Remembering Suwannee: Convict leasing system, Part 2

Eric Musgrove Contributor Last week, we began looking at the convict leasing system, especially as it related to Suwannee County. We ended the article with a look at the first paragraph of the book "American Siberia" by J. C. Powell, captain of the convict camp for many years. The book begins with Captain Powell watching a group of about 30 haggard prisoners unload from the train at the depot in downtown Live Oak. Captain Powell discusses in detail some of the abuses (torture) the prisoners had suffered in other parts of the state, including "sweating," "watering" and "stringing." "Sweating" was shutting up the prisoner in a small box of a cell without ventilation or light; the heat