Davis, Spitzka, & The First Electrocution

[Stan Reid]

Gee...who would expect that a guy who just had 10,000 volts shooting up his arse would feel any pain ?

Speaking of, Gee Jon was the first person to be executed inside an American gas chamber in 1924. It is still an option is some states but lethal gas hasn't been used for an execution since 1999. There has been some movement to revive the practice by using carbon monoxide or nitrogen asphyxiation in place of cyanide gas.

So far, the electric chair was last used for an execution in March of 2010.

So far, the last firing squad execution in the U.S. was in June of 2010.

So far, the last hanging execution in the U.S. was in 1996

Lethal injection execution has occurred in this current year.

All five methods are still an option in various states.

Final uses in British Colonial America:

Crushing - 1692

Burning at the stake - 1755

Gee...who would expect that a guy who just had 10,000 volts shooting up his arse would feel any pain ? Duh...
As if there was a precedent ( this being the first 'lectrocution) and if anyone had been asked whether it hurt much.
From the same paper...

This has got to be the most barbaric form of execution in the US.
I've read of people being cooked alive for several minutes before they actually died. Doesn't bear thinking about.

[Howard Brown]

I tried to find the first name of this "Dr.MacDonald" to see if it was Arthur MacDonald, the noted American criminologist...so far I can't pin it down.
That would have been three figures in our studies at the same event.

[Howard Brown]

Gee...who would expect that a guy who just had 10,000 volts shooting up his arse would feel any pain ? Duh...
As if there was a precedent ( this being the first 'lectrocution) and if anyone had been asked whether it hurt much.
From the same paper...

[Howard Brown]

The press in the U.K. and US lamented the premiere of "Old Sparky" .

The Oregonian
August 7,1890
***********

[Howard Brown]

A few snippets from papers ( if I can ) covering the event...I'll keep it brief.

The Oregonian
August 7, 1890
***********

[Howard Brown]

On August 6th, 1890, William Kemmler, a native Philadelphian, was fried,dyed and laid on the side by the first application of the electric chair in Auburn,NY, for committing uxoricide ( That means wifemurder,Mr. Linford...). The murder was committed in Buffalo.
In attendance that day were two oft' mentioned names in our Ripper studies...Dr. Emil Spitzka ( who pronounced Philadelphia Billy dead...) and R. Harding Davis, another Philadelphian, reporting on the event.
This is the first time I've ever seen a photo of Doc Spitzka.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kemmler
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Harding_Davis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Charles_Spitzka