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Officer Martin McCarty
Martin McCarty's record of dedicated service to the Anamosa prison, and the citizens of the State of Iowa, is legendary. He spent almost his entire 49-year career high above the ground, in towers overlooking the yard, preventing escapes and trouble in the young prison. Before the institution was fully enclosed, inmates were prone to test any weak spots in the perimeter they could find. But McCarty, more than any other, with his cool head and expert marksmanship, made any would-be troublemaker think twice.
He had a reputation for absolute fearlessness in times of great danger, an almost uncanny ability with the rifle, and an intense fidelity to duty. He was quoted as saying, "I never yet feared man nor devil." Yet he feared any publicity about his exploits would appear to be boasting.
Born near Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1847, he would later move with his family to Mitchell County, Iowa, where he would eventually begin his law enforcement career as town marshal. In 1881 he began employment at the "Additional Penitentiary" in Anamosa, and was close to the incredible milestone of 50 years of employment when he slipped on the ice while walking to work, at age 82, fracturing his hip, and ending his illustrious career.
In a 1919 Anamosa Journal-Eureka article, it was claimed that McCarty had never been late to work (he had been there about 38 years by that time). He worked 7 days a week. There was one 10-year stretch when the only vacation he took was a day and a half to take his son Jim to see Buffalo Bill's show, and another half day to take Jim riding when the lad returned home from school at Dubuque. It was said McCarty was present at the wall from the laying of the first stone until its completion.
The Charles Darlington Account
The following historical article appeared in an unknown contemporary magazine, reprinted in its entirety.
Martin McCarty, a guard at the Anamosa reformatory, holds the all-time Iowa record for continuous service to the state. He began work there April 15, 1881, and has been employed continuously for forty-seven years. For nearly forty-five years of that time, winter and summer, he paced the narrow path at the atop the twenty-seven foot wall, gun in hand, ready to thwart any attempt to escape on the part of the prisoners.