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Penitentiary 8^th Mo 9^th 1826.

Esteemed Friend

Thy note of the 3^d Inst. covering
a letter from the Governor of Tennesee; I received at
a time I was much engaged or it would have been
attended to at an earlier date I now hasten to
answer the queries of Governor Carroll Viz.
1^st This institution Building is 206 feet front, with a build=
=ing 3 stories high, 56 feet long, & 26 wide, in
the centre, originally intended for the residence
of the Superintendant, but since converted into
an office, store rooms, &c with a wing at each
end 94 feet, running at right angles with the
front; at the termination, of the wings, com=
=mences a semicircular building connecting
the two wings; the whole forming a half oval
figure, it cost originally $136,000 and has
been in operation 26 years, the outer walls are
from 5 to 7^1/2 feet thick, & are of brick, it now
contains 148 cells including 31 for close solitary
confinement, under sentence of the court, 2 large
rooms for the females, 12 dungeons, to punish
offences against the police, & 20 rooms for offices
hospital, kitchen, eating, washing &c &c making 182
of every description; there are exclusive of the dun=
geons & including the 31 soliltary cells 144 construc=
ted ^each for one prisoner, tho' unnecessarily large for
that purpose, being generally 7 by 11 feet in the clear