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

Steuben County, New York Steuben County (stu-BEN) 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 ...

, was the first " state electrician" (

executioner An executioner, also known as a hangman or headsman, is an official who executes a sentence of capital punishment on a legally condemned person. Scope and job The executioner was usually presented with a warrant authorising or orderin ...

) for the state of

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

. In 1890, Davis finalized many features of the first

electric chair An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...

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 peddler, alcoholic, and murderer, who, in 1890, became the first person in the world to be executed by electric chair. He was convicted of murdering Matilda "Tillie" Ziegle ...

, 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 his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in t ...

's assassin,

Leon Frank Czolgosz Leon Frank Czolgosz ( , ; May 5, 1873 – October 29, 1901) was an American laborer and anarchist who assassinated President William McKinley on September 6, 1901, in Buffalo, New York. The president died on September 14 after his wound became ...

. 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 May 1923 and is buried in Barnard Cemetery in Corning, New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Edwin 1846 births 1923 deaths American executioners People from Corning, New York 19th-century American inventors American electricians Burials in New York (state)

See also

References