A lot has been written over the past few years about the Brown County Courthouse and the Old Log Jail. We here at the History Center thought we might bring out a little more history about these two buildings.
The following facts and figures are from the 1884 Weston A. Goodspeed book, “History of Brown County.” A copy may be purchased in the gift shop at the History Center.
On the first Monday in February 1837, the county board let the contract of building a courthouse and a jail, the first to be finished according to specifications by the first Monday in September 1837, and the last by the first of November 1837. The courthouse was of hewed logs, 18 by 24 feet, two stories high, two rooms, chinks daubed with good mortar and weather-boarded on the inside; gabled ends of the building to have one window each. The contractor, David D. Weddle, was to receive $50 on the first of June 1837, and the remainder when the building was completed.
The jail was hewed logs, 14 by 14 feet and one foot thick. There were two walls one foot apart, and each was one foot thick, and the space between was filled with hewed foot-lumber, inserted perpendicularly. The logs of the walls left no space between them. The building was two stories high, seven feet between floors, and floors of 12-inch timber. There was one window nine inches square on each side of the criminals’ room, with a heavy iron door and windows. William Snider was the jail contractor. He was paid $50 on the jail when he began the work. The cost of these two buildings was not more than $700.
The log courthouse answered the purpose until 1853, when arrangements were made to build a brick structure to take its place. The old log structure was sold, and for a year or more the courts were held in the Methodist church.
In the fall of 1853, the courthouse contract was sold to John Douglas for about $6,500. The house was completed so as to be occupied by the courts in 1855, and the cost when fully finished and furnished a little more than $7,000. In 1873, during a session of circuit court, this building caught fire and burned to the ground, involving the loss of nearly all the county records.
In June 1874, the contract for rebuilding the house on the old ruins or foundation, and a portion of the old walls, was let to McCormick & Sweeney of Columbus for $9,000. The work was preformed according to contract. The building is of brick, and is two stories high, with courtroom and jury room above and county offices below. Two stairways over the main entrance on the south lead to the second story.
The original jail of 1837 was used, with various repairs which were almost equivalent to a new building, until 1879, when the present hewed-log jail was erected, at a cost of about $1,500.
In the last couple of years, repairs have made to the log jail. Several logs needed to be replaced. The contract for those repairs was let to Bird Snider, a fourth-great-grandson of the William Snider who built this present-day log jail.
If you haven’t seen the log jail since the restorations were made, please come and visit. The jail in the Pioneer Village near the courthouse.
— Pauline Hoover, Brown County Historical Society
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What: Brown County Historical Society Annual Quilt Show, presented by the Pioneer Women
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 1-2; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, June 3
Activities: Quilting, spinning, weaving and other craft demonstrations; drawings for a raffle quilt and bountiful treasure baskets; lunch cafe and homemade desserts; entertainment by local musicians
Cost: $5 for adults, children 12 and younger get in free
Enter a quilt: Visit browncountyhistorycenter.org for an entry form.
Questions: 812-988-7106
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