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Executions

From the founding of the county in 1694 until 2007, when the death penalty was abolished, 45 people were sentenced to death by courts in Burlington County and then legally executed. (“Legal execution” means that they were executed
after being sentenced to death after a trial. We do not have a record of anyone being “lynched”, that is, hanged by an angry mob for aperceived wrongdoing.)

 

The first was executed in 1718 and the last in 1922.


The first 32 were executed by hanging in or near Burlington City, before the Burlington County Prison was built in 1811. The next two were incarcerated at the Burlington County Prison, but hanged in a meadow in Hainesport. The next seven were hanged in the Exercise Yard of the Burlington County Prison. The last four were executed by electrocution in Trenton.
 

Their crimes were murder, burglary, horse theft, rape, treason, home invasion and highway robbery, but only murder after 1786.  All but 13 of the 45 were executed before the Burlington County Prison was built in Mount Holly in 1811. 

We have written about some of 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
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

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© 2025 Burlington County Prison Museum Association. 

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