Electric Chair

The electric chair is perhaps something that we take for granted for nowadays as the quickest and most humane way of executing a human being. In the early days, however, the proponents of the use of electricity as a means of death had to prove that it was indeed the most proficient manner of execution. Chair inventor Harold Brown had applied for the chair's patent and, thus, set out on an campaign to prove its efficiency. Using a prototype, Brown demonstrated the chair's capabilities on more than fifty cats and dogs. The New York commission (which was the first state to consider the new invention) needed more convincing. Brown replied by killing a cow before a panel of advisors. He emphasized his chair's ability by killing a horse. The panel was impressed. On June 4, 1888, electrocution became a legal means of capital punishment.
The state knew that they would need public support behind the method. In order to win over the public they sent Brown on tour with his chair. Brown traveled the state executing animals in all of the major population centers. Animals were recruited for the show as he went along. In Albany, Brown executed an orangutan. Its hair caught on fire. August 6, 1890 saw the first ever electric execution of a human being.
The history maker was William Kemmler of Buffalo, New York. Kemmler was guilty of butchering his mistress with a hatchet. A group of doctors and reporters gathered for the historic occasion. Kemmler was jolted for seventeen seconds. It failed to kill him. Kemmler was unconscious but still breathing. The embarrassed prison officials electrocuted him again for seventy seconds. Kemmler thrashed and convulsed as the electrodes seared his head and arms, filling the room with the smell of burning flesh. Some witness fainted, while others fled the room. The killing took eight minutes.
While many critics rallied for the return of the gallows, New York remained faithful to the chair, executing two more criminals without incident. The most botched electric execution, however, was the fourth. William Taylor was slated for execution on July 27, 1893. The first jolt of electricity caused his legs to stiffen with a force so great that they tore loose from the chair's ankle straps. Like Kemmler, Taylor was still alive. When the executioners attempted to send a second charge through Taylor's body it was discovered that the generator in the powerhouse had blown. Taylor was removed from the chair and placed on a cot. Officials kept him alive with chloroform and morphine so that he could be officially killed by an active current. An hour and nine minutes later Taylor was returned to the chair and given a more than adequate charge.