Executed
A. H. Trayer
A. H. Trayer was held in the Staunton jail in Virginia and was taken from it in an open wagon to a place of execution, where he was hanged on Friday, January 6, 1854, under the penalty of the law. The Staunton Spectator estimated that about five thousand people attended, many of them treating the occasion as a frolic. The paper argued that public executions have a decidedly evil moral influence and urged the Legislature to change the law.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state
Reported by: Staunton Spectator (reporters).