The Nation Behind Prison Bars Part 20

Expression On Face Changed.

Even the expression of Jett's face has changed and he has none of that hard look that he used to wear. He is bright and cheerful and Col. Mudd says there is not a better prisoner in the penitentiary than Jett. Col.

Mudd said that he could not say that Jett's conversion was genuine from a religious standpoint, but he says Jett has certainly changed inside the prison. The Rev. Joseph Severance, the prison chaplain, says that Jett is one of the best Bible scholars he ever saw and knows more about the Bible than many earnest church workers.

In his story which he gave out last night Jett freely admits his guilt of the crimes that are charged against him. He added, when he said that it was a good thing that he had been put in the penitentiary:

"I do not mean that it was good to kill men."

He said that whisky was largely responsible for his misdeeds and he wanted to do good now that he had done so much harm. The following is Jett's story as he wrote it in his cell:

Jett's Story.

"State Prison, Frankfort, Ky., March 13, 1909.--To the Whole World: I want to let the whole world know what G.o.d in his great mercy has done for me, and prove to you by words which are true that Jesus is willing, able and does save to the uttermost. After a life of sin and shame, G.o.d sent his Holy Spirit into my soul and made a new man out of me. It was in this wise: A dear, good woman who is dead now, but who then lived in Lexington; her name was Mrs. f.a.n.n.y A. Penn--I shall never forget that name--she wrote me a good Christian letter, full of good advice, and begged me to become a Christian. I had never seen her, or she me, as I know of; she had only read in the press regarding what a desperado and outlaw I was. I read her letter and it sounded like a fairy tale to me, with no sense in it; but after reflection, I answered it, and we began to be good friends, and she kept begging me to turn from my sinful ways and be a Christian man.

Read New Testament.

"I want to state right here that because a man is in prison, he don't have to be a Christian or behave himself; and Mrs. Penn sent me a small revised Testament and begged me to read it. At first I laid it up and would not read it. I don't remember of ever reading a whole chapter in a Bible up until that time in my whole life; and at last, by her begging me in every letter to read my Testament, I began to read it, and started out with a resolution to read it through, and after I began to read, I became interested in it, and the more I read it the deeper I became interested in it, and G.o.d's Holy Spirit began to work in me, and I began to pray. At first it seemed that I was afraid that G.o.d would not answer my prayers, but still something made me pray anyway, and it wasn't long until I was praying to G.o.d every night from one to three times, from the depths of my heart. I had taken his name in vain ever since I was a child, and I asked him to make me quit taking his name in vain, and after a day at my work, and when I would curse G.o.d, I would think of my prayers, and then at night when I would go to my cell, I would let my thoughts wander over a day that had just pa.s.sed, and I could tell after reflecting that I hadn't cursed so much that day. And little by little G.o.d removed that evil spirit, cursing, from me, until one night when I went to my cell and my thoughts wandered over the day that had just pa.s.sed, and not an oath had I uttered, and I was happier than ever before, I fell on my knees on the hard stone floor, and thanked G.o.d for His goodness and for removing that swearing away from me.

Quits Smoking Cigarettes.

"I had smoked cigarettes for at least fifteen years and I quit them. I was full of revenge and hatred, and I cried aloud to G.o.d in my lonely cell to redeem my soul, which He did, and it wasn't long before I was a friend to everyone and praising G.o.d for full and free salvation. He has made a new man out of me. The Holy Spirit is like a fever, and it is all and all before a man gets right with G.o.d. Condemning and deceitful spirits will rise up in a man, but all we have to do is to ask G.o.d and he will remove them all; to live a true Christian life is the straightest life that anyone ever tried to walk. It is a great warfare.

I read and study my Bible and have learned a great deal about G.o.d's word since I joined the church, a few short months ago, under a great, good and n.o.ble man of Frankfort by the name of C. R. Hudson, and I love him as a very dear brother. There is not a man in all this world that I hold the least bit of malice against, and before I got right with G.o.d I had revenge in me against many.

Warns Young Men.

"Young men, as you read this, from one who has done many and great wrongs, take warning; shun evil companions and don't do as I have done in days gone by. Don't be led astray by older heads, for the man that will advise you to do a wrong is not your friend; but I could not see it that way. G.o.d has given me a new mind and I know as well as I know that I am living that religion is true, real and no fake, as I once thought.

Has Been Born Again.

"I was raised on a Bluegra.s.s farm in Madison County, Kentucky, and my parents were as good a father and mother as ever lived; but my father died while I was young and I went from bad to worse, committing crime after crime, and I am guilty of the charges against me, but G.o.d has forgiven me of every wrong I ever did. Why won't the Governor? All the punishment that I will ever have to go through with will be on this earth, for G.o.d has forgiven me of every wrong and I have a clear conscience now, for I have been born again. There are so many men in prison that trample the lowly G.o.d under foot to try and gain their freedom in that way, and I hope that no one single person that reads this will think that I am making mockery of G.o.d's love, for I am sincere with G.o.d, as I used to be with Satan. I wish that every paper in the whole world would publish this so that it could have a chance to touch the hearts of many sinful men; I long to tell the story to young men, from East to West, from North to South, how G.o.d redeemed my soul.

Refers to Scriptures.

"We have organized a Bible reading circle here in the prison which is a grand and good work. Now I refer you to some Scripture which I hope everyone will read carefully, and it will show you how G.o.d will forgive a man for the crime of murder and for all crimes except one.

"Read Exodus ii., 11, 12, 13, 14, 15; II. Samuel xi. and xii.; Ezekiel xviii., from 20th verse to end of chapter; Jeremiah x.x.xiii., 8, 9; Mathew xii., 31; Luke xv.; Acts vii., 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60; Acts viii., 1 to 7; 16, 17, 22; Galatians iii., 24.

"I ask for the sincere prayers of every good Christian in this whole world; pray for me, that I may be true to G.o.d the rest of my life. When I was repenting my whole face would draw and I could feel the hot, burning love of G.o.d in my whole being. I am in prison, maybe never to hear the birds sing or the rippling of the water again, a free man, but I say unto you that I am a free man in Jesus; I have found a friend that sticks closer than a brother. People, let your light shine, for I believe that there are many diamonds in the rough. I am yours in Jesus,

"CURTIS JETT ."

Christian Endeavor at Frankfort Prison

Frankfort, Ky., Penitentiary.

Rev. Geo. L. Herr, Prison Evangelist, Louisville, Ky.

Dear Brother Herr:

As you have been so kind to me and have asked a somewhat detailed account of Christian Endeavor work in this prison and my connection with same, it is my pleasure to comply, especially as you do not visit us as often as we would like and cannot see for yourself all that goes on.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HENRY E. YOUTSEY

The Author knows of no man behind prison bars in whom he is more interested than Henry E. Youtsey.]

When I commenced my life sentence here, February 6th, 1901, I fell in love with our Christian Endeavor Society at first sight, and in all those 104 months I have only missed about 15 meetings, due to unavoidable causes. I was ill for three months with malaria and could not go at all.

During the early days of my imprisonment our membership at its best averaged about 100, but during the summer months when the boys were given their choice between the open air of the yard and attendance at the meetings the average was less than 20.

In the summer of 1905, and at the instance of Mrs. M. B. R. Day, of Frankfort, I organized and managed a memorizing contest in which a number of prisoners learned and recited verses of scripture, and I obtained a number of handsome Teachers' Bibles and other presents which were given to them as prizes on Thanksgiving day. I continued this work for the three following summers, and in all forty-five prisoners learned and recited a grand total of 33,332 verses, (over four times as many as are contained in the New Testament), which is an average of 741 verses per man. The men studied so hard that some of them injured their eyes, and it was thought best to discontinue the work for a while.

I was Corresponding Secretary of our Society for about two and one-half years, and last December I was elected its President by the largest majority ever given any candidate for the office.

I started in to raise our membership to two hundred, and succeeded in getting it as high as one hundred and sixty-six. It was also my desire to have better attendance during the hot months, and I used every means I could think of to make our meetings attractive, and I was frequently both pleased and surprised to count from sixty-five to seventy, more than three times what it used to be. Some of our members being delicate are in great need of all the fresh air they can get and remain in the yard all day Sundays in pretty weather although their hearts are with us.

A part of our pledge binds the members to carefully read the Bible every day, and I wondered how they were going to keep that pledge without the Bibles, so I set to work again writing letters in every direction, and almost before I knew it our Ky. C. E. Societies sent us 50 Bibles, and Miss Mary B. Rohrer, of Franklin, Pa., sent me 150 of the prettiest Bibles you ever saw; they have flexible, over-lapping backs, red-under-gold edges, maps, and other helps. This is the most magnificent present we have ever received from outside parties, and besides all these, the Prison Commissioners offered us 100 more, which we could not use. One thing that has impressed me very forcibly is the fact that the Christian people outside are ready at all times to shower blessings upon us, and all we have to do is to ask for them.

At the suggestion of Bro. Jos. Severance, our splendid Chaplain, I numbered the Bibles and gave them out to the members, keeping a careful record of them, and the men were instructed to return the Bibles to the Society on leaving the prison, and although about a score of our members have gone out since then we have only lost one Bible, which speaks volumes for their honesty.

A few Sundays ago I proposed that the Society set apart a small sum of money for prizes, and that all the members who wished to do so would be invited to write compositions on the subject, "What Christian Endeavor has done for me." Nine brothers entered this symposium, and their compositions signed, "Amo Rolo, Sunflower, Rhododendron, Laurel, Merry Heart, Happy Bird, Mizpah, and Christian, aggregate about 7,500 words, and make fine reading; Bro. Severance was appointed Judge.

This summer I organized a little band of workers who go with me to the hospital every Sunday, where we hold little services of song, prayer and Bible reading at the bedsides of those who are ill, and I have found great joy in this work.

We have had some splendid C. E. meetings, the best ones being those when the Senior and Junior societies of the Frankfort Christian Church and the Epworth League of the Methodist Church united with us. Of course, we could not go to them, but they came to us, and gave us rare spiritual and intellectual treats. The music was specially beautiful.

Quite recently I a.s.sisted Bro. Severance in re-organizing a Bible cla.s.s, of which I am Secretary. We are studying Moninger's "Training for Service," and have 52 members. Splendid progress is being made. So you see my hands are pretty full, and when Sunday night comes I am about ready to drop in my tracks. Of course, it is all voluntary, and I do not have to turn my hand over if I do not want to.

I am going to add a "Soul-winners Department" to our C. E. Society for the purpose of a.s.sisting Bro. Severance in the conversion of the men, but I am in some doubt as to how to proceed as there is no chance to get at the men in the winter time. However, I am determined to find opportunity somehow.

We have a new Superintendent of Prison C. E. work, in the person of Miss Georgia Dunn, of Marksbury, Ky. She is the most energetic little Christian lady I have seen in a long time, and our society will surely hum this winter under her guidance, as we are all very proud of our good little sister.

January 1st, I commenced to read my Bible through, at the rate of three chapters each week night, and five each Sunday night, in order to get through by December 31st, but I read more than that and finished up three months ahead of time. Although I have read the good book constantly during the last eight years, this is the first continuous reading to completion that I ever did.

I have enjoyed Bro. Severance's sermons very much and I believe there is nothing that thrills and inspires me with enthusiasm like fine preaching, and right here I am going to tell you something which you must keep under your hat; one Sunday Bro. Severance was unexpectedly called away, and asked for a volunteer to fill his place, and I was delighted at the opportunity, and although I could not fill it I "rattled about in it," for about 30 minutes, and one dear fellow accepted the gospel invitation and joined the church. As soon as my sermonette was over quite a number of friends crowded around me and showered congratulations on me. This was a temptation to try again, and the next time three brothers joined the church, and that pleased me immensely, you know.

I have many good friends in Louisville, including Dr. Powell, of the Christian Church; Dr. T. M. Hawes, of the Highland Presbyterian Church, whose C. E. Society sent us $7.50, and, say, there is a pastor after G.o.d's own heart. Give them all my love when you see them, and say to them that while I am ashamed of the sins that brought me here I am trying to leave foot-prints that I will be proud of in the great day of judgment.

The Christian Endeavor Societies of Newport, Paris, Winchester and Lexington have helped us wonderfully. Lexington is the princ.i.p.al center of Christian Endeavor activity, from my point of view, and I have an especially warm place in my heart for those societies.