Parchment farm?

[Bonnie Osborn Briggs]

I know that Parchment is a notorious prison in Mississippi - the term
could have originated there.

Bonnie Briggs
The University of Memphis


Johanna N Franklin wrote:
>
>     Last night I heard the term "parchment farm" for the first time.  It
> was quoted from an old blues song from the 1950s or so, referring to a
> chain gang in Louisiana.  Does anyone know where this term came from?
> Was there a Parchment, Louisiana near the prison?  Any help would be
> greatly appreciated.
>
>     Johanna Franklin
>
> "If a mathematician wrote a fantasy novel, would the page numbers be
> imaginary?"