The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of New Hampshire from 1739 to 1939.
Capital punishment was abolished in New Hampshire on May 30, 2019; however the abolition was not retroactive and one inmate remains on the state's death row.
# | Name | Age | Date of execution | Location | Crime |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sarah Simpson | December 27, 1739 | Portsmouth | feloniously concealing death of infant bastard child | |
2 | Penelope Kenny | December 27, 1739 | Portsmouth | feloniously concealing death of infant bastard child | |
3 | Eliphaz Dow | 50 | May 8, 1755 | Portsmouth | murder |
4 | Ruth Blay | 31 | December 30, 1768 | Portsmouth | concealing the death of newborn |
5 | Elisha Thomas | June 3, 1788 | murder | ||
6 | Thomas Powers | July 28, 1796 | rape | ||
7 | Josiah Burnham | 63 | August 12, 1806 | murder | |
8 | Daniel Farmer | 28 | January 3, 1822 | Amherst [1] | murder |
9 | Abraham Prescott | 18 | January 6, 1836 | rape/murder | |
10 | Andrew Howard | July 8, 1846 | robbery/murder | ||
11 | Rev. Enos Dudley | May 23, 1859 | Grafton | murder | |
12 | Samuel Mills | 28 | May 6, 1868 | Haverhill Corner | robbery/murder |
13 | Josiah Pike | 31 | November 9, 1869 | Concord | murder |
14 | Franklin B. Evans | 67 | February 17, 1874 | Concord | murder |
15 | Elwin Major | 29 | January 5, 1877 | Concord | murder |
16 | Joseph LaPage | March 15, 1878 | Concord | murder | |
17 | John Pinkham | March 14, 1879 | Concord | murder | |
18 | Joseph Buzzell | 42 | July 10, 1879 | Concord | accessory to murder |
19 | Thomas Samon | 36 | April 17, 1885 | Concord | murder |
20 | James Palmer | May 1, 1890 | Concord | murder | |
21 | Frank Almy | May 16, 1893 | Concord | murder | |
22 | Oscar Comery | 34 | February 18, 1916 | Concord | murder |
23 | Frederick Small | 50 | January 15, 1918 | Concord | murder |
24 | Howard Long | 33 | July 14, 1939 | Concord | rape/murder |
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned practice of killing a person as a punishment for a crime, usually following an authorised, rule-governed process to conclude that the person is responsible for violating norms that warrant said punishment. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is known as a death sentence, and the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is condemned and is commonly referred to as being "on death row". Etymologically, the term capital refers to execution by beheading, but executions are carried out by many methods, including hanging, shooting, lethal injection, stoning, electrocution, and gassing.
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. Of the 50 U.S. states, New Hampshire is the fifth smallest by area and the tenth least populous, with a population of 1,377,529 residents as of the 2020 census. Concord is the state capital and Manchester is the most populous city. New Hampshire's motto, "Live Free or Die", reflects its role in the American Revolutionary War; its nickname, "The Granite State", refers to its extensive granite formations and quarries. It is well known nationwide for holding the first primary in the U.S. presidential election cycle, and for its resulting influence on American electoral politics.
The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects against imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishments. This amendment was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the United States Bill of Rights. The amendment serves as a limitation upon the state or federal government to impose unduly harsh penalties on criminal defendants before and after a conviction. This limitation applies equally to the price for obtaining pretrial release and the punishment for crime after conviction. The phrases in this amendment originated in the English Bill of Rights of 1689.
In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 states and in the federal capital, Washington, D.C. It is usually applied for only the most serious crimes, such as aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, 19 states currently have the ability to execute death sentences, with the other 8, as well as the federal government and military, being subject to different types of moratoriums.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Indiana. The last man executed in the state, excluding federal executions at Terre Haute, was the murderer Matthew Wrinkles in 2009.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. State of New Hampshire.
Capital punishment was abolished in 2019 in New Hampshire for persons convicted of capital murder. It remains a legal penalty for crimes committed prior to May 30, 2019.
William Badger was an American manufacturer and mill owner from Gilmanton, New Hampshire. He served in both houses of the New Hampshire state legislature and was the 15th governor of New Hampshire from 1834 to 1836.
Henry Hubbard was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1829 to 1835, a Senator from New Hampshire during 1835 to 1841, and the 18th governor of New Hampshire from 1842 to 1844.
Penelope Kenny was executed by hanging for the murder of her child in New Hampshire along with Sarah Simpson, who was also convicted of murdering her child.
Sarah Simpson was a widow executed by hanging for the murder of her child in New Hampshire. She was executed with Penelope Kenny, who was also convicted of killing her child.
Oscar Joseph Comery was a Canadian-American chauffeur hanged in Concord, New Hampshire for murdering his wife.
The murder of Michael Briggs occurred on October 16, 2006, in Manchester, New Hampshire, United States. Briggs, a police officer, was shot while on duty and was transported to the hospital, where he died of his injuries. The suspect, Michael "Stix" Addison, fled New Hampshire, prompting a manhunt by police. Fifteen hours after the shooting, Addison was arrested in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He was charged by Boston Police with being a fugitive from justice. He waived domestic extradition and was transported back to New Hampshire.
Howard Long was an American convicted murderer who was executed for the 1937 murder of 10-year-old Mark Neville Jensen in Gilford, New Hampshire. He was the last person to be executed by the state of New Hampshire.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the U.S. state of New Hampshire:
As of 2013, there was a reported 192,971 crimes in the U.S. state of New Jersey, including 401 murders. This is an overall decrease in total crimes reported, but an increase in murders.
Hanging has been practiced legally in the United States of America from before the nation's birth, up to 1972 when the United States Supreme Court found capital punishment to be in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Four years later, the Supreme Court overturned its previous ruling, and in 1976, capital punishment was again legalized in the United States. As of 2023, only New Hampshire has a law specifying hanging as an available secondary method of execution, and even then only for the one remaining capital punishment sentence in the state.
Robert Reynolds Cushing Jr. was an American politician who was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives as a Democrat from the town of Hampton. First elected in 1996, Cushing represented Rockingham District 21. He served nine non-consecutive terms.