Nathan Orlando Greenfield
Nathan Orlando Greenfield was hanged on August 5, 1881, at the Onondaga County Penitentiary in Syracuse, New York, before a crowd of several hundred people. According to a later account by Syracuse.com, Sheriff Hiram Edwards read the death warrant and the sheriff's men carried out the hanging, and the Daily Standard reported that his pulse was lost before he was declared dead at 11:10 a.m. The account says he asked for a clean white collared shirt, drank a cup of coffee, read the morning papers, and asked to be left alone to pray before breakfast. Greenfield's guilt was contested at the time, and he maintained his innocence.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. Greenfield maintained he was innocent, according to the Daily Standard's account, and his guilt was contested at the time.
Reported by: Sheriff Hiram Edwards and the sheriff's men carried out the hanging (the agency that held him); Daily Standard (reporters).