New York State Electrician

New York State Electrician was a title given to the chief executioner of the State of New York during the use of the electric chair from 1890 to the state's last execution in 1963, although the final State Electrician, Dow Hover, remained on call for any future executions until the United States Supreme Court briefly abolished capital punishment with its 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia.[1][2]

State Electrician of New York
Seal of New York
Term lengthIndeterminate
Inaugural holderEdwin Davis
1890–1914
Final holderDow Hover
1953-1963
Abolished1963 (de facto)
1972 (de iure)
Salary$150 per execution, plus $50 for any additional executions on the same day (from the 1920s up to 1963)

The State Electrician was contracted by the state at an unchanged rate of $150 per execution (with $50 added for any additional executions performed on the same day) for the duration of the position's existence. New York did not prohibit the officeholder from performing executions for other states or for the federal government, and such arrangements were common, with the New York State Electrician being retained to conduct notable executions such as that of Lindbergh baby killer Richard Hauptmann by the State of New Jersey, Sacco and Vanzetti by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the Rosenbergs by the United States.[1]

List of New York State Electricians

Name Took office Left office Governors
Edwin Davis August 6, 1890 1914 David B. Hill
Roswell P. Flower
Levi P. Morton
Frank S. Black
Theodore Roosevelt
Benjamin Odell, Jr.
Charles Evans Hughes
John Alden Dix
William Sulzer
Martin H. Glynn
John Hulbert 1914 January 29, 1926 Martin H. Glynn
Charles S. Whitman
Al Smith
Robert G. Elliott January 29, 1926 August 24, 1939 Al Smith
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Herbert H. Lehman
Joseph Francel August 24, 1939 August 5, 1953 Herbert H. Lehman
Thomas E. Dewey
Dow Hover August 5, 1953 August 15, 1963 (de facto)
June 29, 1972 (de jure)
Thomas E. Dewey
Averell Harriman
Nelson Rockefeller

References

  1. Walsh, Robert. "NEW YORK'S 'STATE ELECTRICIANS'". Sword and Scale. Sword and Scale. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  2. Gonnerman, Jennifer. "The Last Executioner". The Village Voice. The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2018.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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