Posted on 02/08/2009 8:12:57 AM PST by KeyLargo
Local woman recalls growing up inside Stateville 02/08/2009, 12:13 am
By Dennis Yohnka The Daily Journal correspondent
Kankakeean Jeanette Seaton grew up in what she now refers to as a "gated community." The rest of the world calls it Stateville Penitentiary.
One of four children born to former Stateville warden Frank Pate and his wife LaVora, Seaton lived behind those foreboding walls from ages 7 to 24, from the late '40s through the mid-'60s.
She is now married to local architect Scott Seaton Sr., and lives in a very cheerful Kankakee-area home. But she hasn't forgotten life behind bars.
"There definitely weren't any neighbor kids to play with, but it wasn't really a depressing life for us," she said. "I'm sure we had some different rules than other houses, but we got used to it."
Among the rules in her house:
* Meals and other household routines follow a rigid schedule, unless the most recent prisoner count was off. Then, nothing happened until that number was right.
* You never dressed in casual clothes. Never a bathrobe. Never shorts. She couldn't even wear jeans.
* And, if a boyfriend was going to pick you up for a date, dad's evil eye was just the tip of the iceberg for that poor guy.
Seaton's father was the protégé of warden Joseph Ragen, one of the nation's leading prison authorities of that era. Ragen is still studied in prison management textbooks. But, for Seaton, Ragen and the other staff members were just extended family.
As a little girl, Seaton endured some major transitions. She was an only child, living in Pontiac when her dad was called to serve in World War II. Her mother was busy with war efforts, so she was sent to live on her grandparents' farm.
When her dad returned from duty in the Pacific, he thought he could land a prison job in Pontiac. Instead, he was assigned to Stateville. Little Jeanette moved with them to a house on the prison farm. As her father was promoted, housing changed and eventually her home was in the Big House.
Outside the walls, she described her home as "just a big old, drafty farmhouse." Inside the walls, it was large apartment in the administration building. "We had six bedrooms and each one had its own bath. The nicest guest room was called 'The Governor's Bedroom.' "
She added that the special room was there for all of the politicians who might be staying overnight when a trip from Chicago to Springfield was a longer ordeal.
Inside or outside the walls, the children of prison administrators had certain routines.
"All of us prison kids went to St. Dennis Catholic School in Lockport," she said. "We didn't take the yellow bus. We went in the red prison bus.
"We all had to be kind of careful about our friends. Later on, I was dating a guy and somehow a connection was made with someone in his neighborhood, and my name wound up in a letter addressed to an inmate. All mail was censored in that era.
"I was really grilled about that."
But wasn't it just plain scary living in that environment?
"Not, really. They did the inmate count all the time and that meant we knew where all the bad guys were," she said. "I actually had more of a problem when I moved out into my own apartment. That's when I felt vulnerable."
But the isolation?
"Oh, we had a lot of guests," she said. "In those days, if a reporter had a question, Dad would invite him out to the prison to see for himself. So, all hours of the day and night, we might get a call or a guest."
The visitors' log showed plenty of celebrities, too.
"I remember Bill Veeck, John Carradine, Billy Graham and that guy from "I Love Lucy," Gail Gordon," she said. "Bob Hope was there. And remember Lillian and Dorothy Gish? They came. They had a relative inside."
Seaton also recalls the days when Hollywood came to Stateville. The movie "Call Northside 777" was based on a true story, so it was shot where it really unfolded. Jimmy Stewart and John Conti starred.
"Jimmy Stewart was a real nice guy and Dad liked him. He said the other guy was kind of a prima donna."
The A-list guests also included renowned poet Carl Sandburg.
"I remember my dad asking him about what college he would recommend for me," Seaton said. "I wanted to go the University of Illinois."
She uses a deep, raspy voice as she recalls the poet's response.
"And he said, 'At a big university, you would be no more than a grain of sand on the beach.' And the decision was made. I went to Lewis College and I could come home every night."
Those high school and college years allowed Seaton to get more involved with one major prison activity.
"Dad let me pick some of the movies that they ran on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons," she said. "I chose a lot of Westerns. John Wayne and Randolph Scott were always popular. They liked Jerry Lewis and those Disney movies with Fred MacMurray.
"Never any gangster movies and no prison movies."
I turned 21 in prison doing life without parole...
Wanda Skutnick.
but mama tried, mama tried...
I’ve only me to blame cause mama tried.
Merle Haggard, meet Jerry Garcia.
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