In early days, the Ferguson Farm was known as “The Camp.” It is assumed that, before money was made available for improvements, the prison system in Huntsville began to use the Madison County property for “trustees” (inmates that could be trusted) who lived in a camp on the place and put the farming acreage to use.

The aforementioned Volume 1 contains an essay about Martin L. “Mart” Jordy and his family. It relates that Jordy worked for Eastham Farm first and later at Ferguson Prison Farm, starting in the late 1920s and for over 20 years after. During that time, he was Assistant Captain and Dog Sergeant, in charge of the bloodhounds which searched for escapees. While the Jordy family lived in employee housing on Ferguson, they had “trustees” to work in their home, as was common there at the time. One houseboy swept and cleaned, and the other cooked. In such situations, the trustees and family members became somewhat friendly. One day, Mrs. Jordy and one of her sons were traveling in their Model-T from the Prison Farm down a dirt road towards Madisonville. When they went around a curve about a mile out of Midway, the two houseboys, now escaped convicts, jumped onto the running boards of the car, stuck their guns in the windows, and told Mrs. Jordy and her son to step on it. Realizing who the men were, she said, “What in the world do you mean?” One replied, “Sorry, Mrs. Jordy, but we are making our getaway.” The men then told the Jordys to stop the car, get out in the ditch, and hold up their hands. They did, and as the convicts were driving off, Mrs. Jordy yelled, “Whoa, I forgot my purse!” The convicts actually stopped, let her get her purse, and then took off. Later the escapees were captured in Fort Worth and the vehicle was returned, showing very hard use. Years later, another of the Jordy sons, J.T., entertained his daughter, Claudia Jordy “C.J.” Tucker, with tales of his childhood on the Prison Farm. He remembered it as a wonderful place to grow up, full of many good times, though there was only his family and another, the Martins, living at the Prison Camp then. J.T. loved animals, and some convict trustees made him a miniature-sized covered wagon and trained a pair of goats to pull it for him!

‘H.G. Wells grew up in Madison County, living much of his childhood in the Pee Dee Community. His mother, Audra, died when he was young. His father, Leslie, remarried, to Ruby. H.G. was 10 in 1940, and his father was a prison guard at Eastham Farm, which was accessible by way of a ferry from Ferguson Farm, and the guards stayed in a dormitory at Eastham. As kids are wont to do, one day H.G. got crosswise with his step-mother, enough so that he decided to run away from home. He walked to Madisonville and then Midway, and finally to Ferguson Farm, which was not the structure it is now, but with few inmates and pretty much an honor system. First, he encountered a few trustee inmates, who took him in, fed him, let him rest, and ferried him across to Eastham. He went into the dormitory, got in his dad’s bunk, and was there when his father got in from guarding in the field. Mr. Wells found the nearest phone, not an easy task then, called his brother Clarence to explain the situation, and Clarence (father of Judge J.C. Wells) sent Clyde Simonton to pick up the runaway and take him home. The great escape from Pee Dee was over. Now, over 80 years later, H.G. still insists, “The convicts knew me and were very good to me.”

In doing research, I read that about 100 years ago, trustees lived on the Ferguson Farm with almost no one riding herd over them. About 70 trustees did the cooking, housekeeping, and tending of livestock, leaving most of the acreage untilled. At some time in the 1950s, the few structures burned, and, “the honor system idea burned too.”

Soon afterwards, O.B. Ellis, then general manager of Texas Department of Corrections, asked for and got $4 million to rebuild Ferguson, planning for it to house young first offenders, away from hardened criminals. Construction started in September of 1959. The entire unit was built with inmate labor, under the competent supervision of employees. The brick was prison-produced. It was completed for $4.5 million and dedicated by Governor Price Daniel on June 17, 1962.

The new Ferguson Unit’s warden was Jack D. Kyle. It was designed to house 1,150 young offenders between the ages of 17 and 21, who were to be given an accelerated vocational training program. Ferguson included an extensive agricultural program consisting of cotton, grain, and vegetable production, plus beef cattle, dairy cattle, swine, and poultry. Realizing that many inmates may never follow agriculture as a livelihood upon returning to society, prison officials began vocational education, with auto mechanics, welding, blacksmithing, drafting, fender and body work, painting, radio and television repair, carpentry, upholstery, cooking, baking, and hospital work. Academic courses were offered through twelfth grade.

Now, almost 60 years later, Ferguson Unit is still there. I’ll bet some of you could share some stories about it. I’ll be waiting.

Madison County Museum, located at 201 North Madison Street, is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The mailing address is P.O. Box 61, Madisonville, TX 77864, and the telephone number is 936.348.5230. You also might enjoy the Madison County Museum Facebook page, which we try to keep busy with old photos and facts.