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 |