The Old Mauch
Chunk Jail is a foreboding, mysterious place. In the main cellblock are two tiers of cells
surrounding the slate-floor common area where prisoners congregated for eating and
conspiracy. It is the area where Molly Maguires were hanged and where at least one
condemned prisoner proclaimed his innocence to unhearing ears.
After the old jail was abandoned by Carbon County because of its deteriorated condition, but before it was opened to view by the public, my mother's plumber, on a visit to repair a drain, told her that the family name was scratched in the floor of the jail. In the fall of 1997, I visited the jail for my first time, intending to see if it was true. And there it was! Clearly and boldly inscribed in the floor of the common area directly outside of Cell No. 2.
I could only conjecture as to the origins of the inscription. But, soon after sharing
the discovery with members of my extended family, I learned that there was a tale that had
passed down through the family a generation ago. I relate it below respecting the source,
who, I am told, wishes to remain anonymous.
"This is the legend as told to me by my [the source's] father. I cannot make
any claims as to it's authenticity.
"In 1949 Carbon County District Attorney, Carl A. Niehoff, prosecuted one Jake Sensibau for the murder of his brother and business partner William Sensibau. Despite claims of innocence, Jake was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Bitter, Jake vowed he would get even with the Carbon County District Attorney, if it was the last thing he did. Jake was sent to the state penitentiary to serve out his sentence and life returned to normal in Carbon County. Twelve years later Jake hanged himself in his cell. Next to his body was a suicide note in which he said his spirit would return to the Carbon County Jail to haunt it for eternity. To prove his spirit returned to the jail, he would scratch the name Niehoff in the floor outside his old cell. To this day, the name Niehoff remains scratched on the floor outside Cell 2. All attempts to remove the inscription over the years have failed, and it remains there to this day. Jail keepers say they can hear the scratches being made in the slate floor each year on the anniversary of Jake Sensibau's death."
Although many of Uncle Carl's prosecutions are recalled, including the famous Mystery Building and Falcone Murder cases, I have not been able to corroborate the Sensibau affair to date. There is no mention of it in the definitive work on Carbon County law in The Hard Coal Docket, John P. Lavelle, 1994.
... whn
Return to Pat's and Walt's Roots.
Webmeister, Walt Niehoff (Enkel).