Ernestine Schaffner

She was the first to do volunteer missionary work among those detained in the New York City Prison,[1] known as The Tombs, having the financial means to indulge her charitable leanings in a substantial way.

Daily, she left her luxurious home in New York City to try and right some of the wrongs inflicted by society and the law.

In 1890, Schaffner's philanthropic work had grown to be so extensive that she engaged a salaried lawyer to attend to the legal part of it, and at the same time, she opened an office near The Tombs at 23 Centre Street.

Here she advertised: ‘Free Advice to the Poor and the Innocent Accused.’ Schaffner was regularly out US$20,000 in bail bonds, and she had a considerable sum lent to those who had been prisoners.

[5] Schaffner spoke English with a strong Teutonic accent, and dressed very plainly in black.

She defrayed all her charitable expenses from her private accounts, even permanently retaining a lawyer to act for her clients.

She was very sensitive, and the mere memory of some of the scenes of misery that she had witnessed during her investigations in the poorest districts of the metropolis brought tears to her eyes when she related her experiences.

US$300 in cash or secured by city real estate was the bail required for the boy's release.

After she talked with the boy, she went to the District Attorney's office, deposited the sum required, and returned to The Tombs with an order for the prisoner's release.

So great were her powers of reading facial expressions, that she was seldom deceived in those whose cause she undertook to champion.

She rescued scores of innocent persons from unjust detention, trial, and conviction on circumstantial evidence.

One of the judges in New York refused to accept her bond, believing that she was often victimized by undeserving persons.