Research

Scope and Content Note

Summary information concerns inmate's background and offense and the manner of discharge.

The register is divided into two parts, each with a different format. From 1859 to 1872, admission information for an inmate appears on a left side page and discharge information for the same inmate appears on the corresponding right side page. After 1872, inmate admission and discharge entries are not correlated. Regardless of format, admission entries provide the following information: inmate name and case number; book number (reference to the appropriate volume of Inmate Case Histories); date of admission; division and class number; age; where from (either inmate's previous residence or court which committed inmate); offense; nativity (place of birth by city for New York State, by state for other American-born, and by nation for foreign-born); and ethnic/racial heritage of parents (not entered during the years 1869 to 1872). Discharge entries provide the following information: inmate name and case number (entered after 1872 only); to whom indentured or discharged; occupation; date of discharge; division and class number; and remarks, which may include additional information on the inmate's discharge, such as the place of a master's residence or a statement that an inmate was released for Civil War military service.