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PBA TROOPER

A Piece of History: The Electric Chair in New York

neck would not break as expected. In In any event, it was not uncom• Raymond M. Gibbons, Jr., DDS, FAGD such instances, the victim strangled mon- for the subject's heart to con• Forensic Sciences Unit, NYSP slowly, twisting convulsively for as tinue beating for as long as eight long as 15 minutes before death fi• minutes after the trap had been ROM JUNE 4, 1888, until June nally occurred. As one text reported: sprung. That fact troubled many peo• 1, 1965, the lawful method for ". . . there were repeated examples of ple who feared that the subject might Fputting capital offenders to the fall failing to snap the recipient's be experiencing unintended suffer• death in New York was the ing. All of this led to a electric chair. In the irrev• search for a swift, painless erent jargon of the prisons and humane alternative to and the press the device the scaffold. was nicknamed Old Dr. Alfred Porter South- Sparky, Yellow Mama and wick, a Buffalo, NY, den• Gruesome Gertie among tist and former engineer on others. At the time this Great Lakes freighters, is method of execution was credited with originating adopted, however, it was the ideal of legal punish• hailed as a humane and ment of death by electric• civilized alternative to ity. "Old Electricity," as he methods it supplanted. was known, was convinced Until that time, that this was a much more had been the most com• humane way of bringing^ mon method of executing swift and painless death to condemned murderers. In criminals convicted of Britain, hanging is believed murder. to have been in use among At his request, New York the Anglo-Saxons at the State Senator McMillan, also time they arrived from of Buffalo, introduced a bill continental Europe. Public in the 1886 Session of the , in fact, persisted State Legislature, creating a in England until 1888. En• commission to provide a glish colonists brought the new death penalty to take custom to North America the place of hanging. In car• where it gained wide rying out its mandate, the currency. new commission researched By the late 19th cen• various methods of execu• tury, considerable public tion used down through the revulsion had developed The electric chair in the at (now Ossiningj State centuries and ultimately over hanging in the U.S. Correctional Facility. narrowed the acceptable The reason for this was choices to four: electricity, that while hanging generally worked, neck, leaving the condemned man or prussic acid, the and the gar- there were appalling instances in woman to dangle from the rope, rote. The commission then solicited which something went wrong. If, for wheezing and kicking for as long as opinions on those four methods from example, the hangman's knot was 15 minutes while slowly strangling to judges, district attorneys, and sheriffs not properly placed, the subject's death." throughout the state. The con- >• WINTER 1995 33 NEW YORK PBA TROOPER

sensus was that electricity be adopted young man, he worked for his father On May 18, 1889, Kemmler was as the lawful method of execution. in a slaughterhouse. By age 27, he sentenced to be the first individual to On June 4, 1888, New York Gover• was married, having eloped with a die in the electric chair. His execu• nor David B. Hill signed the law which girl named Tillie Ziegler. However, he tion was delayed by his attorney for a established as the was horrified on his honeymoon year and a half with appeals. Inven• method of execution in New York when he learned for the first time tor Thomas A. Edison, who objected State. The law took effect on January that his new wife had been married to the use of electricity to execute 1, 1889. From that day on, executions before and never divorced. criminals, financed all of Kemmler's would be done by "electricizing" the The couple lived in rented rooms appeals up to the condemned, a method the public was on South Division Street in Buffalo. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court assured would keep the criminal jus• Practically from the beginning, sustained the original verdict. tice system in tune with scientific ad• Kemmler suspected Tilly of infidelity. Kemmler was ultimately sen• vances, besides being swift and pain• Always a moody individual, he tenced to die in the week beginning less and granting the victim a more drank heavily. On the morning of August 4, 1890. merciful end than the hangman's rope. March 27, 1889, he caught Tilly At Auburn Prison, final prepara• The new law established strict going through his pockets looking for tions began. Part of the old convicts' procedures surrounding executions money. He lost control of himself. He mess hall in the basement of the ad• by the new method. Condemned picked up a hatchet and hacked the ministration building was converted prisoners were maintained in solitary unfortunate woman viciously. She into a death chamber, just a short cor• confinement. Upon completion of died the next day in a hospital. ridor away from Kemmler's cell. The sentence, the disposal of the body All New York was shocked by the chair, a square framed, heavy, oaken would be by burial in quick-lime. . Kemmler made no attempt to one with a foot rest, had a high, slop• The press was prohibited from pub• escape. He freely admitted what he ing back, a perforated seat and wide lishing details of executions. Three had done. When pressed for a mo• arms. It was fastened to the floor, the state prisons—Auburn, Clinton and tive, he said, "I wanted to kill her and feet being properly insulated. Sing Sing—were designated as places the sooner I hang for it, the better!" Buckles and straps were attached of execution. His statement, of course, indicates to hold the victim securely in place Dr George Fell, a Buffalo physi• that Kemmler did not know that New and two adjustable electrodes were cian, is credited with the design of York State had recently bviilt an elec• added. The entire apparatus consisted the chair and Edwin F. Davis, an elec• tric chair in Auburn Prison for the of a stationary engine, an alternating trician at Auburn Prison, was desig• purpose of executing condemned current dynamo, a voltmeter cali• nated the first official . murderers such as himself. brated from 30 to 2000 volts, an am• Another Buffalo meter, rheostat connection to the and switch. At• electric chair was tached to the the first individ• back of the chair ual who died in was the head it-30-year-old elec-trode which William Kemm• was finally held ler. Contempo• in place by rary accounts of means of a spiral his execution are spring. The body fascinating and electrode was at• give a real flavor tached to the of the public de• lower part of the bate that attend• back of the chair ed the adoption in order to con• of this method of tact the hollow of execution. the sacrum. The electrodes each The son of a consisted of a Philadelphia bell-shaped rub• butcher, Kemm• ber cup about 4 ler had little View of the execution chamber at Sing Sing. Behind the recessed door on the left was the station from inches in diame- schooling. As a which the state's executioner operated the controls. 34 PBATROOPER NEW YORK PBA TROOPER

ter with a metal disc inside faced his manner and appearance indicated The muscular rigidity immedi• with a layer of sponge. The lower a state of subdued elation as if grati• ately ceased and was succeeded by electrode had a spiral spring to hold it fied at being the central figure of the one of complete muscular relaxation. in place while a broad strap fastened occasion. [He was apparently] . . . The body remained motionless and to the back of the chair passed unable to appreciate the gravity of apparently lifeless for approximately around the lower part of the pris• his situation." one minute. Then the chest began a oner's abdomen and rendered the In response to the warden's invi• series of slight spasmodic move• contact secure. The prisoner's head tation to speak, Kemmler said, "Well, ments. The panicky warden sprang was firmly secured by means of I wish everyone good luck and I to the doorway of the room and leather straps which encircled the think I am going to a good place, and shouted, "Turn on the current!" How• forehead and chin and fastened to the the papers has been sayin' lots of ever no current could be applied be• back of the head rest while the chest, stuff about me that ain't so!" cause the dynamo had been shut off! arms and legs were secured by broad With that, he arose, took off his Now it was hastily turned on again. straps attached to the corresponding coat without the least show of emo• Meanwhile Kemmler showed portions of the chain tion or nervousness and took his seat signs of being very much alive. As It was Friday, , 1890, at in the death chair. He calmly submit• the witnesses, by now standing 6:30 a.m. All prisoners were in their ted to the adjustments of the straps around the chair, looked on in horror, cells. The warden later stated that and electrodes. "Don't be in a hurry. his chest moved and he gave a deep from all indications, they had no Warden," he said, "Take your time." groan followed by another. thought or interest in what was to He then pressed his back against the About two minutes elapsed be• take place. Likewise the citizens of spinal electrode and requested that fore the dynamo roared into action Auburn. Were it not for all the news• the head electrode "be pressed down again and the current began to flow. paper reporters, they would not have harder," remarking that he wanted to The twitching and groaning ended realized that anything unusual was perform his part to the best of his sharply as the body again turned going on within the prison walls. ability. The preparations concluded rigid and strained against the straps Just before Kemmler was with a final moistening of the for 70 seconds. At this time, a small brought in to the death chamber. sponges under the electrodes. amount of smoke issued from the Warden Charles F. Durston asked the It was now 6:43 a.m., and the first area of the spinal electrode. One of 14 assembled physicians how long slanting rays of the sun had begun to the witnesses fainted. The smoke 1700 volts of current should be ap• creep across the floor when the war• was due to the scorching on the edge plied. Official physician Carlos F. den, the chaplain and Dr MacDonald of the sponge with which the elec• MacDonald thought 20 seconds but stepped away from the chair Report• trode was faced and apparently the " agreed to somewhat less when the edly, Deputy Joe Veiling stepped up to moisture in the sponge had evapo• other MDs claimed that 10 seconds the chair and shouted, "Goodbye, rated by the prolonged contact of the should be sufficient. Willie!" The warden gave the signal current. The prisoner was brought into (two knocks on the wall) to execu• The execution of Kemmler, from the execution room promptly at 6:30 tioner Edwin Davis in the next room. the time he entered the death cham• a.m. Already seated in a semi-circle Witnesses said that a whistling ber until the second application of facing the chair were the 25 wit• sound was heard as Kemmler's body current, took no more than 8 min• nesses, 13 physicians, 1 dentist, 1 was abruptly thrown into a state of utes, whereas execution by hanging chaplain, Cayuga County Sheriff marked rigidity, every fiber of the en• usually took 15 to 30 minutes. Oliver Jenkins and 9 guards. Next to tire muscular system being appar• Dr. MacDonald subsequently Kemmler stood Warden Durston who ently in that fixed, rigid condition contended that electrocution had announced, "Now, gentlemen, this is known as tonic spasm. The chair, been proved to be the surest, quick• William Kemmler. I have just read which, it turned out, was inade• est, most efficient and least painful the warrant to him and told him he quately secured to the floor, began a method of execution yet to be de• has to die. If he has anything to say, rocking motion as if the condemned vised. Not everyone agreed with him. he will say it now." man was straining forwards and The day after the execution, Buffalo Kemmler sat down in a chair backwards to free himself. newspapers called the event "A His• provided next to the electric chair it• At the end of 17 seconds. Dr. toric Bungle." Another editorial critic self. To quote the official medical MacDonald pronounced Kemmler called it "Disgusting, Sickening and witness, Dr. MacDonald, "Upon en• dead, none of the witnesses dissent• Inhuman." tering the room, Kemmler appeared ing. At that point, the warden sig• After examining the body, Nicola strangely calm and collected; in fact. naled to have the contact broken. Tesla, an electrical expert who >•

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helped develop the electric chair, de• (Though now out of print, a public trial, he was executed in Auburn cided that death by electrocution was library should be able to locate a Prison and buried in an unmarked "cruel torture" and that the chair copy of Dr. Squire's book for those grave in Fort Hill Cemetery, Auburn. should never be used again. interested.) According to Dr. Squire, On August 15, 1963, Eddie Lee Dr. Alfred Porter Southwick, who condemned persons were not al• Mays was the last person executed in had been largely responsible for this lowed a narcotic or even alcohol. It New York's electric chair. Capital new form of execution, was frankly was not a law, just custom. Also, punishment was abolished in New jubilant. "There," he exclaimed, "is contrary to public opinion, the lights York State on June 1, 1965. the culmination of ten years of work did not dim when the switch was The death penalty, using lethal and study. We live in a higher civi• thrown. The entire electrical circuit injection rather than the electric lization, from this day." was separate. He also describes the chair, was restored by the New York Dr. George E. Fell, one of the arrangement of the condemned cells Legislature. The bill was signed by medical witnesses, reported, "Death before 1920, which was unique. The Governor George E. Pataki in March was instantaneous. The apparent little green door leading to the exe• 1995. It became effective on Septem• gasps for breath were nothing more cution chamber was then only a few ber 1, 1995. than a mechanical action of the mus• feet from the cells. Later it was ar• Today, 11 states continue to use cles caused by the relaxation of the ranged that the condemned could go the electric chair: , Connecti• current." to his death without being seen by cut, , Georgia, Indiana, Ken• The Rochester Democrat & Chron• the other inmates. tucky, Nebraska, Ohio, South Car• icle did not agree. Under a banner Squire documented the proce• olina, , and Virginia. headline, it stated: "The execution dure surrounding an electrocution in Arizona, California and Maryland em• was a wretched failure, both in its considerable detail. The following ploy the In New Hamp• scientific and its humanitarian as• passage will give the reader a sense shire, it's still the gallows. Colorado, pects. That it will be the last execu• of Dr Squire's style: Illinois, Nevada, , New tion by electricity at least for a long After his last bath or Mexico, , Pennsylvania, time to come, is safe to conclude." shower, the prisoner is outfitted South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming all To say that the newspaper was with new clothing and is given use , which is the wrong in its prediction is an under• a shave and haircut. Contrary method that appears to be on its way statement. Since August 6, 1890, to the general impression, the to supplanting all others. • 4,310 people have been put to death hair is not clipped & shaved in an electric chair—695 in New from a spot on the top of his York State alone, and 55 in Auburn head. This is unnecessary, since Prison. hair, so long as it is not too Dr. MacDonald subsequently bushy, serves as an excellent stated, as might have been expected, conductor So he is just given a that "there were certain defects in normal haircut. the arrangement and operation of the He is then locked in the apparatus which will have to be cell where he is to spend his avoided or eliminated in the future. last hours. The chaplain stays In spite of these defects, the impor• if he is wanted. The prison tant fact remains that unconscious• physician calls on him and the ness was instantaneous and death relatives usually spend the painless." afternoon, leaving about six Correctional history had been o'clock. In accordance with BIBLIOGRAPHY made and a lot more history started long practice he is served for being written down. Among the his anything he de• H.A. Bedau, The Death Penahy, Aldine Pub. Co., 1967. more interesting and well-informed sires. This custom seems to be Amos O. Squire, MD, The Sing Sing Doctor, virtually universal; most pris• early writers on the subject of the Garden City Pub., 1937. electric chair was Dr. Amos O. oners, for obvious reasons, do Ed Baumann, May God Have Mercy on Your Squire, author of The Sing Sing Doc• not have much appetite. Soul, Bonus Books, 1993. tor, written in 1937. His book de• Among the chair's more famous Leo W. Sheridan, I Killed for the Law: The Ca• bunks a number of popular legends occupants was , who reer of Robert Elliott and Other Execution• ers, Stackpole Sons, 1938. assassinated President William that grew up around the chair and August Mencken, By the Neck: A Book of death house custom and procedure. McKinley in 1901. After a speedy Hangings, Hastings House, 1942.

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