Rice County Courthouse and Jail

Transcription

Justice tended to be routine in Rice County — administered by the county sheriff with the assistance of several constables who helped to keep the peace in the neighboring small towns and villages. Sometimes the work included criminal cases — theft, disorderly conduct, assault — but just as often the sheriff helped the courts of carrying out its work settling property disputes and personal injury suits. But some cases were not routine. In September 1876, the Younger brothers, Cole, James, and Bob, became the jail’s most famous inmates. Captured following their bold Northfield robbery attempt with Jesse and Frank James, the brothers were brought to Faribault for trial, and locked up in the county jail, which had been built only two years earlier. During the ensuing two months, the sheriff confronted a circus-like atmosphere as family members, reporters, and gawkers descended on the city. One report said that the Youngers were host to more than five thousand visitors during those two months. All this took a tragic turn on the night of October 3, 1876. Fearful of an attempt to spring the brothers from their jail cells, four guards — two inside and two outside — kept watch all through the night — with strict orders to stop anyone who attempted to approach the jail. When a figure emerged from the shadows at four a.m., guard Frank Glaser called for him to halt, and then pulled the trigger, killing city policeman Henry Kaepernick on the spot. Finally, in late November, the brothers pled guilty to the charge of murder and received a sentence of life imprisonment in Stillwater State Prison. Years later, the county had outgrown the old jail, which was also used as the Faribault city jail. Some inmates had to be sent to other counties for incarceration, and conditions were so poor that the state board of control ordered it to be demolished in 1910. The new jail was designed by Mankato architect Albert Schippel, who had gained a reputation for his public buildings throughout southern Minnesota. Here, he used the Richardsonian Romanesque style, with its impressive rounded tower accenting the entrance, the red tile roof, and the rusticated Kettle River stone foundation and trim. The new jail included a residence for the sheriff. When it opened, state inspectors declared to be “the best building of that character in the state, both from a standpoint of architecture and construction.” A local newspaper reporter found much to praise about the new jail as well, writing: "Sheriff Geiger has moved into his new residence, corner of Third Street and Second Avenue. It is one of the handsomest and most costly in the city." "He will take a limited number of boarders. All applicants must have a certificate of character from the District Judge." This building continued to take in boarders, so to speak, until 1975, when the new Law Enforcement Center opened next door.