Captain Elam Lynds (1784–1855) was a prison warden and was known for his carceral innovations, such as producing goods for sale outside of prisons for profit, instituting absolute silence among prisoners at all times, and solitary confinement of prisoners at night, and for his cruelty as a warden. He helped create the Auburn system, which consisted of congregate labor during the day and isolation at night, starting in 1821 and was Warden of Sing Sing from 1825 to 1830.
Early life Elam Lynds was born in Litchfield, Connecticut in 1784. His parents moved to Troy, New York, when he was an infant. He learned the hatter's trade and worked at it for some years.
War of 1812 service In the War of 1812 he held a captain's commission in a New York regiment.
Auburn State Prison The Auburn State Prison's South Wing was opened in the Spring of 1817, and fifty-three prisoners were transferred there from nearby counties. Lynds was made the first principal keeper, and four years afterwards he became Warden of Auburn State Prison.
Lynds devised the main features of the Auburn System of imprisonment. When Lynds took charge of Auburn in 1821, he felt that discipline was lax, with guards only interested in preventing escape. Lynds, believing that chaining prisoners in a dungeon failed to produce "a good state of discipline," resorted exclusively to beatings. Speaking in 1826 to visiting commissioners, Lynds explained:
In 1821, locals rioted to protest the inmates' treatment.Prisoner mutinies were a continual source of concern for prison authorities of the period, partly because they worried that prisoners would receive aid and support from those living nearby and partly because they recognized that prison riots could form the nucleus of a wider popular uprising. For a discussion, see Even his own staff objected to Lynds's brutal methods. In spring 1821, keepers refused to flog a prisoner.Accounts of the incident vary. According to Hall's (1861) The History of Auburn, the incident began with the refusal of prison keepers to whip "three disobedient convicts." Other sources generally report that three keepers refused to whip one convict. (See ) Sources also differ about whether the keepers were fired in succession, with each fired when he refused, and about whether Thompson volunteered or was paid. Jonathan Thompson, a local blacksmith working nearby, stepped in and administered the floggings to the prisoners. When Thompson left the prison, he was tarred and feathered by a crowd. Henry Hall, in The History of Auburn (1861), described the scene:
Retirement and death After his retirement from the prison service, he lived in New York City, where he died in 1855.
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