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Newspaper
Athens Messenger
Location
Athens, Ohio, United States of America
Date
Apr 22, 1930
Page
1
Prison inmates described as lifers allegedly opened fire during a mutiny while guards held keys and prisoners tore at cell bars. Troopers arrived to prevent a full battle, ending the immediate danger.
Four Athens County inmates among 319 killed in Ohio State Penitentiary blaze Monday night. Victims include Ed Smith of near Jacksonville and Lewis Campbell of Athens County, with others from Glouster Stewart and Meigs and surrounding counties. James Litterall on death row survived flames and faces May electrocution.
United Press reports a deadly blaze at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus. Four thousand nine hundred inmates were housed, with 835 in the burning cell house. Three blazes occurred: cell house, chapel, and woolen mill. 319 dead and 150 injured critically. The fire is presumed incendiary.
A midnight fire by presumed lifers swept through the Columbus State Penitentiary killing 319 inmates in Sections G and H. The blaze trapped prisoners as guards with keys refused to unlock cells, while federal and state troops aided response and new tiers were quickly added to Section I.
A general alarm drew police and fire units as flames tore into an antiquated prison block. The roof collapsed, 136 inmates perished on the sixth tier, and chaos followed with prisoners fighting and guards overwhelmed during the blaze. Investigators suspect arson with no clear ringleader.
Ohio State Penitentiary, site of a major disaster, was completed in 1882 to house 590 inmates on 15 acres. Original cost was $60,000 excluding prison labor. Lawmakers authorized the project six years after the initial proposal and it opened in October 1838 with Nathaniel Medbery as first warden.
President Hoover told Senate and House appropriations leaders there could be a deficit for the next fiscal year between 20 and 80 million dollars. He warned lawmakers that with many small appropriation bills pending there is cause for real alarm in the budget outlook.
Three Byrd expedition members arrive in San Francisco from Little America. O. A. Thorne of Chicago is the official surveyor, Captain A. N. Parker of Crystal Springs Mississippi is the airplane pilot, and Captain C. A. McKinley of St. Louis is the official army photographer who captured first pictures of the previously unexplored bottom of the earth.
Governor orders a full investigation after a prison fire at Ohio Penitentiary kills more than 300. Warden Thom as suspends Guard Watkinson for allegedly refusing to relinquish keys. Governor Cooper, cabinet members, and state officials announce inquiries and relief provisions.
In Columbus on April 22 a deadly prison fire killed inmates and left a scorched scene. Ben Johnson from Dayton described bodies laid out on the lawn as flames roared and roofs caved in. Ben Henderson of Cincinnati mourned his brother among the dead and recounted a failed rescue rope incident.
Ohio Penitentiary disaster yields tales of selfless escape rescuers risking death to aid fellow inmates as flames trap corridors and walls collapse. Reported heroism spans axes and improvised tools while guards and inmates push toward exits before deadly smoke and heat overwhelm them.
Descriptive account of Black rescuers in a deadly fire, with many volunteers from Company K aiding inmates and carrying stretchers through toxic corridors. Big Jim Morton is noted for guiding and saving around 20 men before collapse as the crowd faced death and destruction.
The last man admitted to Ohio Penitentiary, Albert Holland of Coshocton County, who had been in custody for under an hour, perished in the blaze. His charred body was identified shortly before midnight after arriving for burglary sentencing.
Official roll of victims identified at the penitentiary includes Albert J. Wyeman James Collins Lee Shipman Anton J. Kramer Nicholas Retch T E Dolby James Anderson Floyd Farris alias Joe Lundy Deese Baughman Robert Stone George Cyrus Wiloyd Brown Frank Myers alias Raymon Miller Liumer Fetter Albert King Robert Brannick Norris Snelling James Lazette Jess Shively and others with causes including robbery murder and life or long-term sentences.
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