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	William Kemmler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		William Kemmler (May 9, 1860– August 6, 1890) of Buffalo, New York was the first person to be executed via electric chair.
		He had murdered Tillie Ziegler, his common-law wife, with a hatchet on March 29, 1889, and was sentenced to be executed on August 6, 1890, at 6:00 AM.
		During this interval, the badly burnt Kemmler could be heard moaning.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/William_Kemmler (299 words)

	William Kemmler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		William Kemmler (1860/1861 - 1890) of Buffalo, New York was the first person to be executed via electric chair.
		He had murdered his common-law wife with a hatchet on March 29, 1889, and was sentenced to be executed on August 6, 1890, at 6:00 AM.
		However, the appeal failed, partly due to the support of Thomas Edison for the state's position (Edison was a backer of the rival direct current, and it is speculated he wanted to use the electric chair's publicity to convince people that AC current was dangerous).
	www.newkensington.us /project/wikipedia/index.php/William_Kemmler (278 words)

	The First Execution by Electrocution in Electric Chair: Kemmler's Death by Torture: Twice the Current Was Sent through ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		Kemmler was ready for his bed in the prison cemetery and the quick consuming of his remains by quicklime which the law imposes.
		Kemmler had an inkling of the approximate time set for the execution last night, yet he slept through the night as he had through all the nights just preceding it, as calmly and as peacefully as a healthy man might sleep who had no sword of Damocles hanging over his head.
		William Kemmler, otherwise called John Hart, was convicted of murder in the Erie Court of Oyer and Terminer in Buffalo on May 10, 1890.
	www.mindfully.org /Reform/Kemmler-Torture-Death7aug1890.htm (12457 words)

	all things William: A List of Firsts
		William of Vercelli (aka William of Monte Vergine) was the founder of the Hermits of Monte Vergine, or Williamites, in 1119.
		William Whewell invented the English word "scientist" in 1833; before this time the only terms in use were "natural philosopher" and "man of science." The term "palaetiology" was coined in 1837 by Whewell to refer to those sciences which have as their object the reconstruction of the past based on the evidence of the present.
		William J. Schroeder became the first artificial heart recipient to be discharged from the hospital in 1985, as he moved into an apartment in Louisville, Ky. Among all artificial heart recipients, Schroeder lived the longest, surviving 620 days with a Jarvik-7 heart until his death in 1986.
	www.allthingswilliam.com /willynilly/firsts.html (8867 words)

	WNYC - Reading Room: Executioner's Current: Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and the Invention of the Electric Chair
		He had gone directly from his prison lodgings to the basement cell of William Kemmler, the condemned man. After an exchange of pleasantries, Warden Durston drew an official, impressive-looking document from his breast pocket, for the law required that the death warrant be read prior to execution.
		William Kemmler was to receive a current of electricity sufficient to cause death.
		Kemmler was asked to stand up, and Judge Childs informed him that all attempts to save his life had failed.
	www.wnyc.org /books/8645 (2235 words)

	Bold Type: Excerpt by Richard Moran
		Kemmler spent the rest of the night alone in his cell, aware that at 6:00 a.m.
		William Kemmler was an average-sized, broad-shouldered thirty-year-old man with a full beard; before it was sheared, his carefully arranged dark hair had been stylishly clustered around his forehead.
		Kemmler's flened, smoldering body was left strapped to the chair as the horror-stricken witnesses were marched out of the death chamber into the stone corridors of the prison.
	www.randomhouse.com /boldtype/1102/moran/excerpt.html (2607 words)

	"NYCHS Presents Miskell's 'Executions in Auburn Prison: 1890 - 1916'-- Appendix C -- Official Report on First Execution ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		Kemmler was brought into the execution room by the warden a' introduced to the witnesses, who were seated in a semicircle, facing the death chair.
		In other words, William Kemmler was dead, and the intent and purpose of the law, to effect sudden and painless death in the execution of criminals, had been completely and successfully carried out.
		Death in Kemmler's case was probably caused by sudden, destructive change in the molecular elements of the brain centers and blood, but which, though sufficiently intense to instantly abolish all conscious life, was, apparently, not intense enough to effect immediate abolition of muscular contractility.
	www.correctionhistory.org /auburn&osborne/miskell/html/auburnchair_report.html (5287 words)

	The Electric Chair
		William Kemmler was an illiterate, alcoholic vegetable peddler in Buffalo.
		Kemmler was also a jealous man. His common-law wife Tillie Ziegler had left her first husband in Philadelphia to accompany Kemmler to Buffalo.
		Kemmler’s case was to be heard by the highest court in the country.
	www.crimelibrary.com /notorious_murders/not_guilty/chair/5.html (1451 words)

	Issue 4 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		William Kemmler was the first man on the electric chair.
		Kemmler was informed the precise day of his execution was to take place on August 6th, at 6:00 a.m.
		William sat in the electric chair, got strapped to it and had his head sponged so the electricity would flow through his body better.
	schools.cbe.ab.ca /b143/humanrights/death-penalty/william_kellmer.html (205 words)

	MYSTERY ELECTRIC CHAIR (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		William Kemmler was the first person legally executed by electrocution in New York's Auburn Prison on Aug. 6, 1890..
		Ohio was the 2nd state to adopt electrocution by executing William Haas and William Wiley on April 21, 1897.
		In the William Kemmler electrocution one of the electrodes contacted the spine, which caused a problem.
	users.bestweb.net /~rg/mystery_electric_chair.htm (2216 words)

	Alfred P. Southwich (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		His electric chair for human beings was first used at the NY State Penitentiary in Auburn, New York on August 6, 1890 with the electrocution of William Kemmler.
		Tillie Ziegler came to Buffalo from Philadelphia, PA with William Kemmler.
		Kemmler readily admitted to the crime saying, "I struck her with a hatchet.
	ah.bfn.org /a/forestL/southwich (180 words)

	William Kemmler: Facts and details from Encyclopedia Topic (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		William Kemmler (1860/1861 - 1890) of Buffalo, EHandler: no quick summary.
		The statement that the government shall not inflict cruel and unusual punishment for crimes is found in the english bill of rights signed in 1689 by william...
		The first attempt at execution failed: Kemmler was electrocuted for 17 seconds, EHandler: no quick summary.
	www.absoluteastronomy.com /encyclopedia/w/wi/william_kemmler.htm (979 words)

	chair (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		William Kemmler was convicted of the murder of his lover Tillie Ziegler and became the first man to be sentenced to death under the new law.
		Kemmler's lawyers appealed, sighting the Eighth and Fourteenth amendments to the Constitution, which prohibit "cruel and unusual punishment".
		Kemmler was strapped into the chair by leather straps around his arms legs and waist.
	www.geocities.com /trctl11/chair.html (2971 words)

	Sample text for Library of Congress control number 2002028815
		An illiterate who confessed to the ax-murder killing of his lover in an alcohol-sodden rage, Kemmler is the guinea pig in an unprecedented experiment: the first attempt to execute a criminal with electricity.
		Kemmler's story reminds us that the death penalty has evolved for reasons that often have little to do with law and order.
		William Bradford, the Pennsylvania (and later U.S.) attorney general, argued successfully to limit the death penalty to the most severe cases.
	www.loc.gov /catdir/samples/random043/2002028815.html (2077 words)

	lifeissues.net \| A reflection on Hiroshima and the "Killing Chair"
		On that day William Kemmler, age 30, an illiterate alcoholic from the slums of Buffalo, NY and a convicted murderer is executed by electricity at Auburn State Prison.
		Meanwhile, William Kemmler, who has turned bright red during his "electrocution," is in agony, groaning and frantically gasping for breath.
		William Kemmler offers an opening onto this avenue of perception, not only in terms of himself but also on behalf of every person broken and destroyed when this unholy spirit has been given flesh by human choice.
	www.lifeissues.net /writers/mcca/mcca_05remember.html (1618 words)

	sparkyvictims
		Kemmler was convicted of murdering his girlfriend, Tillie Ziegler, with an axe.
		Kemmler's execution was botched when one of the attending physicians ordered the current turned off too soon.
		When it was turned back on it was left on so long that Kemmler's flesh burned, filling the execution chamber with the smell of burning meat.
	www.craigbrandon.com /sparkyvictims.html (1999 words)

	The Silhouette Online Edition (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		This segues into the first chapter, “William, It Is Time,” a very strong section that details the botched execution of the first man to be electrocuted at an American federal prison (William Kemmler).
		Yet, he almost overcompensates as the reader forgets that Kemmler is a convicted murderer, having killed his girlfriend and subsequently having been charged with murder in the first degree.
		Moran’s description of Kemmler is adequate for the storyline and thus obviates the fifth chapter, a section devoted entirely to retelling his life story.
	www.msu.mcmaster.ca /sil/archives/040311/andy/031104book.html (900 words)

	Urban Legends Reference Pages: Science (Seat of Power)
		The person who viewed all this with the most interest was William Kemmler, 28, a convicted killer who was next up for execution.
		Kemmler's lawyer tried to stop the execution, arguing that using electricity would be cruel and unusual punishment.
		Edison's strange behavior is a good reminder that homicide, whether in war, in the gas chamber or on the mean streets, is likely to be the result of politics, emotion and greed, not the reasoned intent with which we like to credit ourselves.
	www.snopes.com /science/edison.htm (796 words)

	The Electric Chair
		The electric chair came into use in 1890 in New York and the first person to die was William Kemmler.
		When Kemmler was executed no one was sure how much power was used.
		Kemmler was burned and the autopsy described his flesh as well cooked beef.
	www.aphf.org /chair.html (284 words)

	"NYCHS Presents Miskell's 'Executions in Auburn Prison: 1890 - 1916'-- Appendix B - Dr. Richard Moran's Strange Origins ...
		On May 13,1889, the day after the Westinghouse generators arrived at Auburn prison, William Kemmler, "a brute who chopped a woman to bits with an axe" was sentenced to death by electrocution.
		Lawyers for Kemmler, paid for by Westinghouse, appealed to New York State, contending that electrocution was cruel and unusual punishment, prohibited by the state constitution.
		Kemmler’s motion was denied, as was a similar petition to the US Supreme Court.
	www.correctionhistory.org /auburn&osborne/miskell/html/auburnchair_moran.html (1239 words)

	This Day In History \| Crime April 8 1899 The first woman is executed in the electric chair
		The use of electricity as a means of capital punishment had arisen in the 1880s after the governor of New York claimed that hanging was a method from the dark ages and that electricity was the modern, scientific way to kill people.
		William had married Martha to help him raise his daughter, although later it was rumored that Martha was jealous of the girl.
		Before the murder for which Martha was condemned to die, there was at least one incident when William had called the police to arrest his wife on the grounds that she had threatened to kill Ida.
	www.freerepublic.com /focus/f-chat/1380233/posts (1017 words)

	Pat Lowe's Genealogy of Will Rogers and His Descendants
		WILLIAM VANN ROGERS (Jr.) (#5) (William Penn Adair) was born in New York City, N.Y. October 20, 1911.
		William or "Bill" as he preferred to be called, was born just a few days before the death of his grandfather Clem Vann Rogers.
		WILLIAM RANDOLPH ROGERS (#12) (Clem Adair, William Vann, William Penn Adair) was born in Tucson, AZ September 23, 1981.
	www.willrogers.com /willrogers/family/genealogy/descend.html (1626 words)

	IN RE KEMMLER, 136 U.S. 436 (1890) -- US Supreme Court Cases from Justia & Oyez
		The judgment of the supreme court was entered upon a judgment of the court of appeals of the state of New York, affirming a reprevious order of the supreme court.
		A true copy of the judgment roll of the aforesaid conviction is hereto attached as a part hereof, and marked 'Exhibit A.' And said William Kemmler, otherwise called John Hort, is also detained in my custody as such warden and agent, under any by virtue of a warrant signed by the Hon.
		Kemmler was indicted for and convicted of a murder committed on the 29th day of March, 1889, and therefore came within the statute.
	supreme.justia.com /us/136/436/case.html (1441 words)

	Amazon.com: Executioner's Current : Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and the Invention of the Electric Chair: Books: ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		In 1890, William Kemmler, a thirty-year-old dimwitted alcoholic, was executed at Auburn Penitentiary in New York.
		Kemmler's history, and the often bizarre story of how that first execution came to pass, is told in _Executioner's Current: Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and the Invention of the Electric Chair_ (Knopf) by Richard Moran.
		Kemmler's was one of these, requiring a couple of jolts before he had ceased breathing, but leaving him frothing at the mouth and stinking up the execution room with the smell of his burned flesh.
	www.amazon.com /exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375410597?v=glance (2264 words)

	Electric chair - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The term electric-chair is sometimes used in publications by organizations of people with disabilities to mean "electric-powered wheelchair".
		The first person to be executed via the electric chair was William Kemmler in New York's Auburn Prison on August 6, 1890; the 'state electrician' was Edwin Davis.
		Edwin F. Davis, who threw the switch for the very first electric chair execution (of William Kemmler), received a U.S. Patent for his "Electrocution-Chair" (U.S. Patent No. 587,649, Patented August 3, 1897).
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Electric_chair (2033 words)

	Theatre Effects - Ol' Sparky
		On August 6, 1890, William Kemmler, a convicted axe murderer at Auburn Prison in New York, earned the dubious honor of being the first person to be put to death in an electric chair.
		Some witnesses claimed to have seen flames shoot from Kemmler's mouth, but their testimony is largely dismissed as mere sensationalism.
		Kemmler's execution was not the only time that the electric chair failed to deliver an instant and painless death.
	www.theatrefx.com /funfacts14.html (1218 words)

	Amazon.ca: Editorial Reviews Books: Executioner's Current: Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and the Invention of the ... (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		Playing upon concerns about public safety and eager to brand Westinghouse electricity the "executioner's current," Edison advised legislators that a shock of AC killed most efficiently and, disregarding his own professed opposition to capital punishment, suggested a design for the chair.
		Meanwhile, Westinghouse surreptitiously underwrote the appeals of the condemned man, William Kemmler, challenging the constitutionality of electrocution.
		For all his careful documentation and apparent impartiality, Moran freely borrows from sensational newspaper stories, many based on second-hand accounts, to accentuate the horrors of electrocution and portray the condemned as victims.
	www.amazon.ca /exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/books/0375410597/reviews (2586 words)

	NU College of Journalism and Mass Communications - The Online Journalist (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21)
		The first man ever put to death in an electric chair was William Kemmler in New York on August 6,1890.
		Kemmler started to recover after about a minute, despite witness reports of smelling burnt clothing and charred flesh.
		Harold Otey was executed in 1994, John Joubert in 1996 and Robert Williams in 1997.
	journalism.unl.edu /joe/spring00/040500/cover1.html (1669 words)

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