171. Jailer Pflanz & The Louisville Jail- Part 1

After briefly encountering Jailer John Reinhardt Pflanz Jr. in our episodes about Rainey Bethea, I went looking for a little more information—and wound up with a 10,000-word story. Born to German immigrants in Louisville’s Portland neighborhood, Pflanz rose from city councilman and local inventor to Jefferson County sheriff and, in 1898, county jailer. He quickly gained a reputation for running a tighter ship while advocating for cleaner, safer and more humane conditions inside Louisville’s dangerously overcrowded jail. In Part One, we explore Pflanz’s early political career, the supposed discovery of gold beneath one of his Portland properties, his appointment of the jail’s first female matron and his persistent campaign for a modern jail with separate wards for women, children and first-time offenders. But life inside the jail was rarely dull. There were elaborate dinners for public officials, a wedding between two prisoners, feuding matrons, a smallpox outbreak, an audacious escape through the roof and the arrival of men accused of involvement in the assassination of Governor William Goebel. Pflanz also survived a brutal election-day assault and endured devastating losses within his family. Although widely praised as a reform-minded jailer, Pflanz was also a deeply contradictory figure whose public speeches revealed the racism underlying Louisville and Kentucky politics at the turn of the twentieth century. Follow Kentucky History & Haunts for historical photographs, newspaper illustrations and more from this episode: Facebook: facebook.com/kyhistoryhaunts Instagram: instagram.com/kyhistoryhaunts Email: [email protected] Send mail to: Jessie 252 Whittington Pkwy Louisville, KY 40222