History

The history of the Sheriff's Office in Union County is almost as old as the County itself. Over the past 218 years, the Sheriff's Office has remained a constant provider of public safety to the community. The following is some pieces of history about the Sheriff's Office and the Old County Jail which remains standing today in downtown Union.

The Old Union County Jail was completed in 1823 under the supervision of Robert Mills who was also the architect for other jails and buildings in the State during this period of time as well as the Washington Monument . The stone is said to have come form the nearby Humphries Quarry. The North and West wings were added in 1954 and 1960 respectively with Robert Gibbs Fant as architect. The old jail was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. No escape ever occurred from this sturdy old building. The walls are solid granite, and the center of the bars are designed with roller bearings so they tend to turn or roll if someone tried to saw through them. The cells are still as they were the day it closed.

There have been several persons by law put to death by hanging in Union County. Three of the executions were carried out in the old jail. Others took place at the hanging ground near the current Paradise Home Center.

The death cell door and the hangman's hook that was at the County Jail are available for viewing at the Union County Museum.

Sheriff J. Harold Lamb ( deceased ) was the last Sheriff to live in the old jail building.

The old jail was ordered closed by the S.C. Dept. Of Corrections in April of 1985 after being declared unsafe. An agreement with the City of Union allowed County prisoners to be housed in their jail until Union County built a new jail.

There have been 33 individuals who have served as Sheriff of Union County. From William Farr, who was the first to serve in 1785, to W. Howard Wells who currently serves in the Office. Below is a listing Union County Sheriff's with historical photos of many. The information was obtained from entries made in the Jail and Writ books located in the Sheriff's Office

Sheriffs of Union County
Photo (If Available)	Sheriff	Years As Sheriff
	William Farr	1785-1787, 1789-1790
	John Blassingame	1787-1789
	Thomas Stribling Jr.	1791-1795
	John Henderson	1795-1799
	John Nuckolls	1799-1801
	William Rice	1801-1805
	Joseph Hughes	1805-1809
	Benjamin Kennedy	1809-1810
	Samuel Otterman	1810-1814
	John McNeail	1814-1819
	D.A.Mitchell	1819-1823
	John Bates	1823-1827
	John Anderson	1827-1831 Impeachment Attempted
	Samuel Harris	Coroner 1827- Acting Sheriff
	Bartholomew Johnson	1831-1835, 1838-1843, 1847-1851
	Robert Mc Beth	1835-1839, 1843-1847, 1855-1859, 1863-1867 1872-1876, 1876-1880, 1880-1884
	John Gibbs	1851-1855
	Joseph Fant	1859-1863
	J. Rice Rogers	1867-1871
	Philip Dunn	1871-1872
	James Gideon Long Sr.	1885-1901, 1909-1913
	John W. Sanders	1901-1909
	J. Hay Fant	1913-1921 Killed in Office
	T.D. Holcomb	Coroner 1921 Acting Sheriff
	T.J. Vinson	1921-1927
	J.C. Greer	1927-1932 Suspended
	J.G. Faucett	1932-1942 Died in Office
	George S. Noland	Coroner 1942- Acting Sheriff
	G. Frank Vaughan	1942-1944 Killed in Accident
	Rochelle Boyle	1944-1948, 1952-1956
	J. Harold Lamb	1948-1952, 1956-1980
	William A. Jolly	1981-1993 Retired to SLED
	W.Howard Wells	1993-present

Click here to view a photo gallery of photos from past Sheriff's Office group photos and other historical photos of interest connected to the Sheriff's Office.