One hundred and twenty-four people, all male, were executed in the United States in 1940, eighty-four by electrocution, twenty-two by gas chamber, and eighteen by hanging. [1]
| No. | Date of execution | Name | Age of person | Gender | Ethnicity | State | Method | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At execution | At offense | Age difference | ||||||||
| 1 | January 4, 1940 | Anselmo Abreu | 41 | Unknown | Unknown | Male | Hispanic | New York | Electrocution | [2] | 
| 2 | January 5, 1940 | James Clifton Abdell | 42 | 41 | 1 | White | Virginia | [3] | ||
| 3 | January 10, 1940 | Clyde Wills | 27 | 26 | Tennessee | [4] | ||||
| 4 | January 11, 1940 | Demetrius Gula | 28 | 2 | New York | [5] | ||||
| 5 | Joseph S. Sacoda | |||||||||
| 6 | January 18, 1940 | Sidney Markman | 22 | 20 | [6] | |||||
| 7 | January 19, 1940 | James Charles Jr. | 24 | 23 | 1 | Black | Arkansas | [1] | ||
| 8 | J. Glenn Maxwell | 49 | 48 | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [7] | ||||
| 9 | Clarence Rogers | 26 | 25 | |||||||
| 10 | Frank Dash Jr. | 16 | 16 | 0 | South Carolina | Electrocution | [1] | |||
| 11 | January 26, 1940 | John Henry McCann | 63 | Unknown | Unknown | Virginia | [8] | |||
| 12 | January 29, 1940 | Cleveland Holloway | 36 | Unknown | Unknown | Mississippi | Hanging | [9] | ||
| 13 | Benjamin Ginyard | 27 | 27 | 0 | Pennsylvania | Electrocution | [10] | |||
| 14 | February 9, 1940 | James Fisher | Georgia | [1] | ||||||
| 15 | Joe Mathis | |||||||||
| 16 | February 15, 1940 | Franklin Wilbert Jenner | 22 | 21 | 1 | White | New York | [11] | ||
| 17 | John Kulka | 24 | 22 | 2 | ||||||
| 18 | Bertal Jerome Thingstead | 29 | 27 | |||||||
| 19 | February 16, 1940 | Calvin Tucker | 24 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | Alabama | [12] | ||
| 20 | James Charles Williams | 33 | 32 | 1 | White | California | Gas chamber | [13] | ||
| 21 | Nathaniel Bryant | 18 | 17 | Black | North Carolina | [14] | ||||
| 22 | William Young | 23 | 22 | |||||||
| 23 | February 26, 1940 | William Kelly | 33 | 31 | 2 | Pennsylvania | Electrocution | [15] | ||
| 24 | Andrew Schurtz | 47 | 47 | 0 | White | |||||
| 25 | March 1, 1940 | Roy Mannon | 35 | 34 | 1 | Oklahoma | [16] | |||
| 26 | March 15, 1940 | Lonnie Avery | 32 | 26 | 6 | Black | Alabama | [17] | ||
| 27 | Neil Anderson | 23 | 21 | 2 | White | California | Gas chamber | [18] | ||
| 28 | Alvin Kenton | Unknown | Unknown | Maryland | Hanging | [19] | ||||
| 29 | Thomas Sanchez | 40 | Unknown | Unknown | Hispanic | |||||
| 30 | Robert Williams | 20 | 18 | 2 | Black | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [1] | ||
| 31 | A.C. Mobley | 35 | 33 | Tennessee | Electrocution | |||||
| 32 | March 18, 1940 | James Warner Rickman | 22 | 20 | White | Texas | [20] | |||
| 33 | March 22, 1940 | William L. Mims | 38 | 36 | Black | Georgia | [1] | |||
| 34 | March 28, 1940 | Walter Dworecki | 43 | 42 | 1 | White | New Jersey | [21] | ||
| 35 | March 29, 1940 | Mack Jackson | 28 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | Alabama | [22] | ||
| 36 | David Williams | 22 | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 37 | Herman Bell | 23 | 22 | 1 | ||||||
| 38 | Press Bibbs | 20 | 18 | 2 | South Carolina | [23] | ||||
| 39 | March 31, 1940 | Bluitt Hampton | 28 | 27 | 1 | Texas | [1] | |||
| 40 | April 5, 1940 | Zeb Page | 29 | 29 | 0 | North Carolina | Gas chamber | |||
| 41 | April 12, 1940 | Otis Manning | 27 | Unknown | Unknown | Arkansas | Electrocution | |||
| 42 | Willie Bradshaw | 65 | 63 | 2 | Virginia | [24] | ||||
| 43 | April 19, 1940 | Howard Poe | 25 | 23 | Illinois | [25] | ||||
| 44 | Robert Ballard Walker | 24 | 1 | White | Texas | [26] | ||||
| 45 | Stanley Simon Lantzer | 38 | 36 | 2 | Wyoming | Gas chamber | [27] | |||
| 46 | April 25, 1940 | Gus Schweinberger | 33 | 32 | 1 | New York | Electrocution | [28] | ||
| 47 | April 26, 1940 | Wilmer Davis | 25 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | Virginia | [29] | ||
| 48 | April 28, 1940 | Webster Lyons | 29 | 27 | 2 | Texas | [30] | |||
| 49 | Robert Manning | 20 | 18 | |||||||
| 50 | April 29, 1940 | Vincent Cots Jr. | 32 | 31 | 1 | White | Connecticut | [31] | ||
| 51 | Ira Allen Weaver | 36 | 35 | |||||||
| 52 | May 3, 1940 | Judge Ragland | 34 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | Alabama | [32] | ||
| 53 | May 7, 1940 | Walter H. Rhodes | 32 | 28 | 4 | White | Iowa | Hanging | [33] | |
| 54 | May 10, 1940 | Otis Harrell | 23 | 23 | 0 | Black | Maryland | [34] | ||
| 55 | William T. Sorrell | 28 | 28 | |||||||
| 56 | May 17, 1940 | Virgilio Spinelli | 60 | 58 | 2 | White | California | Gas chamber | [35] | |
| 57 | Robert Brown | 26 | 25 | 1 | Black | Georgia | Electrocution | [1] | ||
| 58 | Victor Nukowski | 24 | 23 | White | Illinois | [36] | ||||
| 59 | Frank Michalowski | 25 | 24 | |||||||
| 60 | May 24, 1940 | David McGuire | 23 | 2 | Black | Alabama | [1] | |||
| 61 | Simon Gibson | 23 | Unknown | Unknown | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [37] | |||
| 62 | May 27, 1940 | Mateo Quinones | 44 | Unknown | Unknown | Asian | Hawaii Territory | Hanging | [1] | |
| 63 | May 28, 1940 | Wilson Henry Boyd | 44 | 0 | Black | Nevada | Gas chamber | [38] | ||
| 64 | June 5, 1940 | Clarence Parker | 29 | 27 | 2 | Florida | Electrocution | [39] | ||
| 65 | June 7, 1940 | Burton Franks | 22 | 21 | 1 | White | Texas | [40] | ||
| 66 | June 9, 1940 | Placido Handy | 36 | 30 | 6 | Hispanic | [41] | |||
| 67 | June 14, 1940 | William C. Williams | 31 | 1 | White | Alabama | [42] | |||
| 68 | Charlie Hopkins | 63 | 62 | Black | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [43] | |||
| 69 | Will Lowry | 18 | 18 | 0 | South Carolina | Electrocution | [1] | |||
| 70 | June 28, 1940 | Antoine McClain | Unknown | Unknown | 2 | Louisiana | Hanging | [44] | ||
| 71 | Alexander Williams | 33 | 33 | 0 | Maryland | [45] | ||||
| 72 | Lee Flynn | 44 | 43 | 1 | White | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [46] | ||
| 73 | Byzantine Hartman | 29 | 29 | 0 | West Virginia | Hanging | [47] | |||
| 74 | July 10, 1940 | Monroe Bohannon | 32 | 31 | 1 | Black | Ohio | Electrocution | [48] | |
| 75 | July 11, 1940 | Oliver R. Alridge | 47 | 46 | New York | [49] | ||||
| 76 | James Pryor | 23 | 22 | |||||||
| 77 | July 15, 1940 | George Howell | 22 | 21 | Pennsylvania | [50] | ||||
| 78 | July 19, 1940 | Robert Claude Perry | 71 | 70 | White | California | Gas chamber | [51] | ||
| 79 | Honore Migues | 31 | 28 | 3 | Louisiana | Hanging | [52] | |||
| 80 | July 26, 1940 | Henry Phillips | 43 | 41 | 2 | Black | Kentucky | Electrocution | [53] | |
| 81 | Claude Edward Cline | 46 | 46 | 0 | White | Oregon | Gas chamber | [54] | ||
| 82 | July 27, 1940 | Frank Lansing | 26 | 26 | Black | South Carolina | Electrocution | [1] | ||
| 83 | July 29, 1940 | Herbert Willard Goddard Jr. | 30 | 29 | 1 | White | Florida | [55] | ||
| 84 | August 1, 1940 | Norman James Wheelock | 27 | 26 | New York | [56] | ||||
| 85 | August 9, 1940 | Willie James Brandon | 23 | 22 | Black | Alabama | [57] | |||
| 86 | Robert Grey Burgunder Jr. | White | Arizona | Gas chamber | [58] | |||||
| 87 | August 16, 1940 | Everett Gilbert Parman | 29 | 27 | 2 | California | [59] | |||
| 88 | Curtis Barkley | 34 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | Georgia | Electrocution | [1] | ||
| 89 | Oscar Fields | 24 | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 90 | Charles Peyton | Unknown | Unknown | 2 | Louisiana | Hanging | ||||
| 91 | August 23, 1940 | Rodney J. Greig | 23 | 21 | White | California | Gas chamber | [60] | ||
| 92 | Eddie Brown | 29 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | Georgia | Electrocution | [61] | ||
| 93 | Charles Josey | 20 | 20 | 0 | ||||||
| 94 | August 30, 1940 | Ernest Houston | 19 | 1 | Kentucky | [62] | ||||
| 95 | Florence L. Murphy | 26 | 25 | Texas | [63] | |||||
| 96 | September 4, 1940 | William Henry Nelson | 46 | 45 | White | Tennessee | [64] | |||
| 97 | James Goodin | 21 | 20 | Black | ||||||
| 98 | September 6, 1940 | George Abney | 38 | 38 | 0 | South Carolina | [65] | |||
| 99 | Edward L. Bouchard | 46 | 45 | 1 | White | Washington | Hanging | [66] | ||
| 100 | September 12, 1940 | Frank Blazek | 30 | 29 | New York | Electrocution | [67] | |||
| 101 | Benjamin Ertel | 25 | 22 | 3 | ||||||
| 102 | September 13, 1940 | Arthur Collick | 28 | 28 | 0 | Black | Maryland | Hanging | [68] | |
| 103 | September 20, 1940 | Robert Leslie West | 25 | 23 | 2 | White | Missouri | Gas chamber | [69] | |
| 104 | Chester Jackson | 30 | 28 | Black | ||||||
| 105 | October 4, 1940 | Fred Anderson | 19 | 16 | 3 | Georgia | Electrocution | [1] | ||
| 106 | Jack C. Marable | 40 | 39 | 1 | White | Washington | Hanging | [70] | ||
| 107 | October 11, 1940 | Hilton Fortenberry | 30 | 29 | Black | Mississippi | [71] | |||
| 108 | Willie May Bragg | 28 | 28 | 0 | Electrocution | |||||
| 109 | October 18, 1940 | Henry William Hicks | 18 | 18 | Georgia | [1] | ||||
| 110 | Charles Clemons | 40 | Unknown | Unknown | Mississippi | [72] | ||||
| 111 | William Gordon | 31 | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 112 | October 23, 1940 | Eugene Harris | 24 | 23 | 1 | Ohio | [73] | |||
| 113 | October 25, 1940 | R.L. Jones | Unknown | Unknown | 2 | Louisiana | Hanging | [74] | ||
| 114 | November 8, 1940 | John William Sutton | 22 | 22 | 0 | Georgia | Electrocution | [1] | ||
| 115 | November 11, 1940 | Ivory Lee Williams | 18 | 17 | 1 | Florida | [75] | |||
| 116 | November 15, 1940 | Jack Gulley | 25 | Unknown | Unknown | Arkansas | [1] | |||
| 117 | Roger William Cunningham | 35 | 33 | 2 | White | Oklahoma | [76] | |||
| 118 | December 6, 1940 | Zedekiel Smith | 29 | 28 | 1 | Black | North Carolina | Gas chamber | [1] | |
| 119 | Paul Tross | 41 | 41 | 0 | West Virginia | Hanging | [77] | |||
| 120 | December 13, 1940 | James Dillard | 30 | Unknown | Unknown | Arkansas | Electrocution | [1] | ||
| 121 | Robert Lee Brannon | 39 | 29 | 10 | Georgia | |||||
| 122 | Buddie Lawrence | 28 | 28 | 0 | ||||||
| 123 | Robert Schroeder | 26 | 26 | White | Illinois | [78] | ||||
| 124 | December 27, 1940 | Jennings Waddell | 34 | Unknown | Unknown | Black | Georgia | [1] | ||
| Gender | ||
|---|---|---|
| Male | 124 | 100% | 
| Female | 0 | 0% | 
| Ethnicity | ||
| Black | 76 | 61% | 
| White | 44 | 35% | 
| Hispanic | 3 | 2% | 
| Asian | 1 | 1% | 
| State | ||
| Georgia | 14 | 11% | 
| New York | 13 | 10% | 
| North Carolina | 10 | 8% | 
| Alabama | 9 | 7% | 
| Texas | 8 | 6% | 
| California | 6 | 5% | 
| Maryland | 6 | 5% | 
| Mississippi | 5 | 4% | 
| South Carolina | 5 | 4% | 
| Arkansas | 4 | 3% | 
| Illinois | 4 | 3% | 
| Louisiana | 4 | 3% | 
| Pennsylvania | 4 | 3% | 
| Tennessee | 4 | 3% | 
| Virginia | 4 | 3% | 
| Florida | 3 | 2% | 
| Connecticut | 2 | 2% | 
| Kentucky | 2 | 2% | 
| Missouri | 2 | 2% | 
| Ohio | 2 | 2% | 
| Oklahoma | 2 | 2% | 
| Washington | 2 | 2% | 
| West Virginia | 2 | 2% | 
| Arizona | 1 | 1% | 
| Hawaii Territory | 1 | 1% | 
| Iowa | 1 | 1% | 
| Nevada | 1 | 1% | 
| New Jersey | 1 | 1% | 
| Oregon | 1 | 1% | 
| Wyoming | 1 | 1% | 
| Method | ||
| Electrocution | 84 | 68% | 
| Gas chamber | 22 | 18% | 
| Hanging | 18 | 15% | 
| Month | ||
| January | 13 | 10% | 
| February | 11 | 9% | 
| March | 15 | 12% | 
| April | 12 | 10% | 
| May | 12 | 10% | 
| June | 10 | 8% | 
| July | 10 | 8% | 
| August | 12 | 10% | 
| September | 9 | 7% | 
| October | 9 | 7% | 
| November | 4 | 3% | 
| December | 7 | 6% | 
| Age | ||
| Unknown | 3 | 2% | 
| 10–19 | 6 | 5% | 
| 20–29 | 64 | 52% | 
| 30–39 | 29 | 23% | 
| 40–49 | 17 | 23% | 
| 50–59 | 0 | 0% | 
| 60–69 | 4 | 3% | 
| 70–79 | 1 | 1% | 
| Total | 124 | 100% | 
| Number of executions | |
|---|---|
| 1941 | 123 | 
| 1940 | 124 | 
| 1939 | 162 | 
| Total | 409 | 
| Preceded by 1939 | List of people executed in the United States in 1940 | Succeeded by 1941 |