Executed
Philip Watson
Philip Watson was hanged on the morning of February 1, 1878, in Kentucky. He was held in a jail there and taken from it in an omnibus to a gallows in a secluded valley, accompanied by the sheriff, deputies, priests and Sisters of Charity. Before the rope was placed, he repeated the Lord's Prayer, the creed and a prayer for his soul. According to the New Orleans Daily Democrat, he died about eight minutes after the fall, which broke his neck.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state
Reported by: newspaper account of the hanging.