When the Colonies proclaimed their independence and shook off the grasp of tyranny, a relic of English barbarism, known as imprisonment for debt, was engrafted into the laws of the young republic. This law was an outrage upon honest poverty and was the cause of untold misery. The prisoner confined for debt, upon giving good security to his creditors, was allowed a certain defined limit outside of the jail in which to exercise his manhood, and this limit was known as the "prison bounds," but by crossing this line he forfeited his security, and, therefore, his liberty. In 1799, a law was passed in the Northwest Territory, making 200 yards, in any direction from the jail, the prison bounds. In 1800, this was increased to 440 yards, and reduced to 400 in 1805. In 1821, the corporation line became the boundary, and in 1833, it was extended so as to embrace the whole county. Thus it remained until the adoption of the new constitution, when this relic of a feudal nation was erased from the statutes of Ohio.
From the proceedings of the Court of Common Pleas, held by the Associate Judges February, 1815, we have culled the following item: "Ordered that the prison bounds of the county of Madison shall be and that they are hereby established by and with the outlines of the town plat of London, in the county aforesaid, including the outlots, unless the said plan of said town should be too large for prison bounds as are directed by law; in that case, the said prison bounds shall be laid off to the limits of the law, making the jail of said county the center thereof, and ordered that Patrick McLene, Esq., County Surveyor of said county of Madison, be, by the Clerk, notified to run, lay off and mark sufficiently said prison bounds, by blazing, putting up posts, etc., so as to make the said bounds plain and easy to be found and discovered, and that the said surveyor make return thereof to the next term of this court." In compliance with this order, the prison bounds were established by Patrick McLene June 19, 1815, and ran as follows: "Beginning at the south corner of Outlot No. 11, which is the graveyard, running thence west until the line strikes Glade Run, above William Pinkard's tanyard; thence down said run, with the meanders thereof, until it intersects with Oak Run; thence down Oak Run, with the meanders thereof, to the south corner of Lot No. 18; thence S. 57° E., 53 poles, to the north corner of Outlot No. 1; thence N. 56° E., 46 poles, to Main street, including George Thompson's pottery shop; thence N. 36° E., 50 poles, to the west corner of Outlot No. 6; thence N. 45° W., with the range of Outlots No. 7, 8, 9 and 10, 92 poles to the beginning." These bounds were enlarged, in 1821, to the corporation limits, and in 1833 to the boundaries of Madison County, which was in harmony with the laws enacted in those years. With the progress of civilization, all such laws as imprisonment for debt become obnoxious to the spirit of enlightenment and humanity which civilization engenders, and are therefore annulled as they ought to be.