Henry,  Years ago I was doing some research on the suppression of the
Gabriel Conspiracy of 1800 in the Library of Virginia manuscript
collections, and came across has a report on the penitentiary.  Along
with reports of prisoner diet, expenditures of various kinds, it also
discussed what they produced in the prison workshops.  The report was in
the Governor's papers (James Monroe's adminstration).  I'm sorry I can't
give you a specific date beyond that.

Good luck.

David Kiracofe


David Kiracofe
History
Tidewater Community College
Chesapeake Campus
1428 Cedar Road
Chesapeake, Virginia 23322
757-822-5136
>>> Henry Wiencek <[log in to unmask]> 06/27/07 11:50 AM >>>
Having done soap, I turn to nails. Jefferson had a nailery at Monticello
in
the 1790s and early 1800s (until he was run out of business by cheap
British
imports) where he set to work slaves aged 10-16. A dissertation says
that
Jefferson's local competition for his nailery was the Virginia State
Penitentiary. The designer of the 'pen,' Benjamin Henry Latrobe,
consulted
with Jefferson on the design. The new prison was supposed to reflect the
most advanced "liberal" thinking on prison reform. I'm digging into the
sources, but does anyone know anything about the nailery at the state
prison? I'm wondering if it was Jefferson's idea, Latrobe's idea, or
someone
else's.  

Henry Wiencek