1/14 Hi everyone! I’m Annie Anderson, Manager of Research here at Eastern State. I’m taking over ESP’s Twitter to lead you in a discussion about families at the penitentiary. Follow along and tweet your questions with the hashtag #HiddenESP.

2/14 Some people who served time at ESP were convicted and sentenced with their siblings, sons, daughters, and spouses. Officials documented previous convictions and relatives in prison—perhaps trying to determine what led some individuals into crime. #HiddenESP

3/14 Bloomer and Sophia Bruin were a mother-daughter duo sent to Eastern State in 1889 for forcible entry. About two weeks after their arrival, the warden reported: “they are noisy and destructive, they occupied the same room but had to be separated.” #HiddenESP

4/14 While the Bruins shared a cell, not all families lived together. Male and female relatives lived in separate cellblocks and likely had minimal contact. In 1895, Matilda Jackson (A-6592) asked to see her son, Andrew Jackson (A-6594). The warden granted the visit. #HiddenESP

5/14 In addition to housing incarcerated people, the building had living quarters for the prison warden, matron, physician, and other high-ranking officers. They resided (with their families) in the front administration building until the mid-1900s. #HiddenESP

6/14 Brothers Abraham and Arthur Boots were convicted of highway robbery in 1906 after they admitted to holding up a bread delivery driver. Their time at ESP overlapped with their brother Albert, who arrived at the prison in 1907 to serve a larceny sentence. #HiddenESP

7/14 When 24-year-old William Devlin arrived at Eastern State in 1917, he joined his grandfather, George Eels. The elder relative, 62 years old, had been imprisoned at ESP since 1909, serving a life term for murder. #HiddenESP

8/14 Perhaps no other family was as connected to the prison as Warden Robert McKenty’s. A widower, he married the prison’s matron, Ella Dickinson, in 1912. He employed 3 of his sons at Eastern State, and his daughter Elsie got married at the prison. #HiddenESP

9/14 Franklin Hespell, the grandson of a deputy warden, was born at Eastern State in 1919 and lived there until 1923. In his 2009 oral history, Hespell recalled that James Fraley, an incarcerated person, sometimes babysat him. #HiddenESP

10/14 Joseph Buzzard served 7 terms at ESP. He was 80 years old when he arrived for his final sentence in 1939. Four of his brothers also served time at ESP. Known as the Welsh Mountain Gang, the Buzzards had a reputation as outlaws who specialized in horse theft. #HiddenESP

11/14 Phillip Bruno and Joseph Bruno, along with three other family members, received life sentences for their roles in killing five people in a political parade on the eve of an election in Schuylkill County. #HiddenESP

12/14 Sometimes, prisoners were granted brief leaves to visit sick relatives or attend funerals. Today, PA prisoners (except those serving life and those in secure custody) may be permitted to attend a deathbed visit or a private funeral viewing of a family member. #HiddenESP

13/14 Today, 1 in 28 American children has a parent in prison or jail. And about half of all state prisoners have a family member—parent, sibling, child, or spouse—who has also been incarcerated. Has your family been impacted by the justice system? Why or why not? #HiddenESP

14/14 Thanks for joining me today as we uncovered stories of families at Eastern State. I enjoyed your thoughtful comments. Please join us next Wednesday when my colleague Damon McCool will be discussing fallen civil servants who served time at ESP. See you then! #HiddenESP