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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. 
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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
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

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© 2025 Burlington County Prison Museum Association. 

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