Jail comes downbeat stories remain

The stories the building could tell. While the physical entity of the Nuckolls County Jail will soon be but a memory, some of the tales associated with the structure will linger on far into the future.

A crew has been at work razing the building and removing the debris. Soon only an empty lot used for parking will remain on the site.

The jail was the first brick structure erected in Nelson. In 1878, after Nelson won the election to be named county seat as its rival, Elkton, faded into the fog of lost time, the jail was the first substantial structure built. Though Superior held the notion it should be the center of the Nuckolls County universe, the central location of Nelson made it the logical choice for the seat of county government.

The jail building served double duty. It functioned as a jail while housing the sheriff and his family. For many years, the wife of the sheriff would prepare meals for the prisoners as well as her family and a deputy.

The building had steel cells on the first floor which could house up to six male prisoners. A cell was installed at a later date on the second floor which could hold two female prisoners.

The jail housed those accused of minor crimes most of the time. Workers on the railroad were frequent guests as they blew off steam after the strenuous railroad work.

It was one of these workers who featured in the most egregious event to take place at the jail. In 1887, a popular local resident was found murdered after leaving Nelson with the proceeds from a livestock sale. A Rock Island Railroad worker, referred to as “Jim the Cook” was singled out as a suspect. The act enraged the local citizenry. A large group of masked men arrived at the jail in the dark of the night. They politely asked the sheriff to turn over his prisoner. When their request was rebuffed, they forced their way into the building and seized the prisoner. The mob acted as judge, jury and executioner for the hapless Jim. He was marched, hands bound, several blocks to the Rock Island railroad trestle spanning Elk Creek. He had a noose placed around his neck. Jim was then pushed off the edge of the trestle. His remains were left hanging. The morning Rock Island train arrival discovered the body. They cut the rope and left Jim on the creek bank. He was interred in an unmarked grave at the Nelson cemetery.

The humiliation did not end here. A few months later, a traveling phrenologist (a pseudo-science believing the shape of one’s skull defined their character) lectured in a nearby town. He boasted the skull was from a recently deceased murderer. An inspection of Jim’s unmarked grave site showed signs of having been recently disturbed. Coincidence? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

Most of the jail residents served their time and departed quietly.

One female inmate decided to try to leave early. Patricia Auck was arrested in 1972 on a charge of having forged a check in Superior. She was unable to post bond after her arraignment and was being held in the women’s cell on the second floor. She utilized a hairbrush and eating utensils to remove plaster and lathing to form an opening. She failed to account for the studs which were 12 inches apart and became wedged in place as she tried to fit through the space. She was subsequently freed and transferred to the Hastings Jail until her trial. Evidence of her endeavor was still visible 50 years later.

Inmates could be creative in creating their own early release program. In 1922, one jail resident recived a pie sent from Guide Rock. The sheriff, who wasn’t born yesterday, inspected the pie. In addition to the expected fruit filling there was an unconventional ingredient: three metal files. They were confiscated and the prisoner went pieless. One imagines him claiming they were not files at all but metal toothpicks to remove the berry seeds from his teeth. The sender of the pie was not identified. he is fortunate as Sheriff Agnew would have locked him up aslo.

Changing jail standards caught up with the building in 1981 and the jail portion was not used again except in 1983. A county resident, who may have viewed “Born Free,” released two lion cubs into the wild. After a multi-day lion safari across the Nuckolls County savannah, the cubs were lured into a cage. They were then housed in the jail until they were transported to a zoo.

The building continued to function as the office of the sheriff’s department. An addition was added to house additional communication equipment. It was cost prohibitive to upgrade the jail facilities to house prisoners.

When the department moved to its new location, the fate of the jail was sealed. Because of repairs needed to the building, the decision was made to have it razed.

The jail once featured a unique revolving door which allowed prisoners to enter the cell block without a door being opened. For those with a sense of nostalgic longing for the old jail, the Nuckolls County Museum is home to the revolving door, several volumes of jail logs and other memorabilia.

Though the building will be gone, the ghost of Jim the Cook may still wander the streets of Nelson searching for a way back to jail and safety.