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Executions

From the founding of the county in 1694 until 1906, when executions were moved to Trenton, 43 people that we know of were legally executed in Burlington County. (We do not as yet have any record of anyone being “lynched”, that is, hanged by an angry mob for a perceived wrongdoing.) Their crimes were murder, burglary, horse theft, rape, treason, home invasion
and highway robbery, but only murder after 1786.  All but nine were executed before the Burlington County Prison was built in Mount Holly in 1811. 

Of the nine who were executed after the prison was built in 1811, two were inmates in the jail when sentenced, but were executed on off-site: Elizabeth Freeman, who slit her husband’s throat in 1831 and Joel Clough, who stabbed
his landlady’s daughter in 1833. The other seven were led from the dungeon out into the jail yard to be executed.

All executions before 1906 were by hanging.  The last two people sentenced to death in Burlington County, Giovanna Iraca in
1918 and Louis Lively in 1922, were executed in Trenton by electrocution. We have written about some those executed in our newsletters over the years. Look on our newsletter archive under the “Resources” tab and type “execution” or the name you are looking for in the search box. The following is a list of all people sentenced to death in Burlington County who were executed. (Those who were sentenced to death but who received a reprieve are not included.)

DATE OF EXECUTION
NAME OF CONVICT
CRIME
May 30, 1718
Stephen Harris
Murder
June 2, 1738
Negro Boatswain
Poisoning
June 2, 1738
Negro Robin
Poisoning
November 28, 1753
William Bowley
Horse theft
November 22, 1755
Samuel Anthony
Burglary
November 23, 1762
Samuel Stoddard
Murder
November 23, 1764
William Hilton
Burglary
November 23, 1764
Negro Simon
Burglary
August 28, 1765
John Fagan
Burglary
August 28, 1765
John Grimes
Burglary
August 28, 1765
John Johnson
Burglary
June 2, 1766
Richard Highcock
Horse theft
June 2, 1766
Elizabeth Vaughn
Murder
August 1, 1766
James Anin
Murder
August 1, 1766
James McKenzy
Murder
May 27, 1769
Jacob Schoemaker
Rape
May 23, 1772
William Reed
Burglary
July 4, 1772
William Smart
Murder
December 5, 1774
Peter Galwin
Rape
December 5, 1774
John Taylor
Murder
July 7, 1780
Robert Pomency
Murder
August 8, 1781
Joseph Mulliner
Treason
February 28, 1783
Negress Belle
Murder
August 29, 1783
Thomas Smith
Murder
August 29, 1783
Nathan Tomlinson
Home invasion
September 18, 1784
John Sharp
Murder
July 15, 1786
Felix Hammel
Highway robbery
July 15, 1786
William McLone
Highway robbery
September 28, 1787
John Campbell
Murder
September 28, 1787
Patrick Kamen
Murder
September 28, 1787
James Keafe
Murder
June 12, 1801
Cyrus Emlay
Murder
July 20, 1832
Elizabeth Freeman
Murder
July 26, 1833
Joel Clough
Murder
March 23, 1860
Joseph Lynch
Murder
December 11, 1863
Charles Brooks
Murder
September 6, 1894
Wesley Warner
Murder
December 3, 1901
Charles Brown
Murder
March 18, 1902
John Young
Murder
March 24, 1906
George Smalls
Murder
March 24, 1906
Rufus Johnson
Murder
January 5, 1915
Griffin Johnson
Murder
December 7, 1915
Edgar Murphy
Murder
February 19, 1918
Giovanni Iraca
Murder
January 17, 1922
Louis Lively
Murder
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