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Prison Records

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emmydbd

unread,
Jun 12, 2009, 11:56:41 AM6/12/09
to

Good morning from Brooklyn New York,

Family lore has it that prior to WWI my grandfather did a short
stint in prison.

He was working for the Post Office and got caught stealing stamps.

Would anyoine have any idea where I might be able to locate these
records?

TIA,
Emmy

emmydbd <emm...@yahoo.com>

singhals

unread,
Jun 13, 2009, 11:34:11 AM6/13/09
to

> Family lore has it that prior to WWI my grandfather did a short
> stint in prison.
>
> He was working for the Post Office and got caught stealing stamps.
>
> Would anyoine have any idea where I might be able to locate these
> records?
>
> emmydbd


First, WHERE was the PO he worked for? NYC, Sheboygan, or Lower
Podunck?

Find the Federal Court nearest that PO, and check their dockets for
the surname (The US vs HISNAMEHERE). Now, check the local, hometown
newspaper beginning with the date on the docket and going back until
you find a mention. Now, work forward from the docket date in the
same newspaper to find out more about the trial and which prison he
drew.

Some of this will be on LDS Microfilm, some won't. Once you have a
location, www.familysearch.org and select LIBRARY and then LIBRARY
CATALOG and search for the locality.

Cheryl

singhals <sing...@erols.com>

bob gillis

unread,
Jun 14, 2009, 5:23:12 PM6/14/09
to

> Good morning from Brooklyn New York,
>
> Family lore has it that prior to WWI my grandfather did a short
> stint in prison.
>
> He was working for the Post Office and got caught stealing stamps.
>
> Would anyoine have any idea where I might be able to locate these
> records?
>
> emmydbd


Assuming that your grandfather also lived in Brooklyn,and since this
was a crime against the federal government, his records should be
in NARA at the Northeast Region, New York City office at Varick
Street; email newyork....@nara.gov, 1-866-840-1752 or
212-401-1620. Brooklyn is in the Eastern District of New York

I also found a free on-line site:
http://www.criminal-info.com/prisonrecords/
Check that out.

bob gillis

Lisa Lepore

unread,
Jun 14, 2009, 5:50:20 PM6/14/09
to

> Good morning from Brooklyn New York,
>
> Family lore has it that prior to WWI my grandfather did a short
> stint in prison.
>
> He was working for the Post Office and got caught stealing stamps.
>
> Would anyoine have any idea where I might be able to locate these
> records?
>
> Emmy emmydbd <emm...@yahoo.com>


By any chance, was his name James J. Sheridan?

I looked around at the NY Times historical newspaper database by
proquest, and found a small article about this Sheridan man on
September 3 1915

I was thinking if you could find an article in a newspaper, you
could find the name of the prison he was sent to, or at least narrow
down the time frame.

I'll send that article to you just in case...

Check with your local library to see if they have access to these
historical newspapers.

Also, if he was from Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Library is digitizing
the Brooklyn Eagle, but it is only on line up to 1902. If you visit
the library, you can probably look at later papers on microfilm

Lisa lle...@comcast.net

Michael Reich

unread,
Jun 15, 2009, 11:05:13 AM6/15/09
to

> > Good morning from Brooklyn New York,
> >
> > Family lore has it that prior to WWI my grandfather did a short
> > stint in prison.
> >
> > He was working for the Post Office and got caught stealing stamps.
> >
> > Would anyoine have any idea where I might be able to locate these
> > records?
> >
> > emmydbd
>
> Assuming that your grandfather also lived in Brooklyn,and since this
> was a crime against the federal government, his records should be
> in NARA at the Northeast Region, New York City office at Varick
> Street; email newyork....@nara.gov, 1-866-840-1752 or
> 212-401-1620. Brooklyn is in the Eastern District of New York
>
> I also found a free on-line site:
> http://www.criminal-info.com/prisonrecords/
> Check that out.
>
> bob gillis


Well, that website appears to be another "pay to see the results"
site. I didn't see anything free. It appears to be a Canadian
commercial venture, not a government site. No way to know if it
actually provides useful information until you pay and register.

Michael Reich <mare...@yahoo.com>

emmydbd

unread,
Jun 15, 2009, 11:07:31 AM6/15/09
to

> > Good morning from Brooklyn New York,
>
> > Family lore has it that prior to WWI my grandfather did a short
> > stint in prison.
>
> > He was working for the Post Office and got caught stealing stamps.
>
> > Would anyoine have any idea where I might be able to locate these
> > records?
>
> > emmydbd
>
> Assuming that your grandfather also lived in Brooklyn,and since this
> was a crime against the federal government, his records should be
> in NARA at the Northeast Region, New York City office at Varick
> Street; email newyork.archi...@nara.gov, 1-866-840-1752 or

> 212-401-1620. Brooklyn is in the Eastern District of New York
>
> I also found a free on-line site:
> http://www.criminal-info.com/prisonrecords/
> Check that out.
>
> bob gillis


Thanks for all the replies. They were a big help. No it wasn't
James Sheridan and of course I had the time period wrong. But
thanks to the help of this group I was able to find what I was
looking for.

emmydbd <emm...@yahoo.com>

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