Sheriff and families used to live in jail
Staff reporter
As children, they played in the yard just like other children.
Their home was like any other home, their family like other families.
The difference was these children grew up living in a jail.
"As kids we never really thought about it," said Ed Davies, former Marion County Sheriff and son of a sheriff.
Davies was six years old when his father, Lloyd M. Davies, was Marion County sheriff from 1942-48. In those days, the sheriff served two-year terms and was restricted to two terms.
From the time the current jail was built in 1932 until Ed became sheriff in 1988, sheriffs and their families lived on the ground floor of the jail building.
Safety was never an issue, Davies recalled.
"We weren't allowed to go upstairs into the jail but our parents didn't seem worried about our safety around the prisoners."
It was a different time then. Many residents were farmers, working long hours leaving little time for mischief.
"People didn't have as much free time then," Davies said, "and people looked out for each other."
Davies and his sister Audrey Ann Davies Slocombe of Peabody, who is a year older, played on the courthouse lawn.
"Back then, the annex building wasn't there and there was a field between the jail and the train depot," said Davies, which made ideal areas for a playground.
Davies' mother prepared the meals for the prisoners and for her family.
A "dumbwaiter" was used to hoist the trays of food with an elevator-type apparatus from the family's living quarters to the second floor where the prisoners were housed.
"I often helped my mother by loading the trays and operating the dumbwaiter," Davies said. He recalled an average population of three or four prisoners.
At that time, the sheriff's department was a two-man operation — a sheriff and undersheriff. There was no dispatcher or jailers to assist.
"It was like we were in jail, too," Davies said, relating to his father's continuous responsibilities of law enforcement and guarding prisoners.
"When my dad got a call, my mom had to be at the jail while he was gone," Davies said. "Somebody had to be at the jail at all times."
Davies recalled two female prisoners who were incarcerated for a year for forgery.
"They helped my mother clean the house and cook meals," Davies said. That was the only contact he and his sister had with prisoners.
He also recalled a mentally ill prisoner.
"At night I could hear the prisoner banging his head against his bunk," Davies said.
Otherwise, his childhood in the county jail was uneventful and Davies considers his childhood to be normal.
Changing times
In 1981, an addition was completed on the east end of the jail building. The addition provided additional office space and storage.
Mike Childs, who was elected in 1984, was the last sheriff to live in the jail.
Childs resigned Feb. 15, 1988, and Davies was appointed March 4, 1988, to complete Childs' term. Davies then was elected in November 1988 and served two terms as sheriff.
"I chose not to live in the jail," Davies said. At the time Davies was appointed, there were four deputies and 24-hour dispatchers.
"There was no need to have a sheriff in-house," Davies added.
The former living quarters were converted into office and storage space.
As one can imagine, the sheriff's pay has changed considerably over the years.
According to payroll records during Lloyd Davies' terms as sheriff from 1944-48, he was paid $1,680 per year or around $167 per month, plus free housing and meals. The undersheriff was paid $1,610 per year.
While Childs was in office, he received $1,452 per month plus $200 in-kind pay, plus free housing and meals.
When Ed Davies was elected sheriff in 1988, his monthly pay was $1,750 without room and board.
Today the sheriff's department investigates more complex crimes than chicken thieves and cattle rustlers of the 1930s.
Drug manufacturing, drug abuse, vehicular accidents, and domestic issues are a few of the complex incidents the department investigates.
The sheriff earns $34,152 per year for managing deputies, a jail, and the responsibilities that comes with being the county's top law enforcement officer.
The jail still operates 24 hours without a live-in sheriff. Instead corrections officers and dispatchers provide around-the-clock services.
