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Escaped Prisoner Voluntarily Turns Himself Into Warden 38 Years After He Got Away
In 1931, a Nebraska man walked back to the prison that he had escaped from in 1893 after bargaining with God to save his life when he was shipwrecked
When prisoners escape from prison, they are constantly looking over their shoulder, fearful of being caught at any moment. However, as more time goes by, it’s a little easier to feel more confident in sustained freedom. One man was successfully on the lam for 38 years after breaking out of his cell, only to voluntarily turn himself into the same facility he left to fulfill a promise he made to save his life when he was 66 years old.
Charles E. Johnson escaped from the Lincoln, Nebraska Penitentiary in 1893 when he was 17 months into a two-year sentence for forgery — having been convicted of signing his mother’s name to a threshing machine loan contract. The experience was so harrowing, he determined he couldn’t stay for the remainder of his term. He was serving as a trusty, which allowed him to be in the engine house, which was located outside of the prison — allowing him to effect his escape by simply walking away.
Fast forward to 1931, Johnson was 66 years old and had been a “free man” for some 38 years. During that time, he had traveled the world, but his past transgression was always in the back of his mind.
Earlier in the year, he was on a boat that capsized off the coast of Japan. With no other recourse he jumped into the ocean. Finding himself clinging to a rock, he was uncertain if those were his final moments. During this time, he prayed fervently and made a solemn promise that if he somehow got out of the scrape, he would make things right by turning himself back into prison.
Naturally, soon thereafter, a Japanese vessel was able to pull him on board, thus saving his life. From there, he made his way to Seattle and then eventually down into Nebraska, where he walked towards his dreaded destination to hold up his end of the promise.
Upon arriving, a shocked Warden Fenton received his unexpected visitor, who told him that over the years his “going had been rough” and that time had become “hard for an old man.”
