Warden Frank Conley

Many people have mixed opinions about the man who served as a prison warden for three decades, and who was elected mayor for the same amount of time, Frank Conley. Flip a coin. "Heads," Frank Conley was a legend. "Tails," Frank Conley was a reprobate. The problem is, regardless of how often you flip the coin, it land on edge. Frank Conley was blunt in the face of religion, and had an unalterable prejudice against the unions and an undiminished confidence in restoration of the prisoners.
He was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland on February 28, 1864 (wikipedia.org). He didn’t have it easy as a kid, but then again no one did back in the 19th century. His father died only a year after he was born and he was forced to live with his older brother and his mother. As soon as he was old enough, he went to work at a grocery store in order to support his life at home. He was done with school at the age of fourteen. Three years …show more content…
This is likely the reason that Guard Frank Conley ascended to McTague’s position after a year, and McTague was demoted back to guard. Once warden, he became the overseer and launched a series of building projects. Conley’s vision was that the prisoners would always be the ones to build the prison. He wanted this because he believed that tax paying American citizens should be relieved of manual labor, and should be employed in less hard-working occupations. His views did not tend to settle well with others, particularly labor unions. Conley and McTague chose to have convicts build anyway, with the approval of the Board of Prison Commissioners. In the long run, the institution ended up greatly benefiting financially, and many inmates learned new skills, productively passed their time and Warden Conley’s prestige was greatly ameliorated