by Crystal Caudill | Apr 1, 2025 | Crystal's Books, History Facts, Writer's Life
It’s always fun to take a peek at the behind-the-scenes creation of a book and a peek at the research too!
Story Inspiration
The story spark for this story came from a variety of places. The political/judicial corruption and city rioting came from an event in 1884 that I discovered while researching Counterfeit Love. Two men were responsible for the violent death of their employer, William Berner and Joe Palmer. William Berner had connections, while Joe was a black man. Berner received a conviction of manslaughter with a maximum 20-year sentence, while his partner received a murder conviction and death sentence. The city felt someone had bought the jury in Berner’s favor and rioted. In the end, fifty-four men died, an estimated two hundred were wounded, and Berner escaped safely to the State Penitentiary to serve eleven years of his twenty-year sentence before being released for good behavior.
A Bit About Dime Novels
Dime novels were the first novel type to make books and reading available to the common man. On a wage of $5 to $8 a week, traditional books that cost $2 to $3 were cost-prohibitive to anyone below the middle class. Dime novels were cheaply printed, much smaller in length and size, and cost only a nickel to twenty-five cents.
In addition to being cheap, dime novels were the precursor to genre fiction. Searching for crime, suspense, mystery, romance, thrillers, westerns, etc? Thank Dime Novels. These stories became wildly popular and spurred other variations and genres. Are you a fan of subscription fiction services like Love Inspired or Guidepost? Yep, dime novels were their start.
Personal Behind-the-Scenes Facts
I wrote this story during one of my life’s most challenging caregiving seasons. Generally, a novel takes me about 6 months to draft, with another month or two for self-editing. However, due to lots of stops and starts as I dealt with multiple significant health crises for my mother-in-law (including a broken neck), this book took 14 months to draft, and I had to squeeze edits down to two weeks. This book was such a disjointed mess that I never thought it would come together, but by God’s grace and mercy (and a fantastic editing team), it is the book you read now.
Writing a “spin-off” series from Counterfeit Love brought challenges I hadn’t expected. In the first draft, the characters didn’t closely enough resemble their portrayal in Counterfeit Love, so I had to do some serious reworking of characters–especially Abraham Hall and Dr. Pelton. Although I swore I would never reread one of my books once published, I did indeed have to reread Counterfeit Love. I created a detailed document of information from Counterfeit Love that had to be kept the same in Written in Secret. Even more challenging, the characters had to stay similar to what they were in Counterfeit Love while being different enough to show how they grew between 1880 and 1884.
Each “Guardian” has flavors of my core group of girls and critique partners, The Mayhemmers. I am the one most like Theresa, Liz the one most like Lydia, Angela the most like Nora, and Voni the most like Flossie. However, each character is still their own person and not directly based on a Mayhemmer.
Written in Secret by Crystal Caudill
In the heart of nineteenth-century Cincinnati one woman holds the power to rewrite history.
What happens when fiction becomes reality? In the corruption-infested Queen City, danger lurks in every shadow, but Lydia Pelton refuses to stay silent. She writes under a pseudonym, E. A. Dupin, crafting crime novels to exact justice and right the wrongs she sees in society. When a serial killer decides to be the sword to her pen, Lydia is confronted with the consequences of her words. Four men are dead, and the city blames her.
With murders on the rise, Officer Abraham Hall’s only lead is Lydia’s fiction, and he is thrust into an investigation with the “Killer Queen of Romance.” Despite his misgivings about the woman, he realizes that even with his reputation for catching elusive criminals, he needs her help. But his unexpected attraction to Lydia proves as difficult to manage as the woman herself.
As the mystery unfolds, Abraham and Lydia race to rewrite the ending, not only for Cincinnati’s citizens, but for their own hearts too.
Purchase Links: Amazon | Apple Books | Baker Book House | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Christianbook | IndieBound | Kobo | Kregel Parable Christian Book Store
Month-Long Blog Giveaway #1
Help me celebrate the release of Written in Secret and get the word out about the new series. From March 4 to April 1, this giveaway will be open to those legally allowed to enter both domestically and internationally. International winners will be given a prize of equal value as shipping costs are prohibitive. See my giveaway policies for more details.
Prize: homemade book cozy, fuzzy socks, journal, reader mug mat, bookmarks, stickers, tea, and chapstick.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Month-Long Giveaway #2
Already have the book?? This giveaway is for you. Somewhere in the first fifty pages of Written in Secret is the answer to “What attacked Lydia and Abraham inside the circus tent?” Fill out the below Google Form to be entered for your chance to win a $25 gift card to Amazon or Baker Book House. The giveaway runs until April 11, 2024. The winner will be selected the week of April 12 and notified by email.
Enter Here
What is something you’d like to know about my research or behind the scenes that maybe I didn’t answer?
by Crystal Caudill | Jun 14, 2023 | Book and Writing Events, Counterfeit Faith, Crystal's Books, History Facts
Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all the stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!
- The hunt BEGINS on 6/15 at noon MST with Stop #1 at LisaTawnBergren.com.
- Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).
- There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 6/18 at midnight MST)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them.
- Submit your entry for the grand prizes by collecting the CLUE on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the Rafflecopter form at the final stop, back on Lisa’s site. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!
Whether you’re already a fan or I’m a new-to-you author, welcome! I’m Crystal Caudill, and I love to write spiritually rich historical romances fraught with danger and suspense. I do a ton of research with each of my books, and I have an entire shelf dedicated to what my children call “the murder shelf,” aka my criminal investigation, how to commit crimes, and poisonous plants books. You can find out more about me, my books, and my monthly reading challenge here on my website and on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, GoodReads, or BookBub. Despite what my “murder shelf” indicates, I’m not a criminal. I just write romance stories that often contain crimes. You can read about my latest crime-related release, Counterfeit Faith, below:
As Matron of Final Chance House of Refuge, Gwendolyn Ellison is responsible for the care and reformation of children deemed delinquents by society. When she discovers someone is abusing the children, she seeks to expose the abuse. But someone wants to keep it and their other secrets hidden, even if it means committing murder. Secret Service operative Josiah Isaacs can’t help but rescue a damsel-in-distress, but saving Gwendolyn leads to his discovery of a counterfeiting scheme that jeopardizes both Gwendolyn’s and the children’s lives. As they work together to solve the case and protect the children, attraction sparks between them. But Josiah is put off by Gwendolyn’s faith in a God he no longer trusts. If they survive, is a future together even possible when their beliefs are at odds?
The idea for this novel’s crime came from newspaper clippings I found while researching counterfeiting and the Secret Service. And now, it is my nerdy little joy to teach you something criminal . . .
How to Con a Con
I think everyone on the internet has received at least one email where a scammer tries to trick you into buying something fake so they can take your money. Generally, these con men are preying on innocent people. However, late 19th-century con men had their eyes on a completely different mark for their scheming ways: other con men. This tactic was so often used and so well-known that the newspapers consistently printed warnings and example letters. This con even had its own special name: The Green Goods Game.
So for your entertainment purposes only, I present “How to Con a Con.”
Example circular of a Green Goods Game scheme as printed in the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette on 8/10/1890.
The Target: Merchants and shop owners who are likely to pass counterfeits off to their customers as they conduct regular business. Identify struggling merchants, particularly those who are more likely to bend their moral stances to save their stores or those you already know or suspect will buy counterfeits.
The Strategy: Mail circulars to targeted businessmen and indicate you have counterfeit money of good quality to sell at a reasonable price. Flatter and appeal to their sense of working with a friend. Have them respond to you by mail with their signature, address, and the phrase: “Please send me terms, particulars, &c.’
If they respond, provide an “example” of your work in the form of a genuine one-dollar note. Then, when they purchase said counterfeit money, either have them meet you to pick up their product or mail it to them.
1880 One Dollar Legal Tender Bank Note
The Trade and the REAL Product: If your client wishes to see the product before exchanging money, it may be necessary to set up a switch. Show them some genuine notes, cause a distraction, and then provide them with a roll of green-dyed paper with a genuine note facing out on each side. Otherwise, if they mail you the money, there is no need to mail them anything back.
Why It Works: What person will report to the police that they were conned while attempting to purchase counterfeit money? After all, purchasing counterfeit money is a punishable crime in and of itself.
WARNING: If the Post-office Inspector discovers you are participating in this scheme, you will be arrested and held with a default bail of $2,500 (about $83,000 today).
So reader, are you willing to take the risk to con a con?
Here’s Your Critical Stop #13 Info:
If you’re interested, you can order Counterfeit Faith on Amazon, Baker Book House, Barnes & Noble, Christianbook.com or at your local bookstore!
Clue to Write Down: and just
Link to Stop #14, the Next Stop on the Loop: Roseanna M. White’s site!
But wait!!! Don’t go yet!!
I’m holding my own giveaway right here! All you have to do is sign up for my newsletter. (You’ll get Counterfeit Truth free out of the deal too!) Bonus points to those who follow me on Bookbub and/or Facebook. Just use the King Sumo widget below. This is open to everyone who is legally able to participate, but if you are an international reader, I will send you an Amazon gift card and some bookmarks, stickers, and a signed bookplate instead. The winner of this giveaway will be selected on June 19th and notified by email afterward. What are you winning? Glad you asked . . .
Prize: Homemade Booksleeve, Set of Page Flags, Bible Journaling Stickers, Set of Book Quote Stickers, Metalic Ink Pens, Counterfeit Love Notebook (to journal in or better yet! Keep track of all your great reads), Counterfeit Money Detector, and a Set of Hidden Hearts of the Gilded Age bookmarks.
And if you are having trouble getting entered, just shoot me a note through my contact form, or comment below. Bonus entries for signing up for my newsletter, following me on BookBub, GoodReads, or Facebook.
Best of luck, and happy hunting! – Crystal
a Rafflecopter giveaway
by Crystal Caudill | Jun 6, 2023 | Counterfeit Faith, History Facts
Back to Bonus Content Back to Books
Initially, in my research for Counterfeit Faith, I began my studies looking at the history of orphanages intending for my story to be set there. However, during my research, I stumbled upon the concept of a House of Refuge. Having worked a summer during college at a camp for at-risk youth, my heart was immediately drawn to this setting and the stories of the children who were deemed juvenile delinquents. I had to know more, and you can read the results of that study in the story. However, like any historical novel, I couldn’t include everything I learned. So this is blog post is an attempt to give a brief overview of Houses of Refuge.
“To accomplish the work of reformation, it is essential that depraved children should be removed from the contaminating contact with wicked associates, both adult and juvenile, and transplanted to a purer and more health-inspiring moral atmosphere. Many of them have been roughly treated by the world, and should be looked upon ‘with a countenance more in sorrow than in anger.’ The light which guided them was not that of virtue, but the lurid glare springing from the polluted and deathly quagmires or society. If any man proud of his integrity and high social position should be tempted to look sternly on erring youth, he should reflect on what he might have been, if penury and ignorance had been the only endowments of his childhood.”
Thomas Budd upon the opening of the new White Female Department Building, January 20th, 1872
Why They Were Created
Prior to the early 1800s, convicted youths were confined to jails and penitentiaries with hardened criminals, regardless of the crimes or noncriminal behavior that placed them there. A child who had been picked up off the street for vagrancy may have been in the same cell as a man who had brutally murdered someone. Not only were they housed with adults, but the institutions were also overcrowded, many of them decrepit. It was a terrible situation that came under the notice of a social welfare movement.
Thomas Eddy and John Griscom organized the Society for the Prevention of Pauperism, establishing the first House of Refuge in 1825. It was located in Manhattan, New York, and remained open until 1935. Many other institutions throughout the country followed suit, creating their our state or privately ran Houses of Refuge. These institutes were designed to house poor, destitute, and vagrant youth who were deemed by authorities to be on the path toward delinquency. In other words, Houses of Refuge were the predecessors to today’s juvenile justice system.
How Did a House of Refuge Work?
There were some varying differences from institution to institution, but in general, youths under the age of 21 who had been abandoned, convicted of a crime, or homeless could be referred to the institution through a judge or mayor for at least one year. Many of those children actually spent an indefinite amount of time in these institutions before being placed into indenture agreements, where the inmates would work and train under the supervision of their employer until they reached the age of 21. If a child could not be indentured in cases of mental physical infirmity or otherwise, they could be returned to friends (as they believed the parents were generally a bad influence on the children), sent to the almshouse (poorhouse), or otherwise “placed out.” Girls were trained in housewifery, sewing, washing, and cooking. Anything that went along with managing a house or serving in a house that could afford paid help. Boys were apprenticed sed to apprentice as farmers, printers, tanners, carpenters, blacksmiths, and shoemakers.
Indentured Locations May 1834
However, before children could reach this position of indentured service, they had to earn the right of relative freedom granted through such an agreement. When children were brought into the institutions, they were divided up by sex and then advanced through the following classes. (*This was the class system of the Philadelphia House of Refuge, but each institution had its own variant.)
About Division of Inmates
“The children shall be divided into eleven classes, class No. 10 being the lowest–advancing to No. 1–and the eleventh being the Class of Honor. When admitted, they shall be placed in Class No. 10, and be promoted (when deserving) monthly, until they have gone through the first ten classes, when they shall be placed in the Class of Honor. After they have been two months in that class, they shall be placed in charge of the Indenturing Committee: Provided, that nothing in this rule shall prevent the Board of Managers from discharging a child when it is obviously to the advantage of the child that he or she should not be longer retained.” – By-laws, Rules, & Regulations of the Board of Managers of the House of Refuge: Adopted 1876 (Philadelphia, PA)
An Inmate’s Day
The children’s days were highly regimented with a focus on moral, intellectual, and physical improvement. Days began at 5 am and went until an 8 pm bedtime. The children would labor for six to seven hours, have schooling for three hours, have 30 minutes for each meal, 30 minutes of devotional time, and three hours of recreational time–all of which was strictly supervised. The concept was that idle hands are the devil’s workshop. The children’s labor supported the operating expenses for the reformatory. You can see the items produced in 1834 by the Philadelphia House of Refuge below, as well as a sample schedule.
-
-
Example Schedule from the By-Laws
-
-
Items Produced by Boys
-
-
Items Produced by Girls
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
The goal of a House of Refuge was to reform, educate, and provide a Christian moral foundation for inmates so that they could become productive and desired members of society. Unfortunately, like many institutions, Houses of Refuges had the best intentions but suffered from the same issues that plagued the adult facilities. Houses of Refuge quickly outgrew their capacity and became overcrowded, suffered from deteriorating conditions, and staff abuse. In 1876, the Philadelphia House of Refuge underwent a nine-day investigation into abuse. Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives “found that the board punished children by banning play, sending them to bed without supper, placing them in solitary confinement, and even imposing lashings. The board forced children to labor in institutional workshops six days a week without pay and, to make matters worse, thousands of dollars in profits from the goods produced went directly to the board. Despite the prevalence of punishments, the House committee deemed that the board’s actions were not abusive.” (The Encylopedia of Greater Philadelphia, “House of Refuge” by James Kopaczewski.)
By WWII, most, if not all, Houses of Refuge had either closed or restructured and changed their names or taken on the new concept of juvenile jails. You can still find private and state-ran boarding school situations for at-risk youth all over the country. While they hold many similarities to the Houses of Refuge of old, it is my hope they do not suffer from the same issues that plagued their predecessor.
So what are your thoughts on Houses of Refuge, reader? What questions do you have?
RESOURCES: (A Small sampling)
Budd, T. A. (n.d.). An address delivered at the opening of the new building of the White Female Department of the House of Refuge, January 20th, 1872. HathiTrust. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.rslvjr (Address given on January 20th, 1872.)
Henry, A., & Barclay, J. J. (1835, May 1). Annual report of the House of Refuge of Philadelphia. 7th. HathiTrust. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951002246474k
Juvenile Justice History. Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. (n.d.). https://www.cjcj.org/history-education/juvenile-justice-history
Kopaczewski, J. (2022, March 28). House of Refuge. Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/house-of-refuge/
New York State Archives. (1989). The Greatest Reform School in the world: A guide to the records of the New York House of Refuge. The Greatest Reform School in the World. https://www.archives.nysed.gov/sites/archives/files/res_topics_ed_reform.pdf
Pickett, R. S. (1969).
House of Refuge: Origins of Juvenile Reform in New York State, 1815-1857. Syracuse University Press.
https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv64h7hd
Teerters, N. K. (n.d.). The Early Days of the Philadelphia House of Refuge. https://journals.psu.edu/phj/article/view/22729/22498
by Crystal Caudill | May 23, 2023 | Counterfeit Faith, History Facts
Counterfeit Truth and Counterfeit Faith take place in Philadelphia, and while so much of the city has stayed the same, much of it has changed. In this tour, I’m sharing pictures of settings from Counterfeit Faith during my whirlwind two-day tour of Philadelphia. First off, did you know that Philadelphia is only two miles from river to river? I couldn’t believe how much they had cram-packed into that little space, but WOW. So, in reality, the majority of my story took place within two square miles. That really just blows my mind. So let’s take off.
Of course, Carpenters Hall was under construction when I went.
The Philadelphia Library, where Josiah first laid eyes on Gwendolyn as he came down those stairs.
Carpenters Hall is where we must start our tour because, of course, that is where Gwendolyn first starts out waiting for Mr. Farwell. You might have caught on to my intentional pun with his name if you’ve read the book. Poor Mr. Farwell must say farewell during the story, and I just couldn’t help myself. Nothing about Independence Park is the same as when Counterfeit Faith took place. In 1885, Carpenter Hall sat in the center of a city block surrounded by other businesses and buildings. There were a couple of alleys to access it, but there was no direct view. If you notice the cobblestone part of the walkway, that was approximately the size of the entrance between buildings to access Carpenters Hall.
It was while leaving this building that Josiah first laid eyes on Gwendolyn. It’s a good thing he did too, and more importantly, he noticed Quincy’s knife blade. It was at this location that everything was set into motion for two people to come together to rescue at-risk children, find love, and face more than their share of danger. For a woman who is used to being ignored or having to rescue herself, Josiah’s heroic intervention sets her heart aflutter and stirs dreams of romance that she’d long thought dead. Personally, I was a little giddy getting to stand on these steps and imagine the heroic rescue as it occurred. Of course, some of the buildings have been moved, and things don’t look 100% the way they did, but it was close enough to really enjoy the experience.
Houses that look like Josiah’s would have.
While the gorgeous houses on Arch Street described in the book no longer exist, I did see some houses that are similar in style. They’re larger than some of the other homes I found, and they had those stoops, shutters, and arched doorways that I was looking for. It was the best match I could find, and my mind relished imagining Josiah and Gwendolyn conversing on those steps.
Josiah worked for the Secret Service, which had offices in the unfinished City Hall building. When Josiah was there, the tower would not have been finished yet, nor would the giant William Penn statue have been on display. He worked in the judicial wing, and his office was hidden behind numbers without signage. He would have taken one of the sets of floating stairs to get to his floor of the building. These were such an architectural phenomenon that Wanamakers, the department store across the street, sold pamphlets and tours to show off those stairs. As you can see below, no supports are beneath it, just solid pieces of granite worked into the wall. Originally I had Josiah nervous to walk on them, but after having walked them myself, I knew Josiah wouldn’t have had a problem. They are so beautiful and fascinating I had to include pictures of all three views of the stairs.
-
-
A small portion of the massive City Hall.
-
-
Office door similar to what Josiah’s would have been.
-
-
View straight on.
-
-
View from top down.
-
-
View from the bottom up.
Going back to Wanamaker. I don’t know if you caught it in the story, but Wanamaker’s was the department store where Gwendolyn’s mother and aunt worked. It was one of the first of its kind, offering set prices, return policies, various departments, artwork as fine as you would find in a gallery, and service for all levels of customers. Wanamaker was a brilliant man who helped to change the way people shopped. No more dickering and haggling over prices. Everyone paid the same price for the same item. Wanamaker’s no longer exists, but the store is now a Macy’s. Believe it or not, Wanamaker made the bold move of buying a former train station to turn it into his department store. I’m not sure if this location was the original train station location, but it’s definitely taller than it would have been in 1885. Those other floors were added later.
I’ll end my tour with a nod to Felicity from Counterfeit Truth. One of my big goals of this trip was to eat a Philadelphia pretzel . . . but apparently, they aren’t as big now as they were during Felicity’s time. The ONE pretzel I found was a sore disappointment that had to be rectified by going to my favorite pretzel place when I got home. However, the Reading Market (I think?) DID have some chocolate ice cream for me to sample from Bassetts that I must heartily agree is amazing. The whole time I ate that giant cone, I thought of Felicity eating ice cream with Mr. Cochran. If you haven’t read that book yet, you can download a free copy by joining my newsletter or purchasing it on Amazon.
by Crystal Caudill | Feb 21, 2023 | Bonus Content, Counterfeit Hope, History Facts
Why would I set a counterfeiting romantic suspense story in rural Indiana? As usual, research is the answer.
I discovered an article from 1883 describing the successful arrest of the Honchins (or Houchins, depending on the resource) gang by a joint effort of the Secret Service and US Marshals. The gang was responsible for not only counterfeiting but killing stock, stealing, and terrorizing the citizens with threats, insults, and violence. Even the local police were afraid to stand up against them. Stendal was the original town I was going to use, but I ended up creating a sister town next to Stendal so that I could set up the building locations and population to better suit my needs. While the original undercover Secret Service operatives spent months covering three or more counties, I needed to focus my area a little more confined for the sake of plotting. Below you can find information on two real locations from the story, including pictures of my visit to the real Stendal.
Stendal, IN
Stendal owes its beginnings to the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church which was formed in 1861. Services were held in members’ homes until 1864, when a church was built. In 1867, Reverend William G.C. Bauermeister became the first resident pastor. Land was donated to form the town, and he named it Stendal after his birthplace in Saxony.
As is usually the case with rural locations, modern-day Stendal is a shadow of the town it once was. While it was always small compared to other areas, it was once a booming little town. This was largely due to Stendal being many miles from any railroad or waterway with nearly impassible roads and trails, making it necessary to be a self-contained town.
From: A History of Lockhart Township by McKinley Hagemeyer
“Stendal at one time had a tobacco barn, a cooper’s shop, cobbler’s shop, two furniture and casket factories, two blacksmith shops, a millinery, a wagon works, a brickyard, a livery stable, a gristmill, a sawmill, a creamery, a flour mill, a canning factory, three churches, three doctors, an undertaker, a barber shop, a saddle and harness shop, and, of course, few towns would be self-contained without a saloon and hotel. Stendal had those too. The same causes which brought these industries drove them away: bad roads, poor transportation, plus another, automation. When the need for them passed, they too surrendered to progress.”
Photos of my trip to Stendal and photos of Stendal’s glory days.
-
-
Welcome to Stendal!
-
-
Stendal 1875-1890. L-R. Drug Store owned by OJ Greenway, General Merchandise Store owned by FH Poetker, and Hardware Store owned by Farabee and Killion. Photo Credit: Stendal Sesquicentennial
-
-
Men posing for a picture in front of the Beadles and Tevault Store. Photo Credit: Stendal Sesquicentennial
-
-
Photo Credit: Stendal Sesquicentennial
-
-
Photo Credit: Stendal Sesquicentennial
-
-
Similar to what I envisioned for Ma Frances’s house.
-
-
I believe this used to be the furniture store, but it is similar to what I envisioned for Grossman’s.
-
-
This is sort of what I envisioned for
-
-
Now abandoned building
-
-
A home in the area.
-
-
Some of the woods surrounding Stendal.
Boonville, IN
One of my favorite parts of the Boonville setting was visiting the Boonville Jail. Well, visit it in fiction. I never had the pleasure of visiting it in real life. I know there was a big push to have the building restored in 2019, but there have been no more posts from the group pushing for it since then.
The Boonville Jail
The Warrick County Jail was built in 1876 and was state-of-the-art for its time. I had running water for sinks, toilets, and showers. The cells were made of straight and corrugated iron bars. The building had a large yard surrounding it and large windows with glazed glass. The jail was built in two sections. The main level of the front part held a food pantry, kitchen, parlor, and main hall. The upstairs was used as living quarters for the sheriff and his family and space to hold female prisoners. From my understanding, the kitchen had a steel door barrier to the prisoners, and it was the responsibility of the sheriff and his family to cook and serve meals to the prisoners. Meals were cooked for the prisoners and delivered to their cells.
The back half was one and a half stories tall with 12 prison cells. It had high arched ceilings for airflow and to prevent escape attempts. In each lighted and ventilated cell, there were two bunks, a sink, and a toilet. The walls were 22 inches thick and plated on the inside with boiler iron. Below are a few pictures of the jail.
-
-
Older picture of the jail. Photo Credit: Warrick Co. Historic Jail
-
-
Street view from Google Maps.
-
-
Street view from Google Maps.
-
-
Street view from Google Maps.
-
-
Front view of a jail cell. Photo Credit: Warrick Co. Historic Jail
-
-
The high arched ceilings. Updated for use as a Senior Citizen center and then storage. Photo Credit: Warrick Co. Historic Jail
-
-
Current interior of the cells . . . well from the outside. Interior pictures had people, so I could not include them.Photo Credit: Warrick Co. Historic Jail
Here are some pictures of Boonville back in the 19th century.
by Crystal Caudill | Mar 18, 2022 | History Facts
It’s release month for Counterfeit Love and I thought it might be fun to share some of my behind-the-scenes research of the Hidden Hearts of the Gilded Age series. I’ll also be running a giveaway all month long with each Counterfeit Love / Secret Service post for your chance to win one of three prizes. Read through this post to the bottom to discover the details.
Did you know that the Secret Service didn’t officially start protecting the president until 1902 but were established in 1865? So what did they do for those almost forty years?
The answer? Track down and arrest counterfeiters.
The Early Days of the Secret Service
It is estimated that one-third of the circulating U.S. currency was counterfeit during the period of the Civil War. How is that possible? Well, until 1863, there was no national currency. Each state and bank had its own design for banknotes making it an easy world for counterfeiters to thrive. When the United States instituted a national currency in 1863, the problem of counterfeiting continued to thrive, which was bad news for our country. Public confidence in a nation’s currency is critical to the health of the country’s economy, and the United States was in serious trouble.
On April 14th, 1865 Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCullough brought attention to the growing trouble of counterfeiting and insisted a permanent, continuous, aggressive organized effort was needed to thwart this menace to the economy. Abraham Lincoln agreed and authorized him to move forward. That same night, Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth. Despite the turmoil in the government that followed, on July 5, 1865, William P. Wood was sworn in as the first Chief of the U.S. Secret Service.
About 30 men made up this first group of Secret Service operatives. Headquarters was established in Washington D.C. while eleven field offices were placed in cities throughout the country. A guide list of six “general orders” was issued*:
- Each man must recognize that his service belongs to the government through 24 hours of every day.
- All must agree to assignment to the locations chosen by the Chief and respond to whatever mobility of movement the work might require.
- All must exercise such careful saving of money spent for travel, subsistence, and payments for information as can be self-evidently justified.
- Continuing employment in the Service will depend upon demonstrated fitness, ability as investigators, and honesty and fidelity in all transactions.
- The title of regular employees will be Operative, Secret Service. Temporary employees will be Assistant Operatives or Informants.
- All employment will be at a daily pay rate; accounts submitted monthly. Each operative will be expected to keep on hand enough personal reserve funds to carry on Service business between paydays.
(*Taken from The United States Secret Service by Warren S. Bowen and Harry Edward Neal.)
Credentials came in the form of handwritten letters of appointment until an incident in 1871 made them reconsider. Ira W. Raymond waltzed into a field office posing as an operative and demanded all contraband be turned over to him. The operative on duty felt it odd he wouldn’t have been notified and telegrammed headquarters. Raymond was arrested, but this prompted Chief Whitley (the second Chief) to design and issue distinctive badges and printed credentials to all members of the Secret Service.
These badges were five-pointed, silver stars with lacework engraved into each point. “U.S. Secret Service” was stamped into the center of each. Operatives had $25 deducted from their paycheck for the badges, with the promise it would be returned upon retirement when they turned in their badge. Each operative carried engraved and printed credentials called commissions from that point forward.
Unfortunately, the first two administrations of the Secret Service were fraught with scandal, leaving a cloud hanging over the public image of the division. Chief Washburn made some repairs to their reputation, but it was Chief James J. Brooks who really turned things around.
One of Chief Brooks’s first acts what to compile and issue the first formal manual of instructions for operatives. These were called “General Orders No. 4.” It was under his reformation that the Secret Service was officially recognized as its own division with the Treasury Department and had its own budget, limited as it was. Chief Brooks was a hard man and did not believe in vacations for his men. Any leave of absence was given without pay. But through his leadership, public opinion began to shift in a more positive direction toward the Secret Service.
Curious to learn more? I’ll be posting more over the coming weeks. Or you can check out the bonus content section of my website.
Your chance to comment: Did you know any random facts about the Secret Service? Was there anything particularly interesting that stuck out to you?
Enter the Rafflecopter below to be entered to win one of three prizes: (Grand prize) – A signed copy of Counterfeit Love with a book sleeve made by my Momma, a toe bag with story-related prizes inside, (2nd prize) – A signed copy of Counterfeit Love with a book sleeve made by my Momma, socks, and a bookmark, (3rd prize) A signed copy of Counterfeit Love with a book sleeve made by my Momma and a bookish zipper bag. Entries run from March 1st to March 31st, 11:59pm EST. *Open to those legally able to enter, U.S. residents only for the physical prizes, international winners will be given a prize of equal value to whichever level they win.*
a Rafflecopter giveaway
