First Taylor County Jail

After the formation of Taylor County on January 19th, 1844, Pruntytown became the county seat, and a room in Abraham Williams's home was leased for $1 a month to serve as the county's first jail. That arrangement proved inadequate, and Zedekiah Kidwell received $1,954 to construct a new jail. From that jail, the first slaves in the United States were freed by order of President Lincoln on November 22nd, 1862, weeks before his Emancipation Proclamation of January 1st, 1863. The original structure burned in the spring of 1864 after lightning struck it.

West Virginia · United States