EXTREMELY SENSITIVE CONTENT – 18+ ONLY This post briefly describes the first execution by electric chair in U.S. history (6 August 1890). Shared solely for historical education and to honour the victim of the crime.
America’s First Electric Chair Execution – William Kemmler, Auburn Prison, 6 August 1890
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On the morning of 6 August 1890, at Auburn State Prison in New York, 30-year-old William Kemmler became the first person in the world to be executed by electric chair, a method promoted as “more humane” than hanging.
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Kemmler had been convicted of murdering his common-law wife, Tillie Ziegler, with an axe in March 1889. After a swift trial, he was sentenced to death, and the new electric chair, developed with backing from Thomas Edison and others, was chosen for the execution.
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At 6:43 a.m., before approximately 25 official witnesses (doctors, reporters, officials), the current of roughly 1,000 volts was applied for 17 seconds. Kemmler lost consciousness, but when the power was cut, signs of life remained. The current was reapplied for several minutes. Smoke rose from his body and the smell of burning flesh filled the room. Several witnesses were overcome; at least one fainted.
Newspapers called it “an awful spectacle” and “death by torture.” The event sparked immediate national outrage and intense debate about whether the electric chair was truly humane.
Consequences
Despite the botched execution, the electric chair remained in use and became the primary method in many states throughout the 20th century.
More than 4,000 people have since been executed by electrocution in the United States.
Today only a handful of states retain it as a secondary option; lethal injection is now the predominant method.
We recall William Kemmler’s execution today not for sensation, but to remember the true victim – Tillie Ziegler; to acknowledge that even when carried out in the name of “progress,” the taking of a human life can still descend into horror; and to recognise that the history of the electric chair stands as a lasting warning about the thin line between science and cruelty.
Official & reputable sources
New York State Archives – execution file William Kemmler
The New York Times & Buffalo Evening News – reports of 6–7 August 1890
Moran, Richard – Executioner’s Current (2002)
Brandon, Craig – The Electric Chair: An Unnatural American History (1999)
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