An undated photograph of the former Warren County Jail.

On Jan. 11, 1899, 10 prisoners in the Warren County jail overpowered Deputy Jailer Nat Curd as he went to the cells to secure them for the night.

The prisoners then rushed Jailer Charles C. Patterson as he stood guard at the double doors. The men knocked Patterson down and ran into the street. Patterson recovered and shot several rounds at the fleeing prisoners, hitting Sherman Shultz in the back.

Shultz, an African American, was gravely injured and was captured along with another man named Campbell. The other eight got away.

– “Way Back When in Warren County” is compiled by researchers at the Warren County Public Library and appears twice weekly in the Bowling Green Daily News. For more information about the library, visit warrenpl.org.