A LECTURE — For the Hereditary Order of the Signers of the Bush Declaration, I was recently asked to examine the era in our criminal justice system when the sheriff was the county executioner or hangman. This gruesome responsibility was eventually centralized in the state prison systems, but the duty remained in the hands of local lawmen until the 20th century.
In 1906, the State of New Jersey took on the responsibility for executing the condemned, while Maryland took similar action in 1922. I drew on archival and fieldwork involved with examining crime and punishment in the 18th, 19th and early 20th century, for the lecture. This included working with long unexamined coroner’s inquests, court proceeding — death warrants, pleas, motions, and trial transcripts — dockets, and police blotters to develop an understanding of how local law enforcement carried out the grim task for centuries.
For more on when the sheriff was the Executioner
When the Sheriff was the Hangman — more information oh these and other photos related to this era.