New York Superintendent of State Prisons

Frank Eugene Wade in 1916

The Superintendent of State Prisons was an officer of the New York State government, who was in charge of the administration of the state prisons. The office was created by a constitutional amendment ratified in 1876, to succeed the three statewide elective New York State Prison Inspectors. The Superintendent was appointed to a five-year term by the Governor of New York, and confirmed by the New York Senate.

Office holders

• Louis D. Pilsbury 1877 to 1882.^[1]
• Isaac Volney Baker, Jr. (1843-1912) 1882 to 1887.
• Austin Lathrop.^[2] 1887 to 1898^[3]
• Cornelius V. Collins 1902 to ? ^[4]
• Joseph F. Scott (1860-1918) 1911 to 1913.^[5][6]
• John B. Riley 1913 to 1916.^[7][8]
• Frank Eugene Wade (1854-1929) 1916 to ?.^[7]
• Charles F. Rattagan 1920.^[9]

Notes

1. Louis D. Pilsbury (1880). Annual report of the Superintendent of State Prisons.
2. "O.V. Sage Warden of Sing Sing. Superintendent Lathrop Promotes His Clerk, Who Has Had Charge Since Durston's Death". New York Times. November 20, 1894. Retrieved 2011-05-05. Austin Lathrop, Superintendent of State Prisons, to-day appointed Omar V. Sage of Catskill Agent and Warden of Sing Sing Prison. ...
3. "AUSTIN LATHROP" in A History of Steuben County, New York, and Its People (1911; Vol. II, pg. 686)
4. "Annual Report of Superintendent Cornelius V. Collins". New York Times. January 12, 1903. Retrieved 2013-11-26. The annual report of Cornelius V. Collins, Superintendent, of State Prisons, for the year ending Sept. 30, 1902, was made public to-night. ...
5. "Col. Joseph F. Scott Dead. Ex-Superintendent of Prisons of New York Dies in Denver". New York Times. December 15, 1918. Retrieved 2013-11-26. Colonel Joseph F. Scott, former Superintendent of Prisons of New York, died on Dec. 7 at the home of his brother in Denver, Colorado ...
6. "Sulzer Appoints Prison Investigator. George W. Blake, Newspaper Writer, to Inquire Into Department Affairs". New York Times. March 15, 1913. Retrieved 2013-12-22. Gov. Sulzer to-day appointed George W. Blake, a New York newspaper writer, Special Commissioner to investigate the management and affairs of all the prisons and reformatories in the State. The Governor yesterday removed Col. Joseph F. Scott from the office of Superintendent of Prisons and nominated Judge John B. Riley of Plattsburg for the place. ...
7. "Albany Thinks Frank E. Wade Will Be Made New Prisons Superintendent". New York Times. January 19, 1916. Retrieved 2013-11-19. The defense of State Superintendent of Prisons, John B. Riley, to charges of misconduct in office preferred against him by Governor Whitman, closed today when ex-Senator Edgar Truman Brackett of Saratoga handed to the Governor his brief, urging that the charges be dismissed on the ground that they had been fully disproved by his client. ...
8. "T. M. Osborne To Be Warden At Sing Sing. Noted Prison Reformer Will Take Office on Dec. 1. Approved by Glynn and Whitman. Big Shake-Up Predicted. Warden-Elect Disapproves of Capital Punishment, but Would Make Executions 'Public Exhibitions". New York Times. November 20, 1914. Retrieved 2011-05-04. Thomas Mott Osborne of Auburn, N.Y., retired manufacturer, world traveler, lecturer, writer, and prison reformer, has accepted the offer of John B. Riley, State Superintendent of Prisons, of the post of the Warden of Sing Sing Prison. He will take office on Dec. 1, and will relieve ex-Judge George S. Weed, who was temporarily assigned to Sing Sing, when Warden Thomas J. McCormick was ousted on Oct. 30 as the result of the Sullivan scandal.
9. "Rattigan Starts Head-Hunting Tour. State Prison Superintendent to Seek Places for Faithful Democrats. Moyer Of Sing Sing To Go. Twombly of Clinton Safe Through Conway's Efforts. Auburn Job Awaits Jennings.". New York Times. February 17, 1919. Retrieved 2014-08-24. Charles F. Rattigan, State Superintendent of Prisons, left Albany tonight to make a tour of the State's penal institutions. ...