The Libby Prison was perhaps the most famous Civil War prison.\u00a0 Located in Richmond, Virginia, it consisted of three buildings originally built as a tobacco warehouse in 1845 and leased beginning in 1854 by L. Libby & Son, Ship Chandlers.\u00a0 When the Civil War started, Libby, a native of Maine whose business primarily served Northern shippers, closed operations but continued his lease.\u00a0 When the first Union prisoners of war were brought to Richmond in 1861, he was forced to turn over the property for use as a prison.\u00a0 However, the business\u2019s sign was not taken down, so the buildings became popularly known as Libby Prison.\u00a0 Libby never did regain use of them — after the war, they continued to house prisoners for the next three years, this time former Confederates.\u00a0 Subsequently other business used the site.<\/p>\n
After being purchased in 1888 by a Chicago syndicate, the former Libby Prison was carefully dismantled and hauled in railroad cars to Chicago, where it was rebuilt the following year as The Great Libby Prison War Museum.\u00a0 The museum operated as a profitable attraction until 1899, when it was again dismantled to make way for the Chicago Coliseum.\u00a0 The collection and some of the bricks went to the Chicago Historical Society.\u00a0 Most of the wood from the structure was sold to an Indiana farmer named Frank Davis, who used them to construct a large barn.\u00a0 A publication of the Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee from the early 1960s states that his daughter, Miss Ella J. Davis, \u201cpresented the City of Richmond recently with a gavel made from this wood.\u201d\u00a0 An account from 1912 states that a Kansas legislator and former prisoner of war at Libby was presented with a gavel made from its wood in 1887.<\/p>\n
References:<\/p>\n
Blackmar, Frank W. Reprint of Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc.<\/em> … Vol. II. Chicago: Standard Pub. Co., 1912.\u00a0 Blue Skyways.<\/em>\u00a0 2002. http:\/\/skyways.lib.ks.us\/genweb\/archives\/1912\/m\/martins_administration.html (24 November 2004).<\/p>\n \u201cInaugurate Move for Memorial Hall.\u201d\u00a0 Reprint from New Castle News,<\/em> August 27, 1924. Reunions of the Soldiers of the 100th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment, “The Roundheads.”<\/em>\u00a0 7 July 2004.\u00a0 http:\/\/www.100thpenn.com\/59threunion.htm (24 November 2004).<\/p>\n Waitt, Robert W. \u201cLibby Prison.\u201d Reprint of Official Publication #12. <\/em>Richmond, Virginia: Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee, 1961- 1965. Civil War Richmond.<\/em>\u00a0 2004.\u00a0 http:\/\/www.mdgorman.com\/Prisons\/Libby\/libby_prison__robert_w_waitt.htm<\/em> (24 November 2004).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Libby Prison Civil War Relic Gavel<\/strong> A stained pine gavel with nicely turned head and handle.\u00a0 According to an attached card, it is a relic gavel made from a piece of the floor of the Libby Prison.\u00a0 The bulk of the wood from the Libby Prison was purchased by an Indiana farmer in 1899, and his daughter is known to have presented a relic gavel made from it to the City of Richmond (see below).\u00a0 Earlier references to gavels made from wood from the Libby Prison document their existence in 1887 and 1924 (see References).<\/p>\n Product description continues below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":41461,"template":"","meta":{"wds_primary_product_brand":0,"wds_primary_product_cat":0,"footnotes":""},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[4224],"product_tag":[521,2411,1254,2788,9708,1242],"class_list":{"0":"post-41459","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-archive-decorative-arts","7":"product_tag-antique","8":"product_tag-civil-war","9":"product_tag-gavel","10":"product_tag-lawyer","11":"product_tag-prison","12":"product_tag-relic","13":"post","14":"post-with-thumbnail","15":"post-with-thumbnail-large","17":"first","18":"outofstock","19":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/41459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/41459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41465,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/41459\/revisions\/41465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=41459"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=41459"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.georgeglazer.com\/wpmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=41459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAmerican: c. 1880s – 1920s
\nTurned stained pine
\nAttached card: \u201cGavel made from piece of floor of Libby Prison Civil War 1861 \u2013 Loaned by Mrs. Chas. Liessman\u201d
\n3.5 inches mallet head; 8.75 inches long overall<\/p>\n