The Texas State Penitentiary Board of Commissioners was responsible for overseeing the treatment of convicts, preparing an annual inventory of property, purchasing land for the penitentiaries, purchasing machinery, effecting repairs, leasing the penitentiaries, leasing convicts for outside labor, purchasing and/or leasing farms for the employment of convicts, and providing for the transfer of convicts from county jails to the penitentiary. Records are two letterpress books containing copies of outgoing letters of the Penitentiary Board, dating from April 1883 to April 1889. They reflect the activities of the board in the prison's management. Missing are incoming letters to the board. These letters document a wide range of penitentiary affairs including routine actions such as appointments, and special activities, such as the construction of the state capitol. The volumes contain acknowledgments, responses to requests, appointments, approval of reports and actions of prison officials, and financial transactions. The letters are signed by the secretary of the board and each volume has an index to correspondents. Subjects covered include transportation of convicts to the prison, contracting for convict labor, offers and purchase of land for state farms, and construction work done by convicts for the state capitol. This series was removed from the overall TDJC finding aid due to the electronic file size limitations imposed by the online finding aid web site (TARO). If you are reading this electronically, click on the following link to access the overall finding aid, Texas Department of Criminal Justice records (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/tslac/20127/tsl-20127.html). Archives search room, this finding aid is found in a separate divider within the same binder.
