Lock Down: Outlaws, Lawmen & Frontier Justice in Jackson County, Missouri (Volume 1)

This commemorative souvenir documents the origin and evolution of the oldest structure on the historic Independence Courthouse Square-the 1859 Jackson County Jail and Marshal's Home (and its 19th Century predecessors). "Captured" here is an in-depth study offering "skeleton keys" to "unlocking" history of the early lock downs, of those who defied frontier justice, and the systems and strongmen (and their overlooked wives) who tried to keep law and order in Jackson County, Missouri. A roster of ALL Jackson County Sheriffs AND Jackson County Marshals, and separate "rap sheet" of ALL legal hangings in Jackson County "caps" this first-ever comprehensive study spanning from 1826--when Jackson County was formed--to 1933 when the 1859 Jackson County Jail was decommissioned. David W. Jackson and Paul Kirkman have also explored how the site was adaptively re-used during the Great Depression of the 1930s; through World War II in the 1940s; and, how it was saved by the Jackson County Historical Society in 1958, and continues as a unique, cultural history museum, located at 217 North Main Street, Independence, Missouri.

David W. Jackson is director, archivist of The Orderly Pack Rat, an historical research and consulting service he founded in 1996. He has more than 40 years of experience in personal manuscript collection. His childhood hobby of genealogy initiated at age 11 became the catalyst and inspiration for his career as a professional archivist. He was graduated magna cum laude with a BS in Historic Preservation--Archives Studies--from Southeast Missouri State University in 1993, and is author and publisher of several books.