Sleeping with the Spirits at the WV State Penitentiary

Convicts in the prison yard of the WV State Pen (1914) Source: WV History on View

Over the course of its long history, the West Virginia State Penitentiary at Moundsville has suffered from a multitude of logistical problems, the most common being overcrowding. In late 1922, the prison had once again exceeded its designed capacity and was now home to well over 1600 inmates. Warden Terrell was running out of sheer space to store all these men, so he came up with a brilliant plan!

The Death House, which was a small building annexed off the main prison, had four cells. As these cells were only used to house inmates who had an upcoming date with the gallows, they weren’t in full operation. What if some of the overflow was housed there?

The decision was made to select 35 inmates, all African Americans, to bunk down in the Death House. I cannot come up with a reason other than sheer racism why the black prison population was chosen, but they were. However, this wasn’t without problems.  

A trope that continually shows up in these old newspaper articles I share is the stereotype that African Americans are extremely superstitious and afraid of ghosts and spirits. Therefore, the article in question notes that it took a while, but 35 men were found who claimed, “no fear of spooks.”  Warden Terrell managed to find almost three dozen men that had no qualms in sleeping in the area where a quoted two score of men had spent their last moments, waiting to die at the hands of the state for crimes accused.

I don’t like to think of myself as a particularly superstitious person, but even I have to admit a certain ick factor when it comes to using such a dark place for regular inmates. But it worked out. After a thorough cleaning and disinfecting (which included the removal of anything that would remind the prisoners where they were), the men were ready. Each night, they’d move 35 cots into the area, which were set up in and around the annex and cells. It was said that the sleeping arrangements were just as comfortable as anywhere else in the prison, with an added bonus of increased security features, allowing one guard to manage all 35 inmates. It was even said that many of the inmates assigned to the Death House annex had a sense of pride concerning their new quarters.  I wonder, though….did anyone actually ever have a paranormal experience there? Did the spirits of the executed men ever make their presences known to the 35 inmates who temporarily got a taste of death row?

*MORE WV State Penitentiary Articles!*

03 December 1922 Charleston Daily Mail