Prisoners for Trial Docket, Walnut St. Jail, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1790-1802

Between 1776 and 1823, people charged with criminal offenses who were unable to procure sureties or not offered the opportunity were held in Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Jail (sometimes called Walnut Street Prison, particularly after a “Penitentiary House” wing was added in 1790). The Prisoners for Trial Docket records these prisoners: their names, commitment date, ground for commitment, date of discharge (if any), and discharging magistrate. It also includes records of some of those committed as “vagrants,” “disorderly persons,” or runaway slaves or apprentices – categories of prisoners who are also documented in the Vagrancy Docket. Courtesy of the Philadelphia City Archives.