Edwin Davis (executioner)

Edwin F. Davis
Born(1846-05-28)May 28, 1846
DiedMay 26, 1923(1923-05-26) (aged 76)
Known forExecutioner

Edwin F. Davis (May 28, 1846 – May 26, 1923), of Corning, Steuben County, New York, United States, was the first "state electrical engineer” (executioner) for the state of New York. In 1890, Davis finalized many features of the first electric chair used. Davis performed 240 executions between 1890 and 1914, including the first person to be executed by electric chair, William Kemmler, and the first woman, Martha M. Place, as well as William McKinley's assassin, Leon F. Czolgosz. He also performed executions in Massachusetts, Ohio, and New Jersey.

Davis held a patent on certain features of the electric chair. He received U.S. Patent No. 587,649 for his "Electrocution-Chair" on August 3, 1897.

He died in 1923, aged 76, and is buried in Barnard Cemetery in the town of Corning.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Banner, Stuart (March 2003). The Death Penalty: An American History. Harvard University Press. pp. 194–195. ISBN 0-674-01083-3.
  2. ↑ Brandon, Craig (2016). The Electric Chair: An Unnatural American History. McFarland, Incorporated. p. 208. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  3. ↑ "E.F. Davis, Inventor of Death Chair, Dies; State Electrical for 25 Years, He Presided at Over 300 Electrocutions at Sing Sing". The New York Times. 27 May 1923. p. 6. Retrieved 6 September 2022.