Daily AncestorTurnkey
A turnkey was a jailer or prison guard, literally the person who kept the keys and turned them in the cell locks.
The turnkey locked and unlocked cells, watched prisoners and admitted visitors. The head of the jail was the keeper, warden or jailer; a turnkey worked under him.
In the census a jail's staff may be listed at the head of the jail's own household. Today turnkey also means ready to use, but in older records it is a prison job.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1850 to 1880 census
Patk. Kane, 40, Turnkey, County jail
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Daily Ancestor. "Turnkey." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/turnkey. Last checked 2026-10-01.