Editors Note: The discovery of an early Pacific County jail register has provided the catalyst for historian Sydney Stevens to take a look at law and order in long-ago Pacific County. In this series of articles she recounts cases that have become the stuff of folk legend and she examines the lesser-known offences of ordinary people the stories that bring the past and present together by taking account of our all-too-human foibles and frailties. 

 

   It would seem from entries in the old jail book that the plaster had barely dried on the walls of the new jail, opened in June 1911, when the number of women arrested and booked began to noticeably increase. Undoubtedly, the fact that the small two-bunk jail cell had now been replaced with five separate cells, one of which was expressly for women, had a bearing on the rate of arrests.

    In 1912, alone, eight females were arrested twice as many as had been arrested in the previous 25 years! It is difficult to believe that women had suddenly become less law-abiding during that single year. On the other hand, suffragettes and their sympathizers had been busy changing attitudes toward women and perhaps that sword cut both ways. Responsibilities beyond home and hearth carried with them the liabilities of the greater society. Sometimes that could mean time spent in the jailplace.

    From the time the new jail opened in 1911 until entries in the jail book ceased in 1919, a total of 27 females were arrested nearly seven times as many arrests in that seven-year period than in all the years that the old jail was in use. Still, it was a small number in comparison to the 420 men arrested during the same period, though the rate of male arrests had only increased threefold during the same time span.

    For the most part, the transgressions of the female gender fell within three general categories: young offenders; insanity; and vagrancy or prostitution. Although there were one or two instances of women arrested for burglary, there were few notations in the jail book of other crimes. Men, on the other hand, were being booked into jail on charges as diverse as murder, forgery, and criminal anarchy.

Underage Females

    Of the eight underage females arrested between 1912 and 1919, Effie Shriver was the first and the youngest. She was 13 years old, stood 5 feet 3 inches tall, had light hair, light eyes and a light complexion. Effie was from Washington and was booked into jail on the authority of Justice of the Peace Goodell for Incorrigibility on Feb. 15, 1912.

    The next day, Feb. 16, 1912, Ethel Hyde, 15, was arrested, also on the authority of Justice Goodell for Incorrigibility.  Ethel was described as 5 feet 4 inches tall with medium hair, grey eyes and medium complexion. She, also, was listed as a native of Washington.

    On the authority of the Superior Court, both girls were sent to the State Training Facility at Chehalis Effie on Feb. 17 and Ethel on Feb. 24.  Although the jail book gives no details, it is tempting to speculate that the girls were friends and that they got into trouble together.

    Following the arrests of Effie and Ethel, there is no notation in the jail book concerning underage females for more than five years until a 17-year-old was again listed as Incorrigible on Oct. 3, 1917. The notation concerning her name states: Ina Johnson adopted 1902 as Alice Carlson. She is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 182 pounds with brown hair, brown eyes, medium complexion and a native of St. Louis County, Minnesota.

     Alice (a.k.a. Ina) spent only one night in the Pacific County facility and then, according to the final information next to her name(s), she was sent to the Grand Mound Training School. She was the first girl from Pacific County to be sent there to Maple Lane, the new state facility that had opened in 1913.

    Not quite a month later, on Oct. 26, 1917, Elizabeth Ackley, 14, native of Perkins, S.D. was booked into jail by the authority of H.W.B. Hewen, Judge of Superior Court. She was 5 feet 6 inches tall with brown hair, blue eyes, medium complexion, and weighed 124 pounds.

    Described as a Delinquent Child, she escaped from the jail on Nov. 24. No details as to her method of escape were given nor anything about her recapture. However, on Nov. 27, 1917, young Elizabeth was taken to Grand Mound Training School until she becomes 21 years of age.

    On July 12, 1918, 14-year-old, Hazel Lovelace, and 15-year-old Sevena Luby were booked into the jail and Held for Investigation for Army Officers and discharged with no complaint filed. By this time, of course, the United States had been involved in the Great War (WWI) for more than a year and there were military personnel stationed throughout Washington, including several Pacific County locations. According to evidence supplied by the jail book, Pacific County authorities cooperated fully with the military police in matters of law and order.

    Two additional young female offenders would spend time in the county jail before the ink was dry on the final entry of the jail book. Both were involved with the criminal activity of another person, one apparently willingly and the other either unknowingly or against her desires.

    Petite Marie Langden, 15, was 5 feet 2, with dark hair, blue eyes, a fair complexion, weighed 135 and was listed as mean. Booked into jail on a warrant for burglary on June 10, 1919, she was sent to the Monroe Reformatory five days later. Monroe had been built in 1910 and was intended to keep young offenders separate from the hardcore older offenders.

    Marie was apparently in cahoots with 13-year-old Kenneth Downing. He was not only younger than she, but at 4 feet 6, was 8 inches shorter. However, perhaps in an effort to clarify who might be in charge in this young duo, the jail book entry reads: This is a bad boy. Always looks under his eyebrows. Has a mania for traveling and stealing. This boy was sent to the Training School at Chehalis.

White Slavery

    One of the most intriguing situations among the youthful offenders was that of Marsha Mossman, 14, who was booked into jail on April 25, 1919. Marsha was held as witness in Cora Langland Case for almost a month, until May 23, 1919 when she was sent to Rescue Home in Seattle on Order of Court.

    Besides the notations about Mossmans personal characteristics she was 5 feet 3 inches tall with Dark Brown hair, Blue eyes, Fair complexion and from Kansas there is no other information. It is necessary to look at the entry for Cora Langland for clues as to Marshas stay in jail.

    Cora was booked into jail on the same day as young Miss Mossman. No personal details are written about her. Under By What Authority Committed is written Information and in the column headed For What Offense and What Term is written White Slavery. Ultimately she was sentenced to 9 Months in County Jail.

    One scenario might have been that young Marsha Mossman had been held or housed by Cora for purposes of prostitution and was kept by the authorities in the County Jail for an extended period so that she could testify at Coras trial. Unfortunately, there is no indication in the jail book that there was a trial, though logic would indicate that Coras subsequent nine-month stay in the jailplace as a guest of the County was, indeed, a determination made by a judge at a trial.

Working Women

    Just as the crimes of young offenders were disguised by the term Incorrigible, women 18 and older who were booked on a charge of Vagrancy were usually not vagrant at all, but were working women in the worlds oldest profession. It is clear from later entries in the jail book that vagrancy, as it applied to women in those years, was a euphemism for prostitution.

    On Nov. 9, 1912, five women were booked into the jail: Clara Losane (30, U.S.), Cecelia Smith (35, France), Margaret Brady (25, Germany), Jessie Smith (18, Calif.) and Kate Mitchell (22, Mich.) They were a disparate group. Yet, they were all booked into the jail on the same day on a criminal warrant.

    In the annals of the jail book, this was the first group of women arrested at the same time and for the same offence. The only booking even vaguely reminiscent was many years previously when a Mr. George Vincent was accused of running a bawdy house back in 1888. He was discharged by order of the court after paying a $100 fine. This group of women fared somewhat better, however.    

    That there were still houses of questionable repute in Pacific County there can be no doubt. The women may even have worked for a nearby establishment that would become big news the following year. In a 1913 court case that would result in a prison term for the city attorney of Raymond, testimony was introduced to the effect that one Maggie Rose ran a house of prostitution and thus could not be trusted to tell the truth. A womans reputation for truthfulness could not survive a life of immorality, the Supreme Court opined in their decision on the appeal.     

    No matter the reason for their vagrancy charge in 1912, the five women were discharged by Order of the Court on Nov. 11 and there was no further notation concerning any of them for the time being. But within two weeks, Cecelia Smith was back again. The familiar charge, Vagrancy, kept her in the county lock-up for five days this time, from Dec. 1 to Dec. 6.

    The women had only one other cellmate during their jail sojourn. Peruvian native Ridia Estinagh, 21, had been jailed Sept. 25, 1912 by the authority of Justice Fred Colbert on the charge of Misdemeanor. According to the badly smudged notation in the jail book, she was Taken to Seattle and turned over to the Immigration Commission on Jan. 14, 1913.

    There is no indication as to the disposition of her case in the interim. Presumably she remained in the County Jail at South Bend for the three and a half months before being transferred to Seattle.

    Personal information was not noted for Daisy West, who was booked into jail on Sept. 20, 1913. Nor was her offence listed as Vagrancy. Still, one wonders She was charged with Lewdness by Justice Rhodes and released two days later. There were no notations under Remarks by the keeper of the jail book. Of the 31 women listed in the jail book, Daisy Wests is the only name with lewdness written after it.

    Over the years, two more women labeled prostitutes would be booked into the county jail in South Bend. On May 17, 1917 25-year-old Della Miller, native of Washington, was booked with the charge of Vagrancy.  She is a prostitute noted the clerk. It is the first definitive link between the terms vagrancy and prostitute.

Ordered to Leave

    Miller was described as 5 feet 5 inches tall with light brown hair, blue eyes, a fair complexion and was arrested under the authority of Justice Wright.  She was released the following day although she was sentenced to 30 days. Sentence was suspended providing she stayed out of County 1 year.

    Nellie Imus, too, was told to quit the area, though the reason for her arrest was not stated. Nellie, 20, was 5 feet 3½ inches tall and weighed 120 pounds. She had brown hair, brown eyes, a medium complexion and was from Spirit Lake, Iowa.

    Booked into jail on March 6, 1918 on the authority of Judge Wright, she was released the same day. The notation concerning her discharge: $10 fine paid; costs omitted provided leaves town.

    Almost a year later, on Feb. 1, 1919, Tena Martin was booked on a charge of larceny. She was one of the few women to serve time in the County Jail for anything other than Incorrigibility, Vagrancy or Prostitution or Insanity.  Tena was discharged with the notation paid cash appropriately and all costs. 

    The last female name in the jail book is that of Washington native Grace Walkowsky, age 18 with black hair, black eyes and a dark complexion. She was booked on July 17, 1919 by the authority of Police Judge, the charge being Vagrancy & Prostitution. Her sentence: 30 days in Jail.

    (Authors Note: Grace Walkowskys name is the only one of the many listed in the jail book that is familiar to me. She was the fourth daughter of John Walkowsky and his wife the fifth of their 10 children. The Walkowskys lived just south of Oysterville and Grace was a schoolmate of my mothers oldest sister, Medora. After Grace finished eighth grade she did occasional housework for my grandparents. My grandmother said that although Grace did good work, she eventually had to let her go as she was too easily distracted by her many siblings who could not be convinced to leave her to her chores.)

A Place for Insanity

    The third large category of women inmates in the Pacific County Jail was Insanity. Although many of the women labeled insane in the Jail book were, indeed, transferred to the Western State Hospital for the Insane at Steilacoom, some were simply released from jail, presumably able to resume their lives as law abiding citizens. Insane may have been a catch-all term used for those who were disturbing the peace or otherwise not acting according to the accepted norms of female behavior.

    1913 was a busy one in the jailhouse particularly for those afflicted with insanity. On February 14, 1913, 66 year old Mrs. Mina Linn was jailed. Described as 5 feet 4 with brown hair turning gray and a large mole on the right side of neck, she was Taken to Fort Steilacoom Hospital for the Insane two days later.    

    Though the year 1913 was only six weeks old, Mrs. Linn was the third person listed as insane in the jail book that year. (In all of 1912 there had only been six insane persons listed all men). At the time Mrs. Linn was put into jail, one other inmate, a man, was being held for insanity.

    Presumably, he and Mrs. Linn were placed in separate cells now that such a luxury of jail space existed, but which was in the cell designated for the insane is not noted. Mrs. Linn could have been put in the womans cell or she could have been the first woman prisoner to occupy the new cell that had been earmarked specifically for the insane. The record gives no indication.

    Elsie Takkenen, native of Finland was also listed as insane when she was booked into jail on April 14 on the authority of Superior Court. She was released the following day without further commentary.

In Again, Out Again

    Under Special Marks or Peculiarities as to Prisoner History for Ida Waldon is written: Sent to the asylum for the second time. This was recorded on December 27, 1913 and just to make sure that it was duly noted, a little farther along on the line, under For What Offense and for What Term, is written: Sent to the Asylum. A few categories later, under Escaped or Discharged; If Discharged by What Authority the notation is made for the third time: Committed to Hospital for the Insane at Fort Steilacoom, Wash.

    Waldon, 25, had dark eyes, dark hair, a dark complexion and was from Kentucky. She was booked into jail on November 29th and, despite the very clear notation that this was to be her second stint in the asylum, there is no mention of her previously in the jail book. However, she does show up again later.

    This time she is listed as Ida Wallen [sic], still with a dark complexion, still from Kentucky and now, on March 16, 1915 she is Committed to Asylum Third Time after spending one day in jail. Again, there is a second notation: Sent to the Hospital for the Insane at Steilacoom. 

    In those years, it was with some difficulty that patients could be released from Steilacoom, so it is curious, indeed, that Ida Wallen shows up again on the pages of the jail book this time on October 29, 1918. The jailer has apparently given up on her personal information. None is listed. Under For What Offense and For What Term is one word: Insanity. On November 1, 1918 there is an Order of Discharge by the Court Commissioner, Insanity Charge Dismissed, and Ida Wallens name never graces the pages of the jail book again. (Nor does Ida Waldons, for that matter.)

    During the four-year time period that Waldon/Wallen was in and out of the asylum and in and out of the Pacific County Jail at South Bend, five other women were jailed in Pacific County for reasons of insanity:

    Mrs. Belle Murray, was booked June 12, 1914 and the following day was sent to Hospital for Insane Fort Stillacoomb [sic] Wash. Ruth McKinna was booked January 11, 1915. Insanity is the only notation. Mary Harene, was arrested March 22, 1916 on the authority of Superior Court and was Sent to Fort Steilacoom the same day. Edla Erickson October 18, 1915 Insane. Emma Evanson Jan 5, 1916 Insane

    Very little is written about these women, leading to speculation as to whether they were able to speak for themselves or whether there was anyone to speak for them. Or were the sensibilities about a womans place still so imbued with Victorian morality that those who could speak with some authority were hesitant to do so?

    Few advocacy groups of any kind existed in the early twentieth century especially for women, and even more especially for women who were in difficulty with the law. Its a story that has little documentation and only can be known by reading between the lines.