The Life and Adventures of a Haunted Convict

Reed’s account of his troubled youth, written in the 19th century but never before published, provides a fascinating look into the prison system of antebellum America. Reed is six years old when his father dies. Shortly after, Reed tries to murder the farmer he is indentured to and burns down the man’s house. This leads to a sentence—sometime, it is believed, in the 1850s—at the nation’s first reformatory, the recently opened New York House of Refuge. Once there, his life becomes a succession of escapes and brutal whippings. After a final escape, Reed enjoys a picaresque series of adventures as a bartender and then as a manservant to a pair of traveling gamblers, after which he rejoins his troubled family. Further criminal escapades lead to his imprisonment in Auburn State Prison and a new cycle of abuse. Reed’s manuscript was completely unknown before it came to light at an estate sale in the early 2000s. Historical research has identified the author, but little has been discovered about his life. Yet the book stands on its own as a remarkable accomplishment for a poorly educated convict. Drawing upon various contemporary literary styles, Reed fashioned a personal and moving, albeit uneven, story of underclass struggle before the Civil War. The editors emphasize the tradition of African-American slave and prison literature, but Reed rejects ethnic identification, and his greatest praise is reserved for his Irish fellow inmates and their families. Reed’s protean nature makes this book a remarkable discovery. Agent, Wendy Strothman, Strothman Agency. (Jan.)