The First Execution via the Electric Chair
By: Ben Kageyama
Tags: History, Justice, Society, Nonfiction, True Crime

The First Execution via the Electric Chair

A witness reported that it was “an awful spectacle, far worse than hanging.”

Kemmler’s Execution (1890), Public Domain

William Kemmler was an alcoholic who sold vegetables in the slums of New York in the late 1880s. On March 29, 1888, he arrived home after sobering up from a binge drinking session and became furious with his girlfriend, Tillie Ziegler. Kemmler accused her of attempting to run away with his friend, along with some of his money.

After hurling screams and expletives, Kemmler went into his barn and brought back his hatchet. Tillie Ziegler died that night after he repeatedly mutilated her with the weapon.

A few hours later, Kemmler walked to his neighbor and confessed the crime.

Trial and appeal

In only little more than a month, Kemmler was convicted for first-degree murder. Three days after his conviction, the judge sentenced him to death, making him the first person in history to be executed via the electric chair.

New York had just passed a new execution law which replaced hanging with electrocution, and the chair kept in Auburn Prison was ready to perform. This method of execution had been simmering in legislation for almost nine years after being invented and proposed by dentist Alfred Southwick in 1881.

Fortunately for Kemmler, his lawyers argued that being killed in that manner violated the Constitution’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. However, the appeal failed on October 9, 1889, with the US Supreme Court ruling otherwise.

Last moments

William Kemmler, Public Domain

The guards woke Kemmler up at 5:00 am. He put on a suit and tie, had breakfast, and said his prayers. They shaved his head and strapped him into the chair. Reports state that Kemmler was calm and composed, with him even telling the seventeen witnesses:

“Gentlemen, I wish you all good luck. I believe I am going to a good place, and I am ready to go.”

Kemmler was ordered to stand up once more because the executioner had to attach another electrical node through a hole in his suit. When they finally placed a metal restraint on his head, Kemmler said, “Take it easy and do it properly, I’m in no hurry.”

“Goodbye, William,” said Durston, his executioner, in reply.

The generator’s switch was subsequently triggered.

Execution

The nodes brought a total of 1,000 volts through Kemler’s body, theorized to knock him out and cause a cardiac arrest. The previous day, authorities had tested and confirmed this theory by electrocuting a horse.

The current went on for seventeen seconds, and then it was cut. Physician Edward Spitzka declared from a distance that Kemler was dead.

However, to their horror, the witnesses noticed that Kemmler was still breathing. Spitzka and another physician went forward and quickly confirmed this fact.

Less than a second after, Spitzka shouted: “Have the current turned on again, quick — no delay!”

The generator’s settings were doubled, and 2,000 volts of lightning flowed through Kemmler’s veins. His blood vessels ruptured and blood flowed out from his suit. According to the New York Times:

“…an awful odour began to permeate the death chamber, and then, as though to cap the climax of this fearful sight, it was seen that the hair under and around the electrode on the head and the flesh under and around the electrode at the base of the spine was singeing. The stench was unbearable.”

After eight minutes of torture, Kemmler finally passed. His autopsy revealed that his skull cap carbonized and that his brained hardened from the current.

One critic, whose view I completely agree with, stated: “They would have done better using an axe.”