Regional Studies
The Northeast

First execution in the Northeast was that of John Billington who was hanged for murder in Bristol county, Massachusetts on Sept 30, 1630.

Last Pre-Furman execution was Eddie Mays who died sitting in the Sing Sing Electric Chair for a murder committed in New York County, New York on June 15, 1963

In the 332 years from Billington and Mays there were a total of 3,125 known executions, an average of 9.4 executions per year.

The following is a racial breakdown of these executions.

116 (3.7%) of those executed were females. As a matter of fact, 11 of the first 25 executed were women. 

The first woman executed was Dorothy Talby of Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, who was hanged for murder on Dec. 6, 1638.

The last woman executed was Ethel Rosenberg, who, with her husband was executed in Sing Sing's electric chair on June 19, 1953 for spying.

In The Northeast there were 1,762 Hanged, 1,293 Electrocuted, 35 Burned at the Stake, 22 Shot to Death, 1 Breaking on the Wheel, 2 Hung in Chains (conventional hanging plus long term display of corpse), 1 Pressing, 1 Strangled then Burnt, 1 Drowning and 7 unknown.

It has to be mentioned that there were many more capital crimes in Colonial days than are on the books today. We no longer execute people for Adultery, Arson, Attempted Murder, Concealing the Birth of a Child , Housebreaking-Burglary, Piracy, Rape, Sodomy-Buggery-Bestiality, Theft-Stealing or Witchcraft.

Note: All executions cited below are Pre-Furman, occurring before 1968.
Counties mentioned may not have been in existence at the time of the crime.

Connecticut Executions

The State was admitted into the Union on January 9, 1788.

Connecticut has preformed 126 Pre-Furman executions from 1639 to 1960.

24 of these execution were prior to Statehood, 102 since.

Nepauduck, a Native American, was the first to be hanged for murder in what later became New Haven County, on January 30, 1639

Joseph Taborsky was the last execution in Connecticut for a murder committed in Hartford county. He died in the electric chair on May 17, 1960.

Mary Johnson was the first woman executed in Colonial Connecticut. She was found to be guilty of Witchcraft and was hanged sometime in 1649.

Sarah Bramble was the last woman hanged for murder on November 21, 1753 in New London County.

12-year-old Hanna Ocuish, an Native American girl, was hanged on December 20, 1786 in New London County for the murder of a young White girl. She is believed to be the youngest person legally executed in America.

Hanging was the method of execution until the February 10, 1937 when James McElroy was electrocuted for a murder committed in New Haven County.

There were 108 Hangings, and 18 Electrocutions.

The 126 executions averages to be 1 execution every 2.54 years.

Maine Executions

The State was admitted into the Union on March 15, 1820.

Maine has executed 21 people between 1644 and 1885.

10 of these execution were prior to Statehood, 11 since.

Mrs. Cornish was the first person executed by Hanging for murder some time in 1644.

23-year-old Native American Patience Sampson was the only other woman executed in Maine. She was hanged on July 31, 1735 for a murder in York County.

Daniel Wilkerson, an escaped convict who committed murder, was hanged on November 20, 1885 in Sagadahoc County. This was Maine's last execution.

The 21 executions represents 1 execution every 11.5 years.

All the executions were Hangings

Maine currently does not have a death penalty.

Massachusetts Executions

The State was admitted into the Union on February 6, 1788.

Massachusetts has executed 345 people between 1630 and 1947.

185 of these execution were prior to Statehood, 160 since.

John Billington was the first to be executed by hanging for murder. He died September 30, 1630 in Bristol County.

Dorothy Talby was the first woman executed in Massachusetts for a murder committed in Plymouth County. She was hanged on December 6, 1638.

Philip Bellino and Edward Gertsen, a pair of gangsters, were the last executed for the murder of a taxi driver who was a witness to a robbery of an illegal  gambling establishment that they committed. They both died in the Electric Chair on May 9, 1947 for a crime committed in Essex County. Fred Leuchter

The last woman executed was Rachel Wall, who, was hanged for Robbery on January 8, 1789 in Suffolk County.

26 executions were for the crime of Witchcraft. 20 females and 5 males were hanged, and 1 man was pressed to death between 1648 and 1692.

Perhaps Massachusetts most famous executee is Mary Dyer, a member of the Quaker religion in the Puritan Massachusetts Colony. She refused to be exiled from the Colony under threat of death.  4 Quakers (3 men plus Mary) were executed between 1659 and 1661 for religious intolerance. Mary met her demise on June 1, 1660. There is a statue of her on the Massachusetts State House Lawn. Her "comrades in crime", William Robinson, Marmaduke Stevenson (both hanged on January 22, 1659) and William Leddra (hanged on March 14, 1661) appear to have gotten nearly lost in history.

October 8, 1789. Rachel Wall was hanged for murdering a sailor. She and her husband, George, a Boston fisherman, engaged in piracy. After stealing a ship at Essex, they began pirating off of the Isle of Shoals. Pretending to be in distress, Rachel would stand on deck and cry for help. When rescuers arrived, George and his men would kill them, rob them of all valuables, and sink their ship. In 1782, George Wall drowned in a storm but Rachel was rescued. She returned to Boston where she continued to steal from the cabins of ships docked in Boston Harbor. She was accused and convicted of murdering a sailor - a crime that she denied. At her hanging she confessed to being a pirate. She is the only known woman pirate of New England. Richard Clark

Just after Midnight on August 23, 1927 three men were executed at the Massachusetts State Prison at Charlestown by the hand of Robert G. Elliott, Executioner. This is probably the most famous murder case and execution ever. It certainly had the most notoriety. Celestine Madieros, a gangster, went first followed by Nicola Sacco, a cobbler and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, a fish peddler. They were found guilty of the double murder of F. A. Parmenter, Paymaster and Alesandro Bernadelli, Guard in a robbery at a South Braintree, Massachusetts Shoe Factory in which $15,000 was taken and never recovered. Fred Leuchter|
Click Here for full story.

The 345 executions averages to 1 execution every 11 months.

There were 262 Hangings, 65 Electrocutions, 14 Shootings, 3 Burnt at the Stake, and 1Pressing.  

Massachusetts currently does not have a death penalty.

New Hampshire Executions

The State was admitted into the Union on June 21, 1788.

New Hampshire has executed 24 people between 1739 and 1939.

5 of these execution were prior to Statehood, 19 since.

Sarah Simpson and Penelope Henry were the first to be executed for the murder of a child. They were both "Turned off the Back of a Cart" (hanged) on Dec. 27, 1739 in Rockingham County. 3 of the first 4 executed were women.

Eliphas Dow was the first male executed in the State. He was hanged for murder in Rockingham County on May 8, 1755.

Ruth Blay was the last, and only other woman executed. An unmarried school teacher, she was convicted of Concealing the Birth of a Child, whose body was found under the floor boards of her schoolhouse. On December 30, 1768 she was hanged from the same tree as Sarah Simpson and Penelope Henry. The Colonial Governor issued a last minute reprieve, but his horse riding messenger arrived at the execution site minutes too late.

Howard Long was the last executed for the murder and rape of a young boy. He was hanged on July 14, 1939 for the crime committed in Merrimack County.

Hanging has been New Hampshire's only method of execution.

The 24 executions represents 1 execution every 8.3 years.

New Jersey Executions

The State was admitted into the Union on December 18, 1787.

New Jersey has executed 361 people between 1690 and 1963.

76 of these execution were prior to Statehood, 285 since.

The first New Jersey execution was that of a slave named Tom who was hanged sometime in 1690 for Rape in Monmouth County.

The last execution was that of murderer Ralph Hudson, a Black man, in the electric chair. He died January 22, 1963 for the crime committed in Atlantic County.

The first Woman executed was a Black Slave named Hager (owned by Sherron) She was Burned at the Stake while her 2 male accomplices were hanged for murder sometime in 1717. The crime occurred in Salem County.

Margaret Meierhoffer was the last woman hanged for murder on January 6, 1881 in Essex County.

Hanging, and occasionally Burning at the Stake, were the methods of execution until murderer Saverio Digiovanni was electrocuted on December 11, 1907. The crime was committed in Somerset County.

It seems that every decade or so we have another "Trial of the Century". In the 1920's it was the 6 year trial and execution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti in Massachusetts. In the 1940's it was the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial and the resulting hangings. In the 1950's it was the trial and execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg for espionage. In the 1960's it was the abduction, trial and hanging of Adolph Eichmann. In the 1930's it was the trial and execution of Bruno Hauptmann for the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby. Charles A. Lindbergh was America's hero after he preformed the first airplane solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. On March 1, 1932 Lindbergh's 20 month old son, Charles Jr., was kidnapped from his bedroom in their Hopewell, NJ home. Ransom notes first demanded $50,000 then $70,000 for the safe return of the baby. The ransom was paid with US gold notes whose serial numbers had been recorded. The baby was found dead however, and 2 years later Hauptmann was arrested, tried and convicted for the murder of the baby. He was electrocuted on April 3, 1936.

The 361 executions averages to 1 execution every 9 months.

There were 189 Hangings, 160 Electrocutions, and 12 Burnt at the Stake.  

New York Executions

The State was admitted into the Union on July 26, 1788.

New York has executed 1,130 people between 1641 (or 1645 by some sources) and 1963.

131 of these execution were prior to Statehood, 999 since.

Jan Creoli, a Black Slave, was executed for Sodomy in either 1641 or 1645 in New York County. He was sentenced to be strangled and his body to be burned.

Eddie Mays was the last execution in the infamous Sing Sing electric chair on June 15, 1963. His crime was that of Murder-Robbery in New York County

The first Woman executed was a Black Slave owned by Hallett.  She was Burned at the Stake while her 3 male accomplices (also owned by Hallett) were hanged for murder on February 2, 1708. The crime occurred in Queens County.

The last woman executed was Ethel Rosenberg, who, with her husband was executed in Sing Sing's electric chair on June 19, 1953 for spying.

The 2nd execution in the State was by an unusual method. Jan Quisthout van der Linde was charged with, and found guilty of, sodomy on his servant, a young orphan lad from Amsterdam named Hendrick Harmensen. Jan, a soldier had his  sentence carried out, and he was "taken to the place of execution and there stripped of his arms, his sword broken at his feet and he then tied in a sack and cast into the river and drowned until dead" This occurred on June 17, 1660 in New York County.

Patrick Morrissey, hanged for murdering his mother on September 6, 1872, and Jack Gaffney, hanged for murdering a bar patron on February 14, 1873, hold a unique place in history as they were hanged by a man who went on to become the President of the United States. At this time the law designated the County Sheriff to be the executioner and carry out the order of the court. The Sheriff of Erie County was Grover Cleveland.

In a proper humane hanging, the distance the condemn drops should be long enough to break the victims neck and sever his spinal chord, rendering him instantly unconscious. Failure to accomplish this typically resulted in the victim, still fully conscious, violently struggling for his life until lack of blood to his brain causes him to loose consciousness. The botched hanging of a woman, 40-year-old Roxalana Druse on February 28, 1887 was the straw that broke the camel's back.

New York determined that electrocuting a man to death was a more humane way to end life. On August 6, 1890 William Kemmler became the first person to die in the electric chair at Auburn Prison.

When husband murderess Ruth Snyder was electrocuted at Sing Sing Prison on January 12, 1928, a reporter for the New York Daily News used a hidden camera strapped to his ankle to photograph the moment of death. The photo dominating the front page of the next couple of issues of the paper. (He was never invited to attend another execution.)

On September 6, 1901 Leon Czolgosz  fired two shots into President William McKinley as he toured the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. McKinley died September 14, 1901. The trial of Czolgosz began at 10 a.m. Monday, September 23rd. The next day he was convicted of murder and sentenced to die in the Auburn electric chair for the death of our beloved President. On October 29, 1901, Leon Czolgosz was put to death for his crime, which had occurred less than 2 months earlier.

695 people died in New York State Electric chairs.

The State's 1,130 executions averages to 1 execution every 3.4 months.

There were 404 Hangings, 695 Electrocutions, 4 Shootings, 20 Burnt at the Stake, and 1 Breaking on the Wheel, 2 Hung in Chains (conventional hanging plus long term display of corpse), 1 Pressing, 1 Strangled then Burnt, 1 Drowning and 2 unknown.

Pennsylvania Executions

The State was admitted into the Union on December 18, 1787.

Pennsylvania has executed 1,040 people between 1693 and 1962.

177 of these execution were prior to Statehood, 853 since.

Derek Jonson, a ferryman, was the first to be executed in Pennsylvania. On July 9, 1693 he was hanged in Bucks County for murder.

Elizabeth Murphy was the first woman executed in Pennsylvania for a murder committed in Delaware County. She was hanged on July 13, 1724.

The last woman executed was Corrine Sikes, a Black maid, who was executed in the electric chair on January 14, 1946 for a Murder-Robbery in Philadelphia.

The last execution was that of murderer Elmo Smith in the electric chair. He died January 22, 1963 for the crime committed in Montgomery County.

Hanging, was the primary method of execution until February 23, 1915 when John Talap met his maker in the electric chair for a murder in Montgomery County.

The 1,040 executions represents 1 execution every 3 months.

There were 686 Hangings, 350 Electrocutions, and 4 Shootings.

Rhode Island Executions

The State was admitted into the Union on May 29, 1790.

Rhode Island has executed 52 people between 1673 and 1845.

45 of these execution were prior to Statehood, 7 since.

Punnean, a Native American, was the first to be executed by an unknown method for an unknown crime sometime in 1673 in Newport County.

John Gordon, who committed murder, was hanged on February 13, 1845 in Providence County. This was Rhode Island's last execution.

Rhode Island has never executed a woman.

Half of Rhode Island's executions occurred on July 19, 1723 when 26 sailors were hanged for Piracy.

The 52 executions averages to 1 execution every 3.3 years.

There were 47 Hangings and 5 unknown.

Rhode Island currently does not have a death penalty.

Vermont Executions

The State was admitted into the Union on April 4, 1791.

Vermont has executed 26 people between 1778 and 1954.

1 of these execution were prior to Statehood, 25 since.

David Redding was the first executed in Vermont. He was a Tory Soldier who was hanged for Treason on June 11, 1778 in Bennington County.

Emeline Meaker, a housewife, was the first female executed in Vermont. She was hanged for murder on March 30, 1883 in Washington County.

The only other woman executed was husband murderess Mary Rogers who was hanged on December 8, 1905. The crime was committed in Bennington County.

Donald DeMag, an escaped convict who committed murder, was electrocuted on December 8, 1954 for a crime committed in Windsor County. This was Vermont's last execution.

Vermont was the first to execute under the authority of the State. William Barnett and Sandy Kavanaugh were hanged on January 20, 1864 under State (as opposed to County) jurisdiction. The murder occurred in Chittenden County.

Vermont replaced hanging with the electric chair on July 12, 1919 with the execution of George Warner for murder in Windsor County.

The 26 executions represents 1 execution every 6.8 years.

There were 21 Hangings, and 5 Electrocutions.

Vermont currently does not have a death penalty.

Note: All executions cited above are Pre-Furman, occurring before 1968.
Counties mentioned may not have been in existence at the time of the crime.

My friend, Execution Technologist Fred Leuchter, contributed to this page.

Also, my friend, British Execution Expert Richard Clark contributed to this page.
Be sure to check out his exceptional websites
Capitol Punishment UK and
Capitol Punishment USA