starting to see a pattern here.

 

Nate:

Okay Padraic and what is that?

 

Padraic:

He continues moving to towns that are very industrialized in their areas, generally just a little after the boom.

 

Nate:

I need to start giving you more credit, that’s a great insight actually. Come to think of it, his next couple of moves really shouldn’t surprise you too much then.

 

Padraic:

Well don’t keep me waiting

 

Nate:

Alright. So catch this, Taylor has to step down from his position because of “impaired health”. That’s all we get, no explanation of what sort of impaired health. So he does what any logical, rational person would do when their health is poor, he moves to Cambridge, Massachusetts and starts an all-boys boarding school. I did a little research and was unable to determine what all boys school might’ve been established there in the mid-1840’s, so we have to just take his word for it.

 

And to your point Padraic, Cambridge was experiencing a boom at the time. Now, it wasn’t an industrial, but rather an educational boom, with Harvard College Observatory and Hopkins Classical School having both been established in the last 15 or so years there, but the pattern you pointed out still stands, I would argue. Taylor seems to have seen a market and jumped on it. Now here’s where the story takes a turn.

 

It isn’t clear how long he nurtured his boarding school as his sole business venture, but sometime in the next few years he goes on to establish the St. John’s Church in East Boston. Now I worked hard to try and verify this Church, and wasn’t exactly successful. There’s a few churches founded in the mid 1800’s in East Boston, but none of them are named St. John’s, or publicly acknowledge undergoing a name change. Then, there’s also a few churches in Boston named St. John’s but none of them are in East Boston, or have any indication on their websites that they were ever in East Boston. So it remains a mystery what has become of his church which he claims to have founded. Nonetheless, that area has always been a very populous area, and given the number of churches founded there in the early to mid 19th century, it’s safe to assume that a religious boom appeared to be happening there, and given what we know about Taylor, it makes sense that he jumped on it to found his church. He also gets married somewhere in this time.

 

Now imagine, this young newly wed, entrepreneur battling poor health, and trying to keep both of his business ventures afloat. How do you think he handled that stress?

 

Padraic:

I’m guessing he didn’t visit the spa and practice meditation.

 

Nate:

Were spas even a thing back then?

 

Padraic:

No clue

 

Nate:

We should look into that. And you’re right, he coped with alcohol. Now as I recall, you’re going to elaborate more on alcoholism with another character, and we have a whole other podcast in this series on alcoholism and the diary. The podcast is titled “Alcohol Use and Incarceration” by Zoe, and she’s awesome, I highly recommend it. Anyways, I won’t steal anybody’s thunder. All I’ll say is the Hopper did not have a lot of sympathy for drinkers. So Taylor soon becomes unable to do his job as a minister or run his school, because his drinking problem has gotten so bad, so he steps down from both. The timeline in this part of the story is a little foggy, but he ends up some months later in NYC penniless, presumably separated from his wife and unsure what to do with himself. He decides to wander into a hotel, steals a coat for warmth, and is immediately caught and cast into a holding cell. He pleads guilty, likely to petty larceny, and writes a letter to the court explaining his predicament, and is handed a suspended sentence. So now he’s in a sort of purgatory. He isn’t in prison, but is officially a criminal in the eyes of the law. In this moment, he seems to make a decision to start trying to turn his life around. He knows many of his classmates from Princeton are in Newark, NJ and decides to go find them and ask for work. He starts his walk on foot. Depending on where he starts and intended to finish, that was easily a 10+ mile walk.

 

Padraic:

Yeah, I don’t think he was hopping on the metro for an hour.

 

Nate:

Yeah, no shot. However, his luck seems to be turning around when he’s offered the next best thing, a ride in a horse drawn carriage by a friendly passerby. Pretty quickly in their journey, one of the horses became upset and flipped the carriage. Taylor’s leg is crushed, and it requires a few months of nursing for him to be on feet again. He was put up in a hotel in Jersey City during that time, and when he’s walking again he goes back into New York City, back to the hotel he was originally arrested at. He is promptly arrested for theft, and taken to prison. This time, Taylor actually didn’t commit theft, and after nobody is able to bring evidence against him in court, he’s released.

 

Padraic:

There’s no doubt Taylor has bad luck, but I don’t get some of the decisions he makes. If he’s already in NJ, why not just go to Newark? And why would you visit the place you were originally arrested again? They’re just going to look at you with suspicion.

 

Nate:

Those are good questions, and we don’t really get any good answers. My suspicion was that he was deeply distressed because of his circumstance, or was still somehow keeping a drinking habit. I don’t know any of this but that’s kind of my guess.

 

So we know at this point he’s probably not of sound mind, because of distress or alcohol or something else. He gets released from prison and goes back onto the street, and now devises a kind of genius scam which is inevitably going to end disastrously. He takes a sheet of paper, cuts it into quarters, and folds these over so they’re shaped like letters. He delivers them to four people, charging each 2 cents to receive it. He’s caught a short time later.

 

Padraic:

You know, of all the stories we read in Hopper’s diary, he might be the only person who was in prison because they impersoNated a mailman.

 

Nate:

That’s one of many unique points in this story. Who else do we read about who founded two institutions? He’s a one off case for sure. So now Taylor goes to prison for real, at Essex Prison. Essex Prison was in Essex NJ, and housed low level offenders for NYC, as well as Phildeplia, and a lot of the suburbs between. It was built sometime shortly after 1836, so it was pretty new when Taylor was incarcerated there. Because the area was rapidly growing, the prison was pretty disorganized and housed all sorts of people; witnesses, those awaiting trial, those serving sentences, the whole gambit. There’s actually a super interesting pamphlet online about some of the history of the place and some of the modern ideas for repurposing it. If anybody is interested, I’ll throw information about it in the show notes.

 

At some point in his sentence, the magistrate of the prison orders him to be released. The magistrate is essentially a local volunteer who makes some sentencing decisions in low level cases, and Taylor notes that he was intimately familiar with his situation.

 

So after poor health, two real petty crimes, and a false accusation, an alcohol addiction, and being estranged from all people he knows and loves, he finally visits Issacc Hopper and the New York Prison Association on March 18th, 1850. We have to imagine that at this point he’s really hit rock bottom.

 

He sits down with Hopper, explains his situation and carries two letters with him. One is from Bishop Eastburn, who was his Bishop in either Maine or East Boston, it isn’t specified. The other is from his estranged wife, and when Hopper reads it out loud, Taylor cries his eyes out.

 

Padraic:

Do we know anything about the wife? I mean I think she would've been an important part of his life, and we literally only seem to learn about her in passing.

 

Nate:

Yeah so we really don’t know much. The letter just basically says that she still loves him, and is hopeful that he can get his life on track and reunite with her. Hopper states that, and I’m going to quote directly from the diary here, “it appears that she is a common of good education refinement and a highly cultivated mind”. My suspicion is that this was the card he played closest to heart, and either he doesn’t reveal much to Hopper about her or Hopper chooses not to record it because of Taylor’s vulnerability on the subject, but again I’m just guessing here.

 

Anyway, he asks that Hopper fund his travel to Philadelphia where he thinks he can find employment. He says that his name is ruined in New York, but he thinks that Philadelphia will provide him a chance to start anew. He promises Hopper that he has not had a drink in 8 months, and Hopper agrees. He gives a couple bucks of starter cash and a free ride to Philadelphia and Taylor is on his way.

 

Padraic:

Yeah so why does he—-

 

Nate

Choose Philadelphia? Look at you, that’s where I was going next. Patience Paddy.

 

I did a little digging in Philadelphia during this time period. Philly had been an epicenter for industry as long the colonies had numbered in the teens, so right away it makes sense that Taylor was attracted to it. Also, there was a huge influx of low wage workers traveling to Philiedplia in the mid 1800’s, so it’s likely that Taylor thought he could blend in with the crowd, or even put some of them to work with a new business idea of his. Also, his time spent at Essex Prison included presumably being around other low level offenders from Philly, so it’s possible he formed some relationships with Philly natives there.

 

Padraic:

That’s kind of an interesting theory. I wouldn’t have guessed he made business partners in prison.

 

Nate:

Yeah, I agree with you. There’s no way to know really whether that’s the case or not. However, he does write back to Hopper two weeks later, and says he is doing well and has found employment. Whatever his motivation was for making the move to Philadelphia, it seems to have worked.

 

I want to just highlight why I chose his story before we get to your first character. First off, I just love the depth that Hopper goes into in the diary, and it really is such a compelling tale. Also, his big issue post prison is finding a job, which just goes to show that the mark of a criminal record in the 1800’s had some of the same effects then as it did now. I mean how much do we talk about reintegrating formerly incarcerated people into society, and getting them employed again. His story might not be terribly relatable, however interesting, but his issues certainly are. The final reason is like the simplicity of the solution. Two bucks and a train ticket give Taylor the opportunity to start anew. I also like to imagine he does someday reunite with his loving wife. It doesn’t take alot for somebody to get a fresh start, all they need is somebody like Isaac Hopper to give them a leg up. It’s a good lesson for all of us.

 

Padraic:

I love it. You’re right, it’s an awesome lesson we can learn.

 

Nate:

Alright Padraic, I’ve rambled enough. Give us your first person, I can see your antsy over there to tell their story.

 

Jane Bacon:

 

Padraic:  

Thanks Nate, so yeah, the first character I will be talking about is Jane Bacon. Her story emerged to me as she showed extreme perseverance through extremely difficult moments in her life. To give you guys a little background on Jane Bacon, she was born and raised in the city of Buffalo New York. There was a lot to her story as she was dealt a very unfortunate hand as her mother died when she was young and her father turned to drinking , therefore neglecting her. Hopper states, Jane was greatly exposed and became intemperate from the example of her father, and ended up getting married to a sailor when she was drunk, which I got from our very own professor’s article, Liz Regosin titled “Downfall and Redemption.”  Now I’m not a psych major but I can guarantee you that her mental state was at risk based on the events of her childhood.

 

Nate Serlin:

How romantic

 

Padraic Condon: Oh nate you crack me up.  She was one of many people who were struggling with alcoholism at the time. Because of her drinking issue she made many poor decisions as many people do when they are struggling with the disease of alcoholism. Eventually she was arrested for perjury, but her part in the crime was unknown.  Jane Bacon spent a total of 2 years within the buffalo prisons while the jury was deciding on her sentencing. Eventually after 2 years she was sentenced to the infamous Sing Sing prison for a 14 year term.

 

Nate Serlin:  

2 Years in jail just to be sentenced to prison? I can’t imagine that had a positive effect on her mental state, especially after entering the New York Prison System

 

Padraic Condon:

You're exactly right Nate, The New York Prison system, and Sing Sing Prison specifically has the ability to bring a person into a dark dark place.

 

Nate Serlin:

Now what about the New York prison system has such a negative effect on the people that are sentenced there.

 

Padraic Condon:

Ya thats a great question Nate, and an important one to Jane Bacon's overall story. The New York Prison System in the 1800’s and to be honest with you, in the present day as well, operated in a way that does no good for those who have had to experience the prison system. It was designed to bring people down and to suck the hope out of individuals.

 

Nate Serlin:

You know, that whole concept has always felt strange, you would think the goal for prisons would be to help educate and assist an individual to be in a better state than they were when they entered prison.

 

Padraic Condon:

Ya, I'm with you Nate but unfortunately that is not even close to the reality when being stuck in the New York prison system. This really has to do with the system that was enforced on the prisoners which is known as the “Auburn System.” The Auburn system was a brutal and cruel system that was derived from a military style system. This system forces individuals to work together during the day and to be in solitary confinement during the night, as they were forced to be alone in their individual prison cells. This silence was integrated into the prison rules, to make the prisoners feel dehumanized and to force absolute discipline. The guards wanted to make these prisoners feel like nobodies.   To add on to things this is all while being forced to stay dead silent both during the day at night. They were treated like a herd of sheep and when stepping out of line or doing something that goes against the wishes of the guards, were physically punished. You can learn more about this system of punishment by listening to the episode in our series called “Sing Sing Prison: A Portrait of Violence”.The idea and goal behind the auburn system was supposedly to “rehabilitate” and to “discipline” each individual but what was really happening was each individual was brought down and had the feeling of helplessness and pushed upon them by the way they were treated. There is no way for people to be able to improve and better themselves as people.

 

Nate Serlin:

So you mentioned that Jane Bacon was sentenced to Sing Sing prison so I'm curious to find out how this brutal system affected Jane Bacon.

 

Padraic Condon:

Well to no surprise Nate she crumbled under the Auburn system as many others did. Another Aspect of this story that sticks out to me and I believe should be addressed is that she was a woman in a penitentiary. There’s another episode in this series titled “Women and Prison” which talks about these issues in a lot more depth, so definitely dive into the episode at your earliest convenience. Now I understand that Woman and prison may seem like a given in today’s society, but it was super abnormal in the 1800’s, and specifically in New York. When researching Jane I stumbled across a great document titled “The sisters Keepers' ' Talks about the treatment and overall dynamic of women in the penitentiary. In this it states that in some prisons in New York, there were not nearly as many women in prisons but when they were they were treated extremely badly.. The document continues to say that most of the time when women committed smaller crimes they would just go to jail rather than prison, but when women committed bigger crimes such as murder, mansluaghter and robbery they were put into penitentiaries. Another big factor had to do with the roles that women played at the time and most of the time women were at home, and did not really have an opportunity to commit a lot of these crimes.  This document also talks about the treatment of these women, and let me tell you Nate, it shocked me. They would heavily overcrowd the cells for women as it seemed to me like these guards didn’t know or care how to deal with women in prison, so they had extremely unhealthy living spaces for years at times. I’m talking to 20-30 women in these cells.

 

Nate Serlin:  

How is that even allowed

 

Padraic Condon:

 No clue Nate, but these women had no say whatsoever. They were heavily neglected and when they requested certain things that were necessary for them they were also always ignored. Another horrible aspect of the treatment within the prison system is that these women would be sexually abused as the guards knew it was extremely easy to be able to get away with it. It made many women feel extremely helpless, scared, and depressed. A lot of these guards carried themselves in an extremely unacceptable manner. It is very easy to see why Jane Bacons mental state started to slowly deteriorate and she fell into a deep depression as recorded by Isaac Hopper saying that she had become “dejected and then shortly after turned deranged”  which was also explained in the Article by Liz Regosin  

 

Nate Serlin:

I mean what do they think is going to happen, treating these people like animals

 

Padraic Condon:

Exactly Nate it takes a serious toll on these people, as it did with Jane. This was a low point in Jane's life as her mental state slowly started to according to the diary of Isaac Hopper. She was soon deemed unfit to live in the prison as her mental state was declining by the day. She soon became violent and overall was in an extremely dark place. She was then sentenced to what was then called “the insane asylum” as the diary mentioned which was still not ideal, but better than the prison System.

 

What I want you listeners to realize is that Jane Bacon's journey of redemption did not start within the New York Prison System, but it rather pushed her further away from the successful and healthy women that she will eventually be. The result of the auburn system is a lack of development and improvement and it eliminates self confidence and self respect. It is also important to realize her backstory, that her father was an alcoholic and her husband was as well and to add onto that a terrible man  With this, how are people able to redeem themselves and be a better person when they feel this way ya know Nate? 

 

Nate Serlin:

Ya I understand but where did Jane's story of redemption begin.

 

Padraic Condon:

Well Nate it all started with someone to talk to, someone to assist her, someone to believe in her and somebody to encourage her. This somebody was Isaac Hopper, and he started seeing Jane Bacon when she was at rock bottom with her depression.  He continued to see her when she was sent to the asylum. He records in his diary that she is doing a bit better but she is still struggling mentally. A quote that stood out from the diary was ``She said that she thought she had not a friend in the world – that she was forgotten by everybody.” This has to be a helpless feeling and one that nobody should have to go through. Overall these people were still treated like animals.

 

Nate Serlin:

So I’m assuming the insane asylum didn’t do a great job either of kickstarting Jane’s journey of redemption

 

Padraic Condon:

Ya thats a safe bet Nate, A quote I stumbled upon from her that comes from Hoppers Diary is “Yes, it is a very pretty place, but chains are chains if they are made of gold and mine grows heavier every day, I wear them.” Based on this quote it is apparent that she still feels trapped, and cannot truly be herself when she is locked within the gaits of the asylum. She says this when talking to Hopper on a walk when being asked if she likes the asylum. For Jane to truly feel better she needs freedom and the asylum doesn’t give that to her.

 

Isaac Hopper continued to meet with her, and noted that she was getting a little bit better but not making the strides needed to truly find herself again. She continues to have fits and even tries to escape the asylum. At this point in her life she is truly desperate for her freedom. When taking a walk with Isaac Hopper she expresses just how lonely she truly is and that she would not want anybody else to be going through what she is. Hopper realizes that something needs to change drastically and so in his diary he mentions he takes a big step and brings her to the city to experience society and freedom, something she has lacked to experience in the past years, and this, Nate, is where her journey of redemption takes a kickstart. Once she gets this taste of freedom she does everything in her power to obtain it. Her behavior improved drastically within the asylum and she became sharper mentally. In the diary hopper states, “ Doctor Earle the physician told me several weeks afterwards, that she had conducted with the utmost propriety ever since and that her coming to the city had been a great advantage to her. Finding that exercise in the open air where new objects were presented and the gloom of the Asylum hidden for a time from her view.

 

Nate Serlin:

It is crazy the effect freedom can have on an individual

 

Padraic Condon:

Isn’t it,  Hopper continued to bring her to the city to keep giving her that taste of freedom she had the better she was. She had a goal insight and that goal was freedom, and she was doing everything in her power to obtain that goal, because to her the closer she is to freedom the closer she is to redemption. Eventually the moment came where she was released from the asylum as Hopper was able to get a pardon for her, as he talked to the people incharge encouraging the progress that Jane had made . Not only was she released but Hopper arranged a living situation and a job helping out a family in Chester, Pennsylvania. Hopper continues to keep tabs on Jane and is pleased to find out that she is thriving. Her mental and physical health are at an all time high and most importantly she is staying out of any type of trouble.

 

Nate Serlin:

So what you mean to say Paddy, is that the prison system and asylum actually did nothing help improve her mental or physical being, it certainly didn’t help guide her along her journey of redemption

 

Padraic Condon:  

That’s exactly right Nate, If anything it dragged her away from her goal of redemption. Her Journey of redemption was possible because Isaac hopper believed in her and gave her the tools to be able to succeed. Although Hopper helped her a lot she is truly the only one who can decide that she wants to improve as a person, Isaac Hopper could’ve given her all the tools in the word, but at the end of the day she is the one who found it in herself to dig deep and take advantage of the opportunity that was given to her.It also could have been easy for her to lose connection with hopper and give up but she continued to check in with him giving her the help she needed It is no easy task to have gone through the New York Prison system and Asylum and come out the way she did. It took grit and perseverance that a lot of people do not have, but what I want you listeners to understand is that the prison system did nothing for her development and without the assistance of Hopper. To end this on a happy note some of the last entries involving Jane bacon from the Hopper Diary talked about How Jane changed her last name to parker. I imagine this was to move away from her destructive past to start a fresh and positive lifestyle and it is exactly what she did. Hopper continues to keep in contact with her and he says that she has been extremely hardworking and has been very busy as well. It was said from the family that she was everything they could have wished for. It is extremely nice to see her make a positive difference after all she had been through with Issac Hopper and the New York Prison System.

 

Nate:

I would say too that’s a central theme of our research. Without Issac Hopper and the New York Prison Association, who knows if our characters would’ve gotten their chance at redemption.

 

Padraic:

Yeah, 100%. Alright Nate, whatcha got?

PAUSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

Thomas Houston

Nate:

Okay so my second character is named Thomas Houston. Before I launch into it, I’m just going to let everybody know that the ending isn’t as happy as the other characters we’re talking about today. Nonetheless, Hopper plays a central role in offering Mr. Houston a chance at redemption, and makes his unlucky circumstances a little better.

 

So Thomas Houston was born in Ireland in 1802, and immigrated to the United States at the age of 18. By the time he visited Hopper in 1845, he had resided in the country for 25 years. Using a little math, we know that sometime around 1843, at the age of 41, after being in the states for 23 years, he was convicted of burglary in New York City, and doomed to a replica of hell of earth, Sing Sing.

 

Padraic:

There is just no way I could stand being in that place for one week. It’s appalling how many characters from the diary were sent there.

 

Nate:

Yeah, Paddy, try 18 months.

 

Padraic:

Yeah no. I couldn’t do it.

 

Nate:

So here’s the kicker. He didn’t even commit the crime. His sentence was actually for two years and four months, but after eighteen months he was pardoned. He maintained his innocence the whole time, and because of a lot of suspicious case facts, he was eventually pardoned.

 

Padraic:

Okay slow down here for me for a second. False conviction? How did that happen?

 

Nate:

Yeah, I spent a lot of time thinking about that. So a lot of people don’t know this, but Irish Catholics were actually a group that was very discrimiNated against in the mid 19th century. They immigrated in a mammoth conglomerate fr—

 

Padraic:

Nice vocab word

 

Nate:

Yeah thanks I like to keep it grandiloquent when we’re on the air.

 

Anyway, the Irish fled Ireland in enormous quantities in the mid 19th century because the potato famine had made the economic situation in their homeland so dire. By 1860, there were more Irish in New York City than Dublin, and it was actually the largest population of Irishman in the world. They numbered over 200,000 and were a quarter of the city's total population.

 

They had a very different feel to them than the prostenant immigrants of England that the region was used to. This earned them a reputation of being dirty, rowdy, immoral, and criminals.

 

Padraic:

Sounds like a bunch of fraternity brothers.

 

Nate:

Yeah or lacrosse players.

 

Anyway, their reputation caused them to be hated by outsiders. In this era, scholars agree groups of people who were lowest on the societal totem pole such as irishmen and african americans, weren’t treated fairly by courts. Mr. Houston’s Irish ethnicity may have preceded him in court, and caused people to assume he was a criminal when he was not.

 

Padraic:

Okay so in this era, was there any sort of compensation for the 18 months of torture he unnecessarily endured?

 

Nate:

It doesn’t appear so to me. New York state law certainly didn’t require it at the time.

 

Padraic:

That’s appalling.

 

Nate:

Yeah I don’t think anybody deserves that set of circumstances.

 

Anyway, he’s discharged on October 5th, 1845 and visited Issacc Hopper and the New York Prison Association two days later. He pleads his case, and Hopper states that. This must’ve been a shock to him. He has just spent the last 18 months of his life being told he was a criminal and treated like a herd animal, and now all of a sudden a stranger believes him that he wasn’t.

 

Thomas Houston asks for money to purchase tools. He tells Hopper is a carpenter by trade, and is convinced he can get back to work and repay the $12.63 he’s asking for, which is no small chunk of change for Hopper. Hopper agrees, and they agree that Houston will pay it back in three months. I imagine he had an extra pep in step when he left Hopper’s office that day.

 

Padraic:

From the depths of Sing Sing to the freedom of New York City with a brand new set of carpentry tools in two days. Talk about highs and lows.

 

Nate:

Yeah, no doubt.

 

So three months pass, and then Mr. Houston stops back in. He tells Hopper that he has found a job, but it’s sickness now keeping him from working. Still, he says his health is improving, he still has every intention to pay back his debt, and is extremely grateful for his Hopper’s help.

 

Padraic:

I thought your last guy, RE Taylor, had bad luck. Houston seems to have taken first place on that front.

 

Nate;

Well so here it finally starts to look like things are turning around. He comes back a month later, and says that now he is back to work, and in better health. He wants another tool for .25 cents and Hopper agrees.

 

The last we hear of him is 4 months later in June of 1846, where he reluctantly tells Hopper he has Rheumatism. This is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks its own healthy muscles and joints, and is about the worst case scenario for a tradesman who worked with their hands, like a carpenter. His story ends on that note.

 

Like I said, not our most uplifting story, but there’s a distinct reason I want to tell it.

 

Padraic:

I mean Hopper showed him basically unconditional support, and that had to be super empowering.

 

Nate:

I think so too, but it’s more than just that. This is the perfect case to examine how we’re defining redemption. I think we ought to define it the way the Hopper and the Prison Association of New York defined success and redemption when it came to their committee on discharged convicts. In their 1850 report, the PANY discusses the main aim of the committee of discharged convicts, and they talk right there page 47 about how the chief struggle of a formerly incarcerated person is to appeal to “the higher and nobler philanthropy which can overlook the past”. This is their aim, to give people a life beyond their criminal records. This is what they consider success. So by their account, this story is successful, and so by ours it is too.

 

Padraic:

I like how it just goes to show that you don’t even have to commit a crime to be negatively affected by the prison system, or to feel the compassion of Issacc Hopper.

 

Nate:

That too. Alright Paddy, finish us off strong.

 

Thomas Bennet:

Alright, so the final story of the night, another great one of redemption comes from a man who goes by the name Thomas T Bennet. His story exemplifies what it means to pursue the goal of finding what one is truly capable of when focusing on bettering oneself. I’d say this story is different from Jane Bacons because as soon as he was sentenced for his crime, that was when he snapped out of his destructive state and was extremely driven from there. I will also talk about the leading factors that lead to his sentencing.

 

To give you guys a quick introduction, on Thomas Bennet, he was an Irish sailor and musician and settled in New York city. He was a man who struggled with the disease of alcoholism as many others did at this time. He was eventually arrested for intemperance and was sentenced to the New York Prison system. A quote that comes from the Isaac Hopper Diary that sums up who he was, states, “He writes a good hand and is anxious to get employment. gave him some second hand clothing and fifty cents.” Later in the year he also states, “His case is somewhat peculiar; he is a man of education and writes a good hand and having entirely abstained from the use of intoxicating drinks, since his liberation from Blackwell's Island, to which he was much addicted, now manifesting a strong desire to conduct correctly in future and can earn his own livelihood, has induced me to go to considerable expense in his support until employment could be procured for him.”

 

Nate Serlin: So it seems that this man had quite the potential to be a successful man.

Padraic Condon: You're exactly right Nate, he was a very smart man with a great work ethic.

Nate Serlin: So where did things go wrong for him

Padraic Condon: In my opinion Nate, it had a lot to do with the environment and the people he surrounded himself with. As I mentioned before he was a sailor, and there is a giant drinking culture behind the sailors in the 1800’s. There is a long tradition on drinking for many reasons, one reason being that the water on the ships would quickly fill up with algae and soon become undrinkable, so they would drink the beer instead.

Nate Serlin: That doesn't sound half bad does it now

Padraic Condon: Real Funny Nate, another reason is that drinking was a big activity isn't that there was really nothing to do while on board. It was an opportunity to escape reality when being bored or looking for a form of entertainment. As we know habits are extremely hard to break especially after long partaking in them for long periods of time, so this carried into Mr. Bennetts everyday life. Now as we know overindulging in alcohol constantly can have an extremely negative effect and can impair one’s decision making and can cause a decline in the quality of one's life. This is what happened to Thomas Bennet. He lost sight of himself and what was the right thing to do around him. He was eventually arrested for intemperance.

Nate Serlin: So did he have the same experience when in prison and was he also in a bad spot menatally when released?

Padraic Condon: Ya he was also in a tough spot. He had no employment and no money. Though he didn’t have any money or employment he showed a great sense of urgency to improve and to find employment and obtain money. This was clear to Mr. Hopper who was in a position to help people find employment and give money. Now it is important to realize that Mr. Hopper does not just help any previously incarcerated person. He is only willing to help people who will be willing to help themselves, and a lot of that has to do with staying sober, in the eyes of Hopper. Staying sober shows Hopper that one is willing to move away from their destructive habits and shows that they are willing to take a step in the right direction.

 

Padraic Condon:  A big step in the right direction is taking the intemperance pledge. Alcoholism in the early 19th century was out of control in America, it was said the average American consumed 5 gallons of pure alcohol a year, which is nuts. This was a time where there was not a ton of research behind alcohol, and people loved the way it made them feel. Alcoholism became a huge issue for a lot of people as crime rates were going up and intoxication was obvious throughout the streets.Hard drinking had become a pastime for America.  This initiated the temperance movement and a large part of the movement was the intemperance pledge. An intemperance pledge is a pledge that you make with yourself by signing a document that agrees that you will not continue to drink and for a lot of people this worked. It was a way for people to make a promise to themselves to move away from destructive Activities that are rooted from the consumption of alcohol. This is what Thomas Beenet did and this was a big step in Thomas Bennetts journey towards redemption. 

 

Nate Serlin: If I’m not mistaken didn’t Mr. Hopper, in many cases not be willing to help people because they were showing signs that they were continuing to drink

Padraic Condon: Yes you are right Nate, Isaac Hopper was an extremely busy man, and cannot afford to waste his time on somebody that does not even want to help himself. There were many cases throughout the documentary where Hopper stopped helping people because they were not willing to help themselves. This was not the case with Thomas Bennett. He showed great work ethic and a serious sense of urgency that was very unique to others, which is exactly what Hopper wants to see. Eventually after many previous interactions and financial assistance, it was clear that Thomas Bennet Had something special and Hopper knew that. As a result Hopper gave him an office job working for him, which was very unique and showed the trust that Hopper had in Thomas Bennet. He wasn’t just working for him once in a while but there are records in Hopper's diary of constant tasks and financial transactions between the two of them on a weekly basis for months at a time, so not only did he acquire a job but he acquired that is constant and reliable.

 

What I love about this story of redemption is that Thomas Bennet has always been a man of great work ethic and intelligence yet he just does not surround himself with the people that would bring that out in him and eventually that got him into trouble. But, once he realized this and surrounded himself with people that encouraged him and pushed him to be the best person he can be, he reached his full potential. Not only did he push to better himself but he also pushed to better other people In the Diary, When hopper was talking about a man who goes by the name of Henry Townshend, Hopper stated, “Thomas T Bennett administered to him the Temperance Pledge and he cheerfully signed it and promises to keep it.” With this it is very possible that Hopper got himself into some type of occupation involving temperance, as he is somebody who went through the journey of redemption.

 

Nate:

I think that’s a great way to wrap this up. Thomas Bennet is one heck of a success story.

  

Conclusion

 

<<Fade in “Night Snow”, post in the clear for 5 seconds, then Fade out>>

 

Nate:

Today’s episode was written and produced by Nathan Serlin and Padraic Condon. A special thanks to Eric Williams-Bergen, Nicole Roche [Ro-Shay] and Dr. Liz Regosin, the podcasting team here at St. Lawrence University. Be sure to check out the show notes on the diary website Issac Dash Hopper Dot Org. Here you’ll find a source list for this episode, as well as all the other episodes in our series. The intro and outro music is Night Snow, graciously sourced from Asher Fulero, found on You tube audio library.

 

Padraic:

And that’s it for tonight’s podcast everybody, we appreciate you all for being here and thanks for listening.