1826 John Quincy Adams - Washington D.C. Penitentiary

In 1826, John Quincy Adams chose Charles Bulfinch as the architect to design a new penitentiary in Washington D.C. The original penitentiary consisted of a 20 foot wall enclosing a 300 foot yard and three buildings. There was one cell block containing 160 cells and it was flanked on either side by two similar buildings which were housed administrative offices and a hospital. For 30 plus years, the penitentiary never really was self-sufficient or profitable, and in 1862, Abraham Lincoln turned the prison into an arsenal as it was "absolutely necessary" for military purposes.

The story would be short and dull if it just ended there, but it continues.  On April 27th, 1865 the body of one John Wilkes Booth was transferred from the USS Montauk to the Washington D.C. "Arsenal" Penitentiary and buried 10 feet deep in a storage room. In addition, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton brought to the penitentiary, several suspects who were apprehended and believed to be directly involved in the plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. The Washington D.C. penitentiary had not been used as a prison for three years, but surrounded by water on three sides, it was considered to be one of the most heavily guarded and secure places in the country. This security was necessary, because it was thought that Southern forces may try to break the prisoner's free or Northern loyalists may try to extract revenge on the conspirators. On July 7th, 1865 orders for the execution of four of these prisoners was carried out. The four conspirators were put to death by hanging in the yard of the penitentiary that was built almost 40 years earlier under the presidency of John Quincy Adams.

In President Adam's 1826 annual address to Congress, he announced the commencement of the building of the Washington D.C. Penitentiary.

"In conformity with the provisions of the act of 1825-05-20, to provide for erecting a penitentiary in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes, 3 commissioners were appointed to select a site for the erection of a penitentiary for the District, and also a site in the county of Alexandria for a county jail, both of which objects have been effected. The building of the penitentiary has been commenced, and is in such a degree of forwardness as to promise that it will be completed before the meeting of the next Congress. This consideration points to the expediency of maturing at the present session a system for the regulation and government of the penitentiary, and of defining a system for the regulation and government of the penitentiary, and of defining the class of offenses which shall be punishable by confinement in this edifice."

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 Living Bridge

Aside from this connection to Lincoln's assassination, John Quincy Adams is more often remembered for being a "living bridge" between the founding fathers and Abraham Lincoln. John Quincy Adams met Abraham Lincoln during Lincoln's term as a member of the House of Representatives from 1847 until Adam's death.