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 |
---|---|---|
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 |