| |
| | Austin
County Museum, formerly Bellville Jail
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson,
September 2004 | |
Bellville
has a great jail, which now serves as the Austin
County Museum and many other buildings. Maybe they aren't as grand
as the jail, but they are charming and in some cases unique (The old Dr. Pepper
bottling plant with its rock façade comes to mind).
Bellville
Crime and Punishment: The first 35 years of it's existence Bellville had only
two homicides and one of those was deemed justifiable. There were also two legal
hangings and two lynchings, one of which was for the theft of 65 sheep. It's entirely
possible it wasn't the actual theft that earned this man his hanging as much as
it was his stupidity. The theft was embarrassing to Austin Countians.Where was
he planning to hide 65 sheep? Even if the plates and registration were changed?
Before our present system of booking and fingerprinting evolved, the first
step in securing a prisoner was to take him to the blacksmith to have him "ironed".
This meant a customized set of shackles (monograms were extra). One unfortunate
prisoner was in irons for 16 months before trial! |
| Another
view of the Austin County Museum in Bellville
Photo courtesy Shannan Yarbrough,
2005 | |
| When
the time came for the jail to be built - they built one with no windows or doors
on the ground floor. Prisoners were inserted into this area by means of an outside
staircase and a hole in the floor. Very clever, but it could get a little warm
in the summer.
These tidbits of Austin
County history are taken from the book "Bellville;
The Founders and Their Legacy" by Isabel Frizzell. Out of print,
but available at the library. The Library with it's flowerbed of ornamental
cabbage, is staffed by helpful librarians who are bucking the trend to get rid
of everything except John Grisham, Danielle Steele and books on tape. In fact
it's so user friendly we make it a point to do our research there.
One
of the many interesting postcards on display in the library shows a petrified
tree trunk brought into town and weighing in at nearly two tons. Don't feel superior
to the crowd gathered around this oddity. Sure, you know all about petrified wood.
But the early settlers of Austin County knew all they needed to know about petrified
wood (it didn't burn and it dulled their axes).
©
John Troesser
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