Edison and the Electric Chair_ A Story of Light and Death - Mark Essig [0]
Edison &
the
Electric
Chair
A Story of Light and Death
Mark Essig
Copyright © 2003 by Mark Essig
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher.
First published in the United States of America in 2003 by
Walker Publishing Company, Inc. First paperback edition published in 2005.
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Walker & Company, 104 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Essig, Mark Regan, 1969-
Edison & the electric chair : a story of light and death / Mark Essig.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN: 978-0-802-71928-7
1. Electrocution—United States—History. 2. Edison, Thomas A. (Thomas Alva), 1847-1931. I. Title: Edison and the electric chair. II. Title.
HV8696.E87 2003
364.66—dc21 2003052507
ISBN 0-8027-7710-4 (paperback)
Book design by Ralph L. Fowler
Illustrations by Martie Holmer
Book composition by Coghill Composition Company
Visit Walker & Company's Web site at www.walkerbooks.com
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
TO MY PARENTS,
DOROTHY AND JOHN ESSIG
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
Edison on the Witness Stand
CHAPTER 1
Early Sparks
CHAPTER 2
The Inventor
CHAPTER 3
Light
CHAPTER 4
Electricity and Life
CHAPTER 5
"Down to the Last Penny"
CHAPTER 6
Wiring New York
CHAPTER 7
The Hanging Ritual
CHAPTER 8
The Death Penalty Commission
CHAPTER 9
George Westinghouse and the Rise of Alternating Current
CHAPTER 10
The Electrical Execution Law
CHAPTER 11
"A Desperate Fight"
CHAPTER 12
"Criminal Economy"
CHAPTER 13
Condemned
CHAPTER 14
Showdown
CHAPTER 15
The Unmasking of Harold Brown
CHAPTER 16
Pride and Reputation
CHAPTER 17
The Electric Wire Panic
CHAPTER 18
Designing the Electric Chair
CHAPTER 19
The Conversion of William Kemmler
CHAPTER 20
The First Experiment
CHAPTER 21
After Kemmler
CHAPTER 22
The End of the Battle of the Currents
CHAPTER 23
The Age of the Electric Chair
EPILOGUE
The New Spectacle of Death
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOTES
ART CREDITS
INDEX
Edison & the Electric Chair
PROLOGUE
Edison on
the Witness Stand
MR. EDISON, what is your calling—your profession?"
"Inventor."
"Have you devoted a good deal of attention to the subject of electricity?"
The hearing room erupted in laughter. It was a standard lawyer's question, intended to establish the qualifications of an expert witness, but it was hardly necessary in this instance. The men who packed the room—lawyers, electricians, doctors, and assorted gawkers—knew very well the qualifications of the man on the stand. In 1879 Thomas Edison had invented the first practical incandescent lamp—the light-bulb—and over the next decade he carried his light into homes and offices around the world. As the world's most celebrated electrical authority, Edison clearly had "devoted a good deal of attention to the subject of electricity."
The inventor took the question in stride. "Yes, sir," he replied.
The date was July 23,1889, and the lawyer asking the questions was William Poste, deputy attorney general of New York State. Edison was forty-two years old, his dark hair streaked with white, face smooth-shaven, gray eyes sparkling. In his black suit and white tie, Edison had the aspect, one reporter remarked, of "a benignant clergyman of middle age." No stranger to the American legal system, he sat thoroughly at ease in the witness chair. Inventing was a cutthroat business, and Edison spent a great deal of time dealing with lawyers—suing other companies for stealing his patents, getting sued in turn for stealing theirs. Invention, he might have said, was 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent litigation.1
The hearing on this day in July, though, was not concerned with patents.