Edwin F. Davis (May 28, 1846 – May 26, 1923), of Corning,

Steuben County, New York Steuben County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 93,584. Its county seat is Bath. Its name is in honor of Baron von Steuben, a Prussian general who fought on the American si ...

, United States, was the first "state electrical engineer” (

executioner An executioner, also known as a hangman or headsman, is an official who effects a sentence of capital punishment on a condemned person. Scope and job The executioner was usually presented with a warrant authorizing or ordering him to ...

) for the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. In 1890, Davis finalized many features of the first

electric chair The electric chair is a specialized device used for capital punishment through electrocution. The condemned is strapped to a custom wooden chair and electrocuted via electrodes attached to the head and leg. Alfred P. Southwick, a Buffalo, New Yo ...

used. Davis performed 240 executions between 1890 and 1914, including the first person to be executed by electric chair,

William Kemmler William Francis Kemmler (May 9, 1860 – August 6, 1890) was an American murderer who was the first person executed by electric chair. He was convicted of murdering Matilda "Tillie" Ziegler, his common-law wife, a year earlier.Ruddick, N. (199 ...

, and the first woman, Martha M. Place, as well as

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

's assassin, Leon F. Czolgosz. 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 two days before his 77th birthday, and is buried in Barnard Cemetery in Corning, New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Edwin 1846 births 1923 deaths 19th-century American inventors American electrical engineers American executioners Assassination of William McKinley People from Corning, New York

See also

References