Robert G. Elliott
Encyclopedia
Robert Greene Elliott was the "state electrician
" (i.e., executioner
) for the State of New York – and for those neighboring states which used the electric chair
, including New Jersey, Vermont, and Massachusetts – during the period 1926-1939.
He was born in Hamlin, New York
, to an Irish immigrant. As a child he was a devout Methodist, and at one point his parents wanted him to be a minister. As a young boy Elliott recounts that he read of the first use of the electric chair and wondered what it might be like to throw the switch at an execution. He became employed in the prison service as a regular electrician. In that capacity he assisted Edwin Davis
at electrocutions at Dannemora State Prison in upstate New York. This on-the-job training stood him in good stead in 1926 when he applied for and accepted the post of "State Electrician
", which had just fallen vacant by John Hulbert
. For each execution he was paid the same fee of $150.
Elliott is credited with perfecting judicial execution by electrocution. He usually made the first contact at 2000 volts, holding it there for 3 seconds. Then he lowered the voltage to 500 volts for the balance of the first minute; raised it to 2000 volts for a further 3 seconds; lowered the voltage to 500 volts for the rest of the second minute; then raised it again to 2000 volts for a few seconds before shutting off the power.
This technique was intended to render the victim unconscious in an instant, while the lower voltage heated the vital organs to a point where life was extinguished, without causing undue bodily burning. This oscillating cycle of shocks also seized the heart, causing it to go into arrest
and stop beating. He often carried his own electrodes with him, including a head-piece made from a cut-down football helmet, lined with moist sponge.
A keen gardener and a quiet family man, Elliott ran an electrical contracting business and claimed never to have been more than an instrument of the people when he performed an execution.
Despite his calling, he profoundly disagreed with capital punishment
, saying that it served no useful purpose.
He is believed to have executed some 387 people, including Sacco and Vanzetti
, Ruth Snyder
and Bruno Hauptmann
. On January 6, 1927
, he carried out the electrocutions of six inmates in two states.
He published his experiences in a book entitled Agent of Death. In the case of Snyder, Elliot was apparently horrified by the idea of executing a woman, and some stories indicate that he even petitioned the governor of New York to commute her sentence to life. He was haunted by that execution, and afterwards had to be sedated in order to sleep.
Soon after the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, persons unknown planted a bomb under his house that destroyed his front porch. For some time later the State of New York paid for a 24 hour guard.
State Electrician
"State Electrician" was the euphemistic title given to some American state executioners in states using the electric chair during the early twentieth century....
" (i.e., executioner
Executioner
A judicial executioner is a person who carries out a death sentence ordered by the state or other legal authority, which was known in feudal terminology as high justice.-Scope and job:...
) for the State of New York – and for those neighboring states which used the electric chair
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
, including New Jersey, Vermont, and Massachusetts – during the period 1926-1939.
He was born in Hamlin, New York
Hamlin, New York
Hamlin is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States. The population was 9,045 at the 2010 census.The Town of Hamlin is in the northwest part of the county and is the second largest town in area in the county.- History :...
, to an Irish immigrant. As a child he was a devout Methodist, and at one point his parents wanted him to be a minister. As a young boy Elliott recounts that he read of the first use of the electric chair and wondered what it might be like to throw the switch at an execution. He became employed in the prison service as a regular electrician. In that capacity he assisted Edwin Davis
Edwin Davis
Edwin F. Davis was the first "state electrician" for the State of New York. In 1890, Davis finalized many features of the first electric chair used. Davis performed 240 executions between 1890 and 1914, including the first prisoner to be electrocuted, William Kemmler, and Martha M...
at electrocutions at Dannemora State Prison in upstate New York. This on-the-job training stood him in good stead in 1926 when he applied for and accepted the post of "State Electrician
State Electrician
"State Electrician" was the euphemistic title given to some American state executioners in states using the electric chair during the early twentieth century....
", which had just fallen vacant by John Hulbert
John Hulbert (executioner)
John Hulbert was the executioner for the states of New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts from 1913 to 1926. Hulbert was trained as "state electrician" by his predecessor, Edwin F...
. For each execution he was paid the same fee of $150.
Elliott is credited with perfecting judicial execution by electrocution. He usually made the first contact at 2000 volts, holding it there for 3 seconds. Then he lowered the voltage to 500 volts for the balance of the first minute; raised it to 2000 volts for a further 3 seconds; lowered the voltage to 500 volts for the rest of the second minute; then raised it again to 2000 volts for a few seconds before shutting off the power.
This technique was intended to render the victim unconscious in an instant, while the lower voltage heated the vital organs to a point where life was extinguished, without causing undue bodily burning. This oscillating cycle of shocks also seized the heart, causing it to go into arrest
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest, is the cessation of normal circulation of the blood due to failure of the heart to contract effectively...
and stop beating. He often carried his own electrodes with him, including a head-piece made from a cut-down football helmet, lined with moist sponge.
A keen gardener and a quiet family man, Elliott ran an electrical contracting business and claimed never to have been more than an instrument of the people when he performed an execution.
Despite his calling, he profoundly disagreed with capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
, saying that it served no useful purpose.
He is believed to have executed some 387 people, including Sacco and Vanzetti
Sacco and Vanzetti
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...
, Ruth Snyder
Ruth Snyder
Ruth Brown Snyder was an American murderess. Her execution, in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison, for the murder of her husband, Albert, was captured in a well-known photograph.-The crime:...
and Bruno Hauptmann
Bruno Hauptmann
Bruno Richard Hauptmann was a German ex-convict sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of the 20-month-old son of Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindbergh kidnapping became known as "The Crime of the Century".-Background:Hauptmann was born in Kamenz in the German Empire,...
. On January 6, 1927
January 1927
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in January 1927.-January 1, 1927 :...
, he carried out the electrocutions of six inmates in two states.
He published his experiences in a book entitled Agent of Death. In the case of Snyder, Elliot was apparently horrified by the idea of executing a woman, and some stories indicate that he even petitioned the governor of New York to commute her sentence to life. He was haunted by that execution, and afterwards had to be sedated in order to sleep.
Soon after the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, persons unknown planted a bomb under his house that destroyed his front porch. For some time later the State of New York paid for a 24 hour guard.