List of people executed in the United States in 1937
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One hundred and fifty people, one hundred and forty-nine male and one female, were executed in the United States in 1937, ninety-nine by electrocution, thirty-three by hanging, and eighteen by gas chamber.[1]
Tommie Howard became the last person to be executed in the United States for attempted murder. Howard shot a man in the head during a robbery. The victim was permanently incapacitated and died from his injuries nine months after Howard's execution.[2] Howard had previously served 10 years of a life sentence for a prior murder conviction.
The last semipublic execution in the United States occurred this year, that being the execution of Roscoe Jackson.
List of people executed in the United States in 1937
| No. | Date of execution | Name | Age of person | Gender | Ethnicity | State | Method | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At execution | At offense | Age difference | ||||||||
| 1 | January 3, 1937 | Isaiah Opher Jr. | 36 | 36 | 0 | Male | Black | Delaware | Hanging | [3] |
| 2 | January 4, 1937 | Jacob M. Gable | 21 | 19 | 2 | White | Pennsylvania | Electrocution | [4] | |
| 3 | January 7, 1937 | Theodore DiDonne | 31 | 30 | 1 | New York | [5] | |||
| 4 | Joseph Bolognia | 24 | 23 | |||||||
| 5 | January 8, 1937 | Frank Duarte | 22 | 2 | Hispanic | Arizona | Gas chamber | [6] | ||
| 6 | Joe Joven | 32 | 31 | 1 | Asian | California | Hanging | [7] | ||
| 7 | January 14, 1937 | Louis Lazar | 29 | 26 | 3 | White | New York | Electrocution | [8] | |
| 8 | January 15, 1937 | Louis R. Shaver | 53 | 51 | 2 | California | Hanging | [9] | ||
| 9 | Tommie Howard | 38 | 38 | 0 | Black | Louisiana | [10] | |||
| 10 | Johnnie Sanders | 20 | 19 | 1 | [1] | |||||
| 11 | January 20, 1937 | George Owens | 17 | 16 | Mississippi | [11] | ||||
| 12 | Joe Phillips | 16 | 15 | |||||||
| 13 | January 21, 1937 | Chester White | 33 | Unknown | Unknown | New York | Electrocution | [12] | ||
| 14 | John Fiorenza | 25 | 24 | 1 | White | |||||
| 15 | Charles Ham | 20 | 19 | Black | ||||||
| 16 | Frederick Fowler | 19 | 18 | |||||||
| 17 | January 22, 1937 | Natividad Valenzuela | 24 | 23 | 1 | Hispanic | California | Hanging | [13] | |
| 18 | January 26, 1937 | Luther Jones | 32 | 32 | 0 | White | Nevada | Gas chamber | [14] | |
| 19 | January 29, 1937 | Edgar Prude Skelton | 36 | Unknown | Unknown | Alabama | Electrocution | [15] | ||
| 20 | February 1, 1937 | Robert Dreamer | 40 | 30 | 10 | Pennsylvania | [16] | |||
| 21 | February 10, 1937 | James Joseph McElroy | 45 | 45 | 0 | Connecticut | [17] | |||
| 22 | February 11, 1937 | Alfred E. Volckmann Jr. | 21 | 19 | 2 | New York | [18] | |||
| 23 | February 19, 1937 | George B. Underwood | 23 | 22 | 1 | Kentucky | [19] | |||
| 24 | February 24, 1937 | Arthur Burden | 28 | 25 | 3 | Black | Georgia | [1] | ||
| 25 | February 26, 1937 | James Victor Franklin | 32 | Unknown | Unknown | White | Alabama | [20] | ||
| 26 | Allen Mitchell | Unknown | Unknown | Black | Illinois | [21] | ||||
| 27 | Rufo Swain | 27 | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 28 | Hurt Hardy Jr. | 32 | 30 | 2 | White | Missouri | Hanging | [22] | ||
| 29 | March 2, 1937 | Joseph Rappaport | 35 | 33 | Illinois | Electrocution | [23] | |||
| 30 | March 5, 1937 | James Turner | 24 | 23 | 1 | Black | Tennessee | [1] | ||
| 31 | March 12, 1937 | Chester Arkuszewski | White | Indiana | [24] | |||||
| 32 | March 15, 1937 | James Taylor | Black | Tennessee | [1] | |||||
| 33 | March 17, 1937 | Anderson Berry | 26 | 24 | 2 | |||||
| 34 | March 18, 1937 | Samuel Williams | 23 | 22 | 1 | Mississippi | Hanging | |||
| 35 | Tom Franklin | 20 | 19 | Tennessee | Electrocution | [25] | ||||
| 36 | March 19, 1937 | Sam Franklin | 24 | 22 | 2 | Kentucky | [26] | |||
| 37 | March 31, 1937 | Petronilo Pacren | 40 | 39 | 1 | Asian | California | Hanging | [27] | |
| 38 | April 2, 1937 | Fred Adams | 21 | 18 | 3 | White | Missouri | [28] | ||
| 39 | April 8, 1937 | Gus McCoig | 25 | 23 | 2 | Tennessee | Electrocution | [29] | ||
| 40 | April 9, 1937 | Ralph Eisenhardt | 21 | 19 | Louisiana | Hanging | [30] | |||
| 41 | Gladstone James | 24 | 22 | |||||||
| 42 | George McDuffie | 22 | 21 | 1 | Black | South Carolina | Electrocution | [31] | ||
| 43 | April 13, 1937 | Frank Pramera | 23 | Unknown | Unknown | White | West Virginia | Hanging | [1] | |
| 44 | April 16, 1937 | Fred Hart | 44 | 43 | 1 | California | [32] | |||
| 45 | Joseph Schuster | 30 | 29 | Illinois | Electrocution | [33] | ||||
| 46 | Stanley Murawski | 37 | 36 | |||||||
| 47 | Frank Matthew Whyte | 42 | 41 | |||||||
| 48 | Roy Wilburn Eatmon | 24 | 22 | 2 | Tennessee | [34] | ||||
| 49 | April 19, 1937 | James Burke | Black | Georgia | [35] | |||||
| 50 | April 23, 1937 | Clinton Medlock | 29 | 26 | 3 | Arkansas | [36] | |||
| 51 | John Homer Cummings | District of Columbia | [37] | |||||||
| 52 | Willett Marcus | 23 | 20 | |||||||
| 53 | Willie Walker | 34 | 34 | 0 | Florida | [38] | ||||
| 54 | April 29, 1937 | Mary Holmes | 35 | 1 | Female | Mississippi | Hanging | [39] | ||
| 55 | Selmon Brooks | 32 | 31 | Male | ||||||
| 56 | April 30, 1937 | Howard Lee Dunn | 24 | 23 | White | Tennessee | Electrocution | [40] | ||
| 57 | William Farmer | 19 | 18 | |||||||
| 58 | Elmer Pruitt | 24 | 21 | 3 | Black | Texas | [41] | |||
| 59 | May 3, 1937 | Andy Yacas | 52 | 51 | 1 | White | Pennsylvania | [42] | ||
| 60 | May 10, 1937 | Simee Lee Fields | 21 | 19 | 2 | Black | Florida | [43] | ||
| 61 | Marcus England | 36 | 35 | 1 | Pennsylvania | [44] | ||||
| 62 | Edward Shawell | 38 | 38 | 0 | ||||||
| 63 | May 14, 1937 | James Austin Jr. | 22 | 21 | 1 | Arkansas | [45] | |||
| 64 | John P. Goodman | 21 | Unknown | Unknown | Georgia | [1] | ||||
| 65 | May 19, 1937 | Stephen Kotowicz | 22 | 22 | 0 | White | Ohio | [46] | ||
| 66 | May 21, 1937 | Will Lacy | 41 | 39 | 2 | Black | Georgia | [47] | ||
| 67 | Eli C. Melton | 30 | 28 | White | ||||||
| 68 | Dudley Barr | 39 | 35 | 4 | Black | Missouri | Hanging | |||
| 69 | Roscoe Jackson | 36 | 33 | 3 | White | |||||
| 70 | May 24, 1937 | Leonard Brown | 18 | 17 | 1 | Black | Georgia | Electrocution | [1] | |
| 71 | May 28, 1937 | John Woods | 49 | 48 | California | Hanging | [48] | |||
| 72 | Mose Trammell | 36 | 35 | Georgia | Electrocution | [49] | ||||
| 73 | Lonnie Lee Joiner | 38 | 37 | White | Texas | [1] | ||||
| 74 | June 4, 1937 | Joseph Nelson | 36 | 36 | 0 | Black | Delaware | Hanging | [50] | |
| 75 | Augustus Dwight Beard | 27 | 26 | 1 | White | Texas | Electrocution | [51] | ||
| 76 | Wisie Ellison | 36 | 35 | Black | ||||||
| 77 | June 10, 1937 | William A. Kuhlman | 28 | 27 | White | Indiana | [52] | |||
| 78 | John Joseph Poholsky | 35 | 34 | |||||||
| 79 | Frank Gore Williams | 39 | 38 | |||||||
| 80 | Chew Wing | 32 | 31 | Asian | New York | [53] | ||||
| 81 | June 11, 1937 | Roosevelt Collins | 31 | 30 | Black | Alabama | [54] | |||
| 82 | William Gill | 28 | 27 | Louisiana | Hanging | [55] | ||||
| 83 | Robert Lucas | 27 | Unknown | Unknown | [1] | |||||
| 84 | Charles A. Sands | 22 | 20 | 2 | Native American | Oklahoma | Electrocution | [56] | ||
| 85 | Leon Siler | White | ||||||||
| 86 | June 14, 1937 | Willie Hopkins | 21 | 21 | 0 | Black | Georgia | [1] | ||
| 87 | June 18, 1937 | Edgar Rose | 27 | 26 | 1 | White | ||||
| 88 | James Worthy | 24 | 24 | 0 | Black | |||||
| 89 | June 25, 1937 | Charlie Young | 33 | Unknown | Unknown | |||||
| 90 | William V. Beckner | 30 | 29 | 1 | White | West Virginia | Hanging | [57][58] | ||
| 91 | June 28, 1937 | Roy Crittenton | 36 | 34 | 2 | Black | Pennsylvania | Electrocution | [59] | |
| 92 | July 1, 1937 | Robert Jones | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Mississippi | Hanging | [1] | ||
| 93 | Harry Eisenberg | 43 | 42 | 1 | White | New York | Electrocution | [60] | ||
| 94 | Watson Edwards | 25 | 24 | |||||||
| 95 | Anthony Garlaus | 33 | 32 | |||||||
| 96 | July 2, 1937 | Clemens Konstantin Matura | 66 | 65 | Texas | [61] | ||||
| 97 | July 9, 1937 | John D. McNeill | 54 | 53 | California | Hanging | [62] | |||
| 98 | Mitchell Jackson | 27 | 27 | 0 | Black | Georgia | Electrocution | [63] | ||
| 99 | James Irvin Howard | 21 | 20 | 1 | Maryland | Hanging | [64] | |||
| 100 | Robert Glenn Brown | 19 | 18 | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [65] | ||||
| 101 | Earnest McCarty | 18 | Texas | Electrocution | [1] | |||||
| 102 | July 12, 1937 | Marcus C. Powell | 51 | 50 | White | Florida | [66] | |||
| 103 | Alexander Thweatt Meyer | 19 | 19 | 0 | Pennsylvania | [67] | ||||
| 104 | July 16, 1937 | Arnold Clift | 24 | 23 | 1 | Kentucky | [68] | |||
| 105 | Fred Steele | 22 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [69] | ||
| 106 | Sam Jones | 21 | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 107 | July 19, 1937 | Preston McDonald | 28 | 26 | 2 | Florida | Electrocution | [70] | ||
| 108 | Walter Williams | 38 | 36 | |||||||
| 109 | July 23, 1937 | Robert Hinds | 17 | 17 | 0 | [71] | ||||
| 110 | Fred Grey | 26 | Unknown | Unknown | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [72] | |||
| 111 | Hunter Winchester | 24 | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 112 | July 26, 1937 | John Becker | 38 | 37 | 1 | White | Pennsylvania | Electrocution | [73] | |
| 113 | July 30, 1937 | Willie E. Douberly | 25 | 24 | Georgia | [74] | ||||
| 114 | Thomas Perry | 23 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [75] | ||
| 115 | A.W. Watson | 21 | 20 | 1 | White | |||||
| 116 | George Washington Patton | 56 | 51 | 5 | Texas | Electrocution | [76] | |||
| 117 | August 5, 1937 | Solomon Mahoe | 32 | 30 | 2 | Pacific Islander | Hawaii Territory | Hanging | [77] | |
| 118 | August 6, 1937 | Milford George Exum | 23 | 22 | 1 | Black | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [78] | |
| 119 | August 9, 1937 | Jimmie Lee Parrish | 35 | Unknown | Unknown | Tennessee | Electrocution | [79] | ||
| 120 | August 10, 1937 | Fred Ritchie | 32 | Unknown | Unknown | White | [1] | |||
| 121 | August 13, 1937 | Burt Anderson | 53 | 52 | 1 | Arizona | Gas chamber | [80] | ||
| 122 | Ernest Patten | 37 | 36 | Black | ||||||
| 123 | Francisco A. Aguilar | 34 | 33 | Hispanic | Colorado | [81] | ||||
| 124 | Lawrence R. Ward | 51 | 50 | White | Georgia | Electrocution | [82] | |||
| 125 | James McNeill | 21 | 19 | 2 | Black | North Carolina | [83] | |||
| 126 | Leroy McNeill | 18 | 17 | 1 | Gas chamber | |||||
| 127 | Perry Hampton Carroll | 37 | 35 | 2 | White | Wyoming | [84] | |||
| 128 | August 19, 1937 | Major Green | 34 | 33 | 1 | Black | New York | Electrocution | [85] | |
| 129 | August 20, 1937 | Furman McDonald | 44 | 42 | 2 | White | South Carolina | [86] | ||
| 130 | Luke Trammell Jr. | 28 | 27 | 1 | Texas | [87] | ||||
| 131 | Willie Leake | 30 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | Virginia | [88] | |||
| 132 | Lawrence Wyche | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| 133 | August 26, 1937 | Louis Apicello | 40 | 39 | 1 | White | New York | [89] | ||
| 134 | September 3, 1937 | Thomas Jefferson Hutto | 51 | 50 | Arkansas | [90] | ||||
| 135 | David Benjamin Knight | 33 | 31 | 2 | Arizona | Gas chamber | [91] | |||
| 136 | September 10, 1937 | Arthur Oliver | 46 | 43 | 3 | Alabama | Electrocution | [92] | ||
| 137 | Mervin Brown | 33 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | West Virginia | Hanging | [1] | ||
| 138 | September 17, 1937 | Raymond A. Fortune | 26 | 25 | 1 | White | Indiana | Electrocution | [93] | |
| 139 | September 24, 1937 | Marion Sandy Edwards | 63 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | Arkansas | [1] | ||
| 140 | September 29, 1937 | Clinton Pinson | 40 | 36 | 4 | Georgia | [94] | |||
| 141 | October 15, 1937 | Jessie Amos | 35 | Unknown | Unknown | Arkansas | [1] | |||
| 142 | Peter Chrisoulas | 40 | 39 | 1 | White | Illinois | [95] | |||
| 143 | November 5, 1937 | William Brown Read | 25 | 24 | West Virginia | Hanging | [96] | |||
| 144 | November 12, 1937 | Perry Marion | 28 | 27 | Kentucky | Electrocution | [97] | |||
| 145 | December 3, 1937 | Charles McGuire | 30 | 29 | California | Hanging | [98] | |||
| 146 | December 10, 1937 | Walter Caldwell | 37 | 36 | Black | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [1] | ||
| 147 | William Clifton Perry | 17 | 17 | 0 | ||||||
| 148 | December 17, 1937 | John L. Montjoy Jr. | 23 | 21 | 2 | Kentucky | Hanging | [99] | ||
| 149 | December 27, 1937 | Willie Frank Daniels | 25 | 24 | 1 | Georgia | Electrocution | [1] | ||
| 150 | December 31, 1937 | John Winsor | Unknown | Unknown | Virginia | |||||
Demographics
| Gender | ||
|---|---|---|
| Male | 149 | 99% |
| Female | 1 | 1% |
| Ethnicity | ||
| Black | 75 | 50% |
| White | 67 | 45% |
| Asian | 3 | 2% |
| Hispanic | 3 | 2% |
| Native American | 1 | 1% |
| Pacific Islander | 1 | 1% |
| State | ||
| Georgia | 16 | 11% |
| New York | 14 | 9% |
| North Carolina | 12 | 8% |
| Tennessee | 10 | 7% |
| California | 8 | 5% |
| Pennsylvania | 8 | 5% |
| Texas | 8 | 5% |
| Illinois | 7 | 5% |
| Florida | 6 | 4% |
| Louisiana | 6 | 4% |
| Mississippi | 6 | 4% |
| Arkansas | 5 | 3% |
| Indiana | 5 | 3% |
| Kentucky | 5 | 3% |
| Alabama | 4 | 3% |
| Arizona | 4 | 3% |
| Missouri | 4 | 3% |
| West Virginia | 4 | 3% |
| Virginia | 3 | 2% |
| Delaware | 2 | 1% |
| District of Columbia | 2 | 1% |
| Oklahoma | 2 | 1% |
| South Carolina | 2 | 1% |
| Colorado | 1 | 1% |
| Connecticut | 1 | 1% |
| Hawaii Territory | 1 | 1% |
| Maryland | 1 | 1% |
| Nevada | 1 | 1% |
| Ohio | 1 | 1% |
| Wyoming | 1 | 1% |
| Method | ||
| Electrocution | 99 | 66% |
| Hanging | 33 | 22% |
| Gas chamber | 18 | 12% |
| Month | ||
| January | 19 | 13% |
| February | 9 | 6% |
| March | 9 | 6% |
| April | 21 | 14% |
| May | 15 | 10% |
| June | 18 | 12% |
| July | 25 | 17% |
| August | 17 | 11% |
| September | 7 | 5% |
| October | 2 | 1% |
| November | 2 | 1% |
| December | 6 | 4% |
| Age | ||
| Unknown | 1 | 1% |
| 10–19 | 11 | 7% |
| 20–29 | 66 | 44% |
| 30–39 | 49 | 33% |
| 40–49 | 13 | 9% |
| 50–59 | 8 | 5% |
| 60–69 | 3 | 2% |
| Total | 150 | 100% |