Show old prison had 25 pound bound lock centerville Cent erville midi mich long marked by huge device cen Cent centerville ter erville ville mien the history ot of the first jail in st joseph county with its now nov legendary 25 23 pound lock such an ingenious combination of 0 tolls bolts and wards that the most expert rallies files could not pick it and the most desperate could not unlock lt it even with the key is told by aloysia Alo ysla mcloughlin of sturgis in a recent issue of the michigan Ell history story maga ine 11 ll it was during a meeting ot of the bould of supervisors who were trying to lu tind sulli clent excuse tor for having bovin wet met away anay hick back lu in white digeon to in 1812 IS J alint one of them hit upon tile bililly til nought ought of but building aldag a county juil all 1 Vent erville miss bliss tall the board biard leaped upon the elie idea tu to be ure bure there were no tenants aw tile building but looking at it each in watchful at alful walling waiting they did mil ma kii kiino ow how bow soon the call might inight come rr for howing a criminal und and ind find iua in mein winning wanting and all viell 11 it communities had jails anti anil p 1 i imps if their county had one oil il ilace nce or some one of thelt theli allinio k 0 might inight provide an inmate the hie riler relates built in two months and so bo they got husy busy lery ery busy awl two iwu months afterward the llie county lia mile was completed that Is the said it was completed mit lut contractors seem not lot to have changed in tile last century tor for tills this one nit like ile many of tits his successors hild had left belt off the I 1 tie hibst important part the building itself was not bad it was built of timbers limbers a toot foot square jt lt was built in two blocks with au S space ii ice between two stories 14 frel feet high with A ith floors 12 and 8 inches talk doors of 4 inch plank grated and a strong fc hingle gle root roof but when with a last gathering ot of ills his tools and a linal final rescuing of his ien penny lulls from the urchins who had helped the contractor turned the completed amer to the county the board of su per visors refused to settle this con tractor had overlooked to place any fastenings on the doors 1 hunted for lock so he started through the village tillage to find a luck lock or a locksmith ant and some interested adviser suggested the elie f municipal gunsmith the business in I 1 ons was as dull and the gunsmith fintley with delight dell glit the to give tits his ingenuity full rein ur he contrived a staggering and complicated Niu weighing ing 25 pounds a lock which by sheer weight nearly broke down the door of the jail when finally fastened to it it defied any unlocking and any entrance to the jail most of the time and rapid exit at all times and the old lock Is 5 supposed u p to have terrified more criminals in an early day than did the jail that was fastened to it IL with the jail finally open tor for business in july 1833 the whole county sat on the edge of its chair jealously waiting to see which village would have some citizen spirited enough to do something conspicuous enough to gain incarceration and centerville Cent erville wins wine the honor fell to centerville Cent erville when one of its own with a full head bead of hard cider mine host ot of the tavern there were neither warrants nor justices of the peace convenient tor for sending this first offender against the dignity of the great commonwealth to jail but the sheriff collared him and thrust him into one cue of the block houses of the new jail notwithstanding afraid to tamper with the gargantuan lock however the sheriff left the door open and notified noticed the jailer the jailer very unused to having prisoners in his jail forgot nil all about tits his transient until noon of the next day when he hurried flurried over to investigate aud and found his prisoner gone ue lie kept tits his counsel and began looking up the law to find out whether or not he be could in turn be arrested for n of ottice office but before lie fie bad finished his bis investigation as to his bis legal status foll following wing such a crime of neglect and aiding criminals night came on and with it came it bold knocking at his chamber door peering out from its his window the flip jailer saw the outlines of a form that gradually assumed fa millar proportions the battered hat and tattered clothes were not those of a desperado but they certainly were those of the county ilip van winkle who was returning with a hangover the escaped prisoner stealing down the stairs the bold jailer obtained a close up view of his bis midnight visitor and made certain ol of his fin findings diDgS it was bel be it was his bis escaped first and only prisoner should he escape again not it if the county police force knew its ita business thought the jailer and carefully withdrawing from his point of van tage he achieved a flank move movement men and armed with tits bis aut authority horty and a stout shil lalah he cornered tits his anin ama beur comit and demanded demaud ed his instant surrender in the name of the law surprised but not dot startled the guilty one turned and held out a friendly land hand of good at the same time tendering the jailer a grimy two shillings requesting with all the exaggerated courtesy of a man doubtful of tits his reception that he might have the privilege of agala again sleeping in the county jail so ended the story of the first prisoner and the last for several months although it Is not a matter of record how long the Cent centerville erville jail was utilized as a hotel by the wayard bibber the old lock according to the writer may have accounted by its capricious ways and puzzling combinations tor for the alie death of one deforest de forest who set fire to tile the old jail while a prisoner in 1854 and burned with it not being bb able le to make his escape from the blazing building the old lock it Is related disappeared with the fire and years afterward was fished out of the st joseph river by some boys at mendon |