Uncle Wiley Returns Home: WV Penitentiary Christmas Pardon

The old West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville is one of the most haunted locations in the state, if not the country. I love sharing ghost stories from this imposing and downright creepy building, but sometimes in order to really understand WHY a place is haunted, we have to look deeper at the people who left their mark there. The WV State Penitentiary is not a place where many good things happened. It was filled with death, violence, and the despair of men and women who had lost their freedom, often in exchange for the unspeakable horrors they committed against their fellow man. But, as you'll see from today's blog post, this was HOME to some. For some, it may have been the only real home they'd ever known. 

The following newspaper article comes from the 04 December 1914 edition of the Raleigh Herald. It discusses the life of that year's recipient to the annual Christmas pardon. 

The Christmas Pardon

"Uncle Wiley" Lewis to Return to Home and Friends

Tottering with age, gray and bent, Wiley Lewis, who is known as convict No. 3257 in the state penitentiary, and who was sent from Charleston in 1897 for slaying another negro in a drunken brawl will receive the annual Christmas pardon from the penal institution. It has long been the custom to pardon from the penitentiary the oldest convict in point of servitude at Christmas time every year, and the old Charleston darkey is the one selected this time.

So attached has Uncle Wiley become to many of the officials of the penitentiary and so accustomed to prison life, that he considers listlessly his approaching pardon and at times seems even fearful of leaving the grim old structure.

Lewis is probably the most picturesque convict ever confined in the institution. He was born a slave in Fayette County, which at that time was a portion of Virginia. As nearly as Wiley can remember, though he doesn't pretend that is memory on the subject is perfect, he was born some time in 1846. He does remember, though, that he was named by a man named Jim Montgomery at the time the war broke out. Wiley took no part in the war, but wandered about from place to place during the war and settled in Kanawha County on a farm and moved into Charleston where he became a laborer. 

Lewis was tried, found guilty of murder and sentenced to serve a life term in the state penitentiary on July 15, 1897. Two days later he entered the institution and has been there ever since. 

Every phase of prison life has been experienced by the old negro slave. He has worked in every department of the penitentiary, in every shop and done everything else but operate the telephone exchange. He has been a model prisoner during his entire confinement and is trusted by all who know him. Several years after his arrival at the penitentiary he was given the name "Uncle," and has been "Uncle" to the officials and the convicts alike ever since. 

Although Lewis knows that he is the oldest man in the institution in point of service and that he is to receive the Christmas pardon unless something unforeseen develops he does not seem at all enthusiastic. He admits he is glad, but does not show it in his actions. As the time draws closer, he seems to be melancholy rather than joyous at times, according to officials of the pen, as though he is fearful of leaving the old institution.  

When received at the penitentiary Lewis could neither read nor write, but has mastered both arts and executes both as well as the average of his race. Although gray and somewhat feeble, his health is good and he may live for many years in freedom.

His wife died about three years ago, but he has one daughter still living in Charleston, with whom he intends to make his home after his pardon. Two sisters, both younger than himself, are also still living in Kanawha County. 

*Last year, I blogged about the 1910 Christmas pardon of Joe Battle, a man who swears he was innocent, and unlike Lewis, was more than happy to get the heck out of the penitentiary!*