Kemmler
William Kemmler was put to death by electric current at Auburn State Prison in New York in August 1890, the first execution by electrocution. Lawyers had challenged the method as cruel and unusual, but the state and federal courts upheld the law before the execution was carried out. Warden Charles F. Durston completed a certificate of execution, as the law required, and twenty-five witnesses signed it. Physicians who witnessed the execution disagreed about whether Kemmler was unconscious or already dead at the first contact, and some reflex movements were described afterward.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state
Reported by: Charles F. Durston, agent and warden of Auburn state prison (the agency that held him); Dr. Spitzka, Dr. Southwick, Dr. McDonald and Dr. Blanch, who witnessed the execution.