List of people executed in Maine

The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Maine , or within present-day Maine prior to statehood. ^[1] Capital punishment was sparsely used in Maine, and fully abolished in 1887. ^[2] The only method of execution used in Maine was hanging.

Name	Race	Age	Sex	Date of execution	County	Crime	Victim(s)	Governor
Mrs. Cornish	White		F	1644		Murder	Mr. Cornish, white (husband) [3]	N/A (Province of Massachusetts Bay)
Joseph Quasson	Native		M	June 29, 1726		Murder	Jonathan Boler, Native [4]
Patience Sampson	Native	23	F	July 31, 1735	York	Murder	Benjamin Trott, 8, white [5]
Solomon Goodwin	White		M	November 12, 1772	Cumberland	Murder	Male, race unknown [6]
James McCormic	White		M	1773	Cumberland	Murder	Reuben Bishop, race unknown [6]
Jeremiah Baum	White		M	1780	Knox	Treason	N/A [6] [a]	N/A (District of Maine)
Thomas Bird	White		M	June 25, 1790	Cumberland (Federal) [7]	Murder	Capt. John Connor, white [7]
Edmund Fortis	Black		M	September 25, 1794	Lincoln	Murder-Rape	Pamela Tilton, 14, white [8]
Joseph Drew	White	24	M	July 21, 1808	Cumberland	Murder	Ebenezer Parker, white (deputy sheriff) [9]
Ebenezer Ball	White		M	October 31, 1811	Hancock	Murder	John Tileston Downes, white [10]
Seth Elliott	White		M	February 3, 1825	Knox	Murder	John Wilson Elliott, 3, white (son) [11]	Parris
Joseph Sager	White		M	January 2, 1835 [b]	Kennebec	Murder	Female, white (wife) [12]	Smith
Abram Cox	Black		M	August 27, 1860	Androscoggin	Murder	Four people, races unknown [13] [c]	Morrill
Peter Williams	White		M
Francis Spencer	White		M	June 24, 1864 [d]	Knox	Murder	Mr. Tinker, white (warden) [14]	Cony
Clifton Harris	Black	20	M	March 12, 1869	Androscoggin	Murder-Rape-Robbery	Mrs. Justin Kingsley and Polly Caswell, white [15]	Chamberlain
Louis Wagner	White		M	June 25, 1875	York	Murder-Rape-Robbery	Anetha and Karen Christiansen, white [16]	Dingley
John Gordon	White		M	June 25, 1875	Waldo	Murder	Three people, white [17] [e]
Raffaele Capone	White	27	M	April 17, 1885	Penobscot	Murder-Robbery	Pasquale Coscia, white [18]	Robie
Carmine Santore	White	44	M
Daniel Wilkinson	White	39	M	November 20, 1885	Sagadahoc	Murder	William Lawrence, white (policeman) [19]

See also

• Capital punishment in Maine

Notes

1. Accused of "conducting a marauding British party". Baum was of "feeble intellect" and many supporters of the revolution sought a pardon for "manifestly inoffensive" Baum, regretting the execution.
2. Last public execution in Maine.
3. Capt. Daniel Humphrey, two mates, and a seaman.
4. First execution at Maine State Prison.
5. His 24-year-old brother Almon, Almon's wife Emma, and their two-year-old daughter.

References

1. "Executions in Maine - 1644-1885 - DeathPenaltyUSA, the database of executions in the United States". deathpenaltyusa.org. Retrieved 2025-02-06.
2. Thompson, Bruce E. R. (2009-06-25). Capital Punishment. Greenhaven Publishing LLC. ISBN   978-0-7377-4633-4.
3. Jones, Ann (2009-10-01). Women Who Kill. The Feminist Press at CUNY. ISBN   978-1-55861-652-3.
4. Hearn, Daniel Allen (2015-08-13). Legal Executions in New England: A Comprehensive Reference, 1623-1960. McFarland. ISBN   978-1-4766-0853-2.
5. "Summary of the execution of Patience Sampson". 1735-07-31.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
6. Society, Maine Historical (1890). Collections of the Maine Historical Society. The Society.
7. Genesio, Jerry (2006). "The Trial and Execution of Thomas Bird in Portland, Maine, 1790: The First Execution under the United State Constitution". Maine History. 42 (4): 199–214. ISSN   1090-5413.
8. "Edmund Fortis, d. 1794 The Last Words and Dying Speech of Edmund Fortis, a Negro Man, Who Appeared to Be between Thirty and Forty Years of Age, but Very Ignorant. He Was Executed at Dresden, on Kennebeck River, on Thursday the Twenty-Fifth Day of September, 1794, for a Rape and Murder, Committed on the Body of Pamela Tilton, a Young Girl of about Fourteen Years of Age, Daughter of Mr. Tilton of Vassalborough, in the County of Lincoln". docsouth.unc.edu. Retrieved 2025-02-09.
9. "Summary of the execution of Joseph Drew". 1808-07-21.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
10. [Lines] made on Ebenezer Ball, who was executed at Castine, October 31st, 1811, for the murder of Mr. John Tileston Downes. [Two poems. One written the day before his execution, and the other written the day he was executed.]. 1811.
11. "Summary of the execution of Seth Elliott". 1825-02-03.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
12. "Summary of the execution of Joseph Sager". 1835-01-02.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
13. "Summary of the execution of Abram Cox, Peter Williams". 1860-08-27.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
14. "Summary of the execution of Francis Spencer". 1864-06-24.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
15. "Summary of the execution of Clifton Harris". 1869-03-12.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
16. "Summary of the execution of Louis Wagner". 1875-06-25.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
17. "Summary of the execution of John Gordon". 1875-06-25.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
18. "Summary of the execution of Raffaele Capone, Carmine Santore". 1885-04-17.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
19. "Summary of the execution of Daniel Wilkinson". 1885-11-20.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)