Drop it down, make it shake This deep dive episode
will be a bit dark and graphic. Just a pre -warning.
What if humanity's attempt to make executions
more humane only made them more horrifying? What
happened next didn't go according to plan. The
death stretched on longer than promised. The
witnesses weren't prepared for what they saw.
and the machine that was supposed to represent
progress ended up revealing just how cruel progress
could be. How did electricity, once the future,
become an instrument of death? Let's take a deep
dive into the dark and conflicting topic, the
first electric chair, execution. Since ancient
times, a common and dominant form of execution
across humanity has been hanging. The first recorded
instance of an execution by hanging was in Homer's
Odyssey when 12 of Penelope's disloyal slave
women were hanged by Telemachus, Odysseus' son.
Hanging became a primary execution method during
the Middle Ages, particularly in England, for
those accused of greater crimes such as high
treason. They were drawn, dragged on a makeshift
wooden sled to their execution, hanged, and quartered,
or disemboweled, as their punishment. While in
the Middle Ages, execution by hanging was a public
spectacle, in the late 19th century in the United
States, especially in the South, states began
to shift away from public hangings due to rising
racial tensions. It was believed that public
execution served as capital punishment for the
offender, and deterrent for those watching the
execution, a debate which is still argued to
this day. However, crowds could become unruly,
depending on public opinion, of the person being
punished. And on the other side of the rope,
an execution could be seen as a public spectacle
or entertainment. A gradual move toward viewing
executions as a solemn act of state justice drove
this shift away from public executions. An occasional
problem with hangings were botched executions.
While the punishment was meant to be a quick
death by breaking the neck, sometimes things
could go wrong, causing the execution to be far
more graphic than intended. Prolonged strangulation,
decapitation, or serious injury occurred more
frequently than people were comfortable with,
leading to the public outcry to abolish the death
penalty in many places in the United States.
As an example, in 1906, William Williams hit
the floor below the platform, requiring men to
hold him up by the rope for 14 minutes until
strangulation occurred. This is only one of many
examples of botched executions by hanging, and
a good example of the growing public discomfort.
In the 19th century, A belief that technology
could solve all moral problems arose. It is known
as scientific humanitarianism. This growing philosophy
viewed scientific progress as inherently good
and a service to humanity. Spurred by figures
such as Rudolf Carnap, a German philosopher,
the philosophy spurred inventions, engineering,
and scientific progress that would reshape the
modern world. But can science make killing merciful?
A key figure in our story, Dr. Alfred P. Southwick,
a steamboat engineer, dentist, and inventor from
Buffalo, New York. His first idea for electrocution
as a death penalty alternative came after witnessing
a drunk man kill himself by touching a generator.
From what he witnessed, he believed electricity
could cause instant and painless death. During
the development of the electric chair, animals
were used to test out generators and dial in
how much of a shock was required. A commission
was formed by New York State to find a better
execution method than hanging, and the decision
was made to replace hanging with electrocution.
They argued their case by using keywords like
civilized, modern, and scientific. But there
was more happening behind the curtain. People
were playing chess for their own gain and saw
opportunity in the dentist's invention. Southwick
originally reached out to Thomas Edison for his
help developing the electric chair. However,
Edison was adamantly against capital punishment
and referred the determined steamboat engineer
to George Westinghouse. This may seem like an
honest move of one inventor trying to help out
another by steering him in the right direction.
However, it's more devious than that. Thomas
Edison is the father of direct current, or DC,
electricity, while George Westinghouse and Nikolai
Tesla were the spearheads for alternating current,
or AC. Edison's intentions were to associate
the use of AC generators with death in the public
eye. To demonstrate the dangers of AC power,
Edison set up demonstrations where tin dishes
were connected to an AC generator. Dogs would
be released near the tins, and when they made
contact they would be electrocuted and die. He
held such demonstrations for New York state officials
with the hopes of getting AC to be used for electric
chairs. Edison hoped executions would discredit
Westinghouse. The nickname for electric chair
executions were referred to as being Westinghoused
to further discredit George Westinghouse. Much
like Edison, Westinghouse did not want to be
associated with capital punishment. So Harold
Brown was commissioned by New York State to continue
the project after multiple prisons ordered electric
chairs for their prisons. To ensure the chair
would run off of AC generators, and not DC generators,
Edison secretly funded the project. And now,
with the project greenlit and pressing forward,
the time was coming for its first real -world
use. an event that would shock people across
the United States and generate even more controversy.
William Kemmler was born in Philadelphia in 1806.
Both of his parents were immigrants from Germany,
and both were known for being alcoholics. At
age 10, William dropped out of school, unable
to read or write, and began working at his father's
butcher shop. Kemmler's father would die from
an infection he received after a drunken brawl,
and his mother from complications with prolonged
alcohol use. After his parents' deaths, William
went into the peddling business, selling goods
door to door, and raised enough money to buy
a horse and a cart. At this point, he too was
a heavy alcoholic. Once during a drunken binge
with his friends, William declared that he would
jump an eight -foot fence with his horse and
cart. The attempt was shockingly a failure, and
his cart and goods were destroyed in the incident.
He was known to his friends and local buffalo
as Philadelphia Billy, and his drinking binges
were well noted. On March 29th in 1889, William
Kemmler was recovering from one of his infamous
binges when he became enraged with his girlfriend,
Tilly Ziegler. He reportedly accused her of stealing
from him and plotting to run away with a friend
of his. When the argument reached its peak, he
retrieved a hatchet and struck Tilly multiple
times until she was dead. Then William went to
a neighbor's house and announced that he had
just murdered his girlfriend. That same day,
William was accused of the murder of Tilly Ziegler.
His trial and sentencing were swift. He was convicted
of first -degree murder on May 10th. Only three
days later, he was sentenced to death, destined
to be the first execution by electric chair.
However, George Westinghouse was still trying
to disassociate AC generators with capital punishment,
and one of his lawyers appealed to the court,
claiming that electrocution was a violation of
the Eighth Amendment as cruel and unusual punishment.
The case was brought to the Supreme Court and
ultimately the court turned down the appeal on
the grounds that there was no cruel and unusual
punishment in death by electrocution. It was
deemed by the Supreme Court that this form of
execution would be far more humane than hanging.
At 5 a .m. on August 6, 1890, William Kemmler
is awoken from his cell at the Auburn State Prison.
He is put in a suit with a necktie and white
shirt and fed breakfast. After, the top of his
head is shaved, and at 6 .38 a .m., Kemmler enters
the execution chamber. Approximately 25 people
are present in the execution room, to include
physicians Dr. Spitzka and Dr. MacDonald. both
officially designated to oversee the execution.
The warden of Auburn Prison, Charles Durston,
Alfred Southwick, the inventor of the electric
chair. Additionally, reporters from various news
publications were also present. Kemmler is brought
into the room and introduced to the witnesses,
who were seated in a semicircle facing the death
chair. It was noted in the official report that
William's manner and appearance indicated a state
of subdued elation, as if he were happy to be
the center of attention. It seemed he did not
understand the gravity of the scenario. He was
seated in a chair in front of the electric chair,
and after the warden's introduction, he stated
to the witnesses, Well, I wish everyone good
luck in this world. I think I am going to a good
place. And the papers has been saying a lot of
stuff about me that wasn't true. That's all I
have to say. The warden ordered Kemmler stand
and remove his coat. Without any displayed emotion
or nervousness, William took his seat in the
death chair. He calmly followed all directions
as electrodes were strapped to him and his arms
and legs were positioned and strapped in. He
told the men preparing the chair to not hurry.
Be sure that everything is alright. He pressed
his back firmly against the back electrodes and
requested that the electrode on his head be strapped
tighter. The whole setup took about four minutes
and ended with the final moistening of the electrodes.
The warden gave the order to charge the switches.
The instant contact was made, Kemmler's body
jolted into a state of complete rigidity. The
shock lasted 17 seconds and no consciousness
was noted from any of the witnesses. The warden
ordered that contact be broken. Kemmler was pronounced
dead. The physician, Dr. McDonald, had originally
recommended a 20 -second shock at 2 ,000 volts
or more. However, other physicians said that
10 seconds would suffice and a time span shorter,
but not by much, was decided on. as well as only
charging the generator to 1 ,000 volts. It was
reported when the shock ended, his state of rigidity
immediately ended and William's whole body relaxed.
Half a minute after the first shock, his chest
began to spasm and mucus began to come out of
Kemmler's mouth. There was no evidence of a return
of consciousness or bodily sensation. but due
to the possibility that his life might not have
been completely extinguished, the order was given
by Dr. Spitzka to deliver a second shock. The
generator was charged to 2 ,000 volts this time,
and a second shock was delivered, this time lasting
70 seconds. The state of rigidity in Kemmler's
body returned. Blood vessels began to pop and
bleed on his skin, and a horrible odor permeated
the room. Some witnesses fainted at the sight.
There were claims that at one point during the
second shock, his flesh caught fire. It was reported
by a witness from the New York Times that the
sponge on the top of his head dried up from the
prolonged shock and the flesh under and around
the electrode at the base of the spine was singeing.
One witness famously said that it was worse than
hanging. The entire execution that was supposed
to take 20 seconds or less ended up lasting a
grueling eight minutes. Following the execution,
shockwaves reverberated through the public. A
newspaper headline read, a horrible spectacle,
while another stated, a failure of science. Physicians
were torn on the use of electric chair, with
many condemning its use, while others maintained
that it was more humane than hanging. The debate
mostly arose from the botched first attempt and
the aftermath of the event. However, the argument
in its favor came from the observed immediate
loss of consciousness, with the idea that the
punished could not feel the pain of the shock.
In the aftermath, Edison continued to publicly
condemn the use of an electric chair for capital
punishment. George Westinghouse made the statement,
they would have done a better job with an axe,
and also publicly condemned further use of the
electric chair. Despite widespread backlash,
New York State kept the electric chair and other
states would begin adopting it. The electric
chair would become the dominant form of execution
in the United States from 1889 to the mid -1980s.
Several states still authorize the electric chair
as a backup to lethal injection to this day,
to include Alabama, Arkansas, and Florida. This
is not the only example of a botched execution
via electric chair. As the use of electric chairs
spread across the United States, so did the number
of horrific and failed executions. In 1977, the
execution method of lethal injection was introduced
in Oklahoma and quickly replaced the use of the
electric chair. With further research into pain
and consciousness, there has been evidence that
consciousness still persists during the shock,
which would mean an enduring pain until consciousness
fails. This has contributed to the argument against
the use of electric chairs. And overall, the
debate still continues over the death penalty.
There seemed to be an idea that the use of technology
would remove moral responsibility. A painless,
humane death was promised by the inventor and
those lobbying for the electric chair's use.
However, history paints a different picture.
As new methods of any practice come out, it is
difficult to predict who will be negatively impacted
and what the outcome will be. Progress often
comes with blood on its hands, and history remains
amoral, acting as a hard drive of lessons learned
throughout our evolution as a society. I feel
that it's easy to look back at past events and
cast judgment on those who had the responsibility
thrust upon them. However, we are looking through
a lens of understanding in hindsight. And it's
very possible that through the same lens, those
same people would agree with our perspective
today. Now I will step off my soapbox. If you
made it this far, thank you for listening. This
is a dark and heavy topic with some grisly detail
that I hope was not too gratuitous. I appreciate
you coming with me on this deep dive into what
you didn't hear about the first electric chair
execution. Consider sharing this episode with
somebody that you know is into dark history,
and leave a review on whatever podcast platform
you're listening on. Thank you for listening,
and until next time, this is What You Didn't
Hear. Yeah.