List of people executed in the United States in 1946

One hundred and twenty-nine people, one hundred and twenty-eight male and one female, were executed in the United States in 1946, ninety-five by electrocution, twenty-three by gas chamber, and eleven by hanging. ^[1]

List of people executed in the United States in 1946

No.	Date of execution	Name	Age of person			Gender	Ethnicity	State	Method	Ref.
			At execution	At offense	Age difference
1	January 4, 1946	James Waybern Hall	24	23	1	Male	White	Arkansas	Electrocution	[2]
2	January 7, 1946	Shellie McKeithen	52	50	2		Black	Pennsylvania		[3]
3	January 11, 1946	Andrew Holloman	31	Unknown	Unknown			Virginia		[1]
4	January 14, 1946	Charlie Holloway	30	29	1			Florida		[4]
5		James Reed	28	27
6		George Lafayette Sullivan	37	34	3		White
7	January 17, 1946	Oliver Little	22	21	1		Black	New York		[5]
8	January 18, 1946	Peter Paul Hall	23	Unknown	Unknown			Alabama		[1]
9		William Tasker	21	Unknown	Unknown			Maryland	Hanging	[6]
10		Jarvin Raymond Elliott	23	Unknown	Unknown			Texas	Electrocution	[1]
11		Joseph Bernard Wessel	44	43	1		White	Washington	Hanging	[7]
12	January 25, 1946	Ernest Johnson	17	16			Black	Alabama	Electrocution	[8]
13		Wash Pringle	32	Unknown	Unknown			South Carolina		[9]
14	February 1, 1946	Richard Brown	19	18	1			Alabama		[8]
15	February 2, 1946	Andrew W. Dennis	45	43	2		White	Oregon	Gas chamber	[10]
16	February 5, 1946	Woodrow Wilson Clark	29	27				Washington	Hanging	[11]
17	February 8, 1946	Eddie Daniels	34	31	3		Black	Georgia	Electrocution	[1]
18	February 9, 1946	Ralph Dayton Brown	33	32	1		White	Ohio		[12]
19		Frank J. Naiberg	46	38	8
20	February 15, 1946	Walter Lorenzo Hightower	39	38	1		Black	North Carolina	Gas chamber	[13]
21		Ernest Edward Fagan	31	31	0			Virginia	Electrocution	[14]
22	March 1, 1946	Johnnie Outlaw	27	26	1			Tennessee		[1]
23		Thomas Walker	33	32
24	March 7, 1946	George W. Donaldson	48	46	2		White	New York		[15]
25	March 15, 1946	Elbert Jeremiah Burns	65	62	3			Alabama		[16]
26		Anderson Adkins	34	33	1			Kentucky		[17]
27		Roosevelt Morgan	37	37	0		Black	Mississippi		[18]
28	March 22, 1946	Arthur Jones	17	15	2			Kentucky		[19]
29		Thomas Earl Warner	20	18
30	March 24, 1946	Edward Charles Calhoun	22	21	1		White			[20]
31	March 25, 1946	Robert William Pepperman	29	29	0			Pennsylvania		[21]
32		John Darius West	27	27
33	March 29, 1946	Isaac Bonner	19	19			Black	Georgia		[1]
34		Leon Lewis	26	25	1
35		Phillip Henry Heincy	73	72			White	Iowa	Hanging	[22]
36		William Henry Heincy	45	43	2
37	April 2, 1946	Frank James Quarles		44	1		Black	Indiana	Electrocution	[23]
38	April 4, 1946	Charlie Holloway	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown			Mississippi		[18]
39	April 12, 1946	Willie Riley	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown			Arkansas		[1]
40		Robert Lee Ming	26	25	1		White	California	Gas chamber	[24]
41	April 15, 1946	Nelson Cross	32	Unknown	Unknown		Black	Virginia	Electrocution	[25]
42	April 19, 1946	Robert Stephen Pilley	26	24	2		White	Alabama		[26]
43		Willie Jones	30	30	0		Black	Georgia		[27]
44	April 22, 1946	Eddie Lewis	52	51	1			Florida		[28]
45	April 25, 1946	Abraham Gold	45	44			White	New York		[29]
46	April 26, 1946	Sam Williams	38	36	2		Black	California	Gas chamber	[30]
47		Alligood King	32	31	1			North Carolina		[31]
48	May 4, 1946	Thomas B. Hart	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown					[32]
49	May 8, 1946	Clyde Moore	21	Unknown	Unknown			Texas	Electrocution	[1]
50	May 9, 1946	Willie Carter	24	22	2			Mississippi		[33]
51	May 10, 1946	Forrest Sturdivant	34	Unknown	Unknown			Delaware	Hanging	[1]
52		Pedro Talamante	54	52	2		Hispanic	New Mexico	Electrocution	[34]
53	May 20, 1946	Thomas Edward Harrison	19	19	0		White	Virginia		[1]
54	May 24, 1946	Lester Wingard	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown		Black	Alabama		[35]
55		Fred Hicks	33	31	2
56		George Edwards Jr.	18	Unknown	Unknown			Louisiana		[36]
57		Gurney Herring	16	15	1			North Carolina	Gas chamber	[37]
58	May 31, 1946	Early Bryant	30	Unknown	Unknown			Georgia	Electrocution	[1]
59		Alfred Clarence Bingham	40	37	3		White	Oklahoma		[38]
60	June 14, 1946	Lodies Joe Mincey	30	29	1		Black	Alabama		[39]
61	June 21, 1946	James Leo Williams	25	24				Mississippi		[1]
62		George Walker	23	22				North Carolina	Gas chamber
63		George Grissett	33	32				Virginia	Electrocution	[40]
64		James Hough	29	28
65		Arthur Johnson	22	21
66	June 28, 1946	William Ayers	32	Unknown	Unknown	Louisiana		[41]
67		Fred I. Deaton	39	38	1	White	North Carolina	Gas chamber	[42]
68		Fab Stewart	45	44		Black			[43]
69		Richard Gamble	32	31			Texas	Electrocution	[1]
70	July 5, 1946	Anderson Burke	28	Unknown	Unknown		Georgia
71		George Douglass	20	18	2		Tennessee
72	July 12, 1946	Junius A. Judge	25	24	1		South Carolina		[44]
73	July 19, 1946	Earl McFarland		23	2	White	District of Columbia		[45]
74		Aaron Napper	41	40	1	Black	Georgia		[1]
75		Sherman Street	31	Unknown	Unknown		Mississippi
76		Louis C. Gatlin	21	19	2		South Carolina		[46]
77		L. C. Newman	26	Unknown	Unknown		Texas		[47]
78	August 2, 1946	Jesse R. McKethan	22	21	1	White	Georgia		[48]
79	August 9, 1946	Lloyd Walker				Black	Maryland	Hanging	[49]
80	August 16, 1946	William Edgar Alston	41	40		White	Alabama	Electrocution	[50]
81		Raphael Skopp	33	31	2		Massachusetts		[51]
82		Fred Ellis	23	20	3	Black	Missouri	Gas chamber	[52]
83		Jesse Sanford	37	34
84	August 23, 1946	Albert Everette Sala	38	37	1	White	Nevada		[53]
85	August 30, 1946	Alvin Hicks	24	21	3		Tennessee	Electrocution	[54]
86		John H. Luffman	46	43
87	September 1, 1946	Joe G. Leza	30	30	0	Hispanic	Texas		[55]
88		Harold Lee Palm	34	34		Black
89	September 12, 1946	Louis Dwight Brookins	22	20	2	White	New York		[56]
90	September 13, 1946	Kenneth William Bailey	27	26	1		Oregon	Gas chamber	[57]
91		James Lee Fletcher Jr.	21	21	0	Black	Virginia	Electrocution	[58]
92		Robert S. Holland
93	September 20, 1946	Otto Stephen Wilson	35	33	2	White	California	Gas chamber	[59]
94	September 27, 1946	Charlie Bernard	41	40	1	Black			[60]
95	September 30, 1946	Jacob Sugg Webb	26	26	0		Florida	Electrocution	[61]
96	October 1, 1946	Raymond Lewie	19	18	1	White	Connecticut		[62]
97		James J. McCarthy	21	20
98		Arthur Tommaselli	25	24
99	October 4, 1946	William Daniel Demby	23	22		Black	Maryland	Hanging	[63]
100		Roy N. Peters	22	21
101	October 11, 1946	Richard Lee Collins		22	0	White	West Virginia		[64]
102	October 14, 1946	Corrine Sykes		20	2	Female	Black	Pennsylvania	Electrocution	[65]
103	October 22, 1946	Walter Hillman Yearwood	23	22	1	Male	White	Georgia		[66]
104	October 25, 1946	Wilson Melvin De La Roi	28	24	4			California	Gas chamber	[67]
105	October 28, 1946	Frederick Morris	25		1			Pennsylvania	Electrocution	[68]
106	November 1, 1946	Robert Lee Nash	43	42				North Carolina	Gas chamber	[69]
107		Mose Paul Johnson	34	31	3		Native American	Oklahoma	Electrocution	[70]
108	November 8, 1946	Alton Murray	29	28	1		White	Georgia		[71]
109	November 15, 1946	Lee James Allen	16	15			Black			[1]
110	November 22, 1946	Elton Chitwood	25	Unknown	Unknown		White	Arkansas
111		Johnnie Burns	22	21	1		Black	Georgia		[72]
112		Willie Stevenson	17	16
113		Wilbert Johnson	Unknown	Unknown				North Carolina	Gas chamber	[73]
114		Charles Primus Jr.	Unknown	Unknown
115	November 29, 1946	Andrew Thomas	24	Unknown	Unknown			Arkansas	Electrocution	[1]
116		William Crain	40	38	2		White	California	Gas chamber	[74]
117		James Williams	19	Unknown	Unknown		Black	Georgia	Electrocution	[1]
118		Harry Huff	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown			Mississippi
119		Charles T. Smith	66	Unknown	Unknown			South Carolina
120	December 13, 1946	Johnnie Smith	24	Unknown	Unknown			Alabama
121		Albert Parker	29	29	0			Georgia		[75]
122		Jack Lester Barnes	25	24	1			Maryland	Hanging	[76]
123		Herman Matthews	19	18				North Carolina	Gas chamber	[77]
124		Calvin Coolidge Williams	18	17
125	December 20, 1946	William Copeland	38	36	2			District of Columbia	Electrocution	[78]
126		Julius Fisher	32	30
127		Joseph Dunbar Medley	45	43			White
128		J. C. Hill	19	18	1		Black	Georgia		[79]
129		Lewis Scott	26	25				South Carolina		[1]

Demographics

Gender
Male	128	99%
Female	1	1%
Ethnicity
Black	83	64%
White	43	33%
Hispanic	2	2%
Native American	1	1%
State
Georgia	16	12%
North Carolina	12	9%
Alabama	10	8%
Virginia	9	7%
California	6	5%
Mississippi	6	5%
Texas	6	5%
Florida	5	4%
Maryland	5	4%
Pennsylvania	5	4%
South Carolina	5	4%
Tennessee	5	4%
Arkansas	4	3%
District of Columbia	4	3%
Kentucky	4	3%
New York	4	3%
Connecticut	3	2%
Iowa	2	2%
Louisiana	2	2%
Missouri	2	2%
Ohio	2	2%
Oklahoma	2	2%
Oregon	2	2%
Washington	2	2%
Delaware	1	1%
Indiana	1	1%
Massachusetts	1	1%
Nevada	1	1%
New Mexico	1	1%
West Virginia	1	1%
Method
Electrocution	95	74%
Gas chamber	23	18%
Hanging	11	9%
Month
January	13	10%
February	8	6%
March	15	12%
April	11	9%
May	12	9%
June	10	8%
July	8	6%
August	9	7%
September	9	7%
October	10	8%
November	14	11%
December	10	8%
Age
Unknown	7	5%
10–19	14	11%
20–29	53	41%
30–39	33	26%
40–49	16	12%
50–59	3	2%
60–69	2	2%
70–79	1	1%
Total	129	100%

Executions in recent years

Number of executions
1947	157
1946	129
1945	129
Total	415

References

1. "Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File" (PDF). Death Penalty Information Center . Retrieved August 30, 2025.
2. "Confessed Slayer of Six Persons Executed In Arkansas Chair". The Southeast Missourian. January 4, 1946. p. 3.
3. "Murderer Dies In Electric Chair". The Windsor Daily Star. January 7, 1946. p. 25.
4. "Three Executed At State Prison". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. January 14, 1946. p. 1.
5. "Slayer Dies in Chair". The New York Times. January 18, 1946.
6. "Man Dies Calmly for Ax Slaying". The Afro-American. January 26, 1946. p. 17.
7. "Murderer of Daughter Pays Penalty on Gallows". The News-Review via newspapers.com. January 18, 1946. p. 1.
8. "Negro Slayer Electrocuted In Alabama". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. January 25, 1946. p. 2.
9. "Negro Electrocuted For Rape Count". Herald-Journal. January 28, 1946. p. 5.
10. "Slayer Dies in Oregon Chamber". Ellensburg Daily Record. February 2, 1946. p. 6.
11. "Washington Slayer Dies On Gallows". Eugene Register-Guard. February 5, 1946. p. 2.
12. "Two from Lorain Forfeit Lives In Electric Chair". Youngstown Vindicator. February 11, 1946. p. 7.
13. "State v. Hightower". CourtListener.
14. "Ernest Fagan is Executed at Richmond". Suffolk News-Herald. February 15, 1946. p. 1.
15. "Donaldson Is Executed". Schenectady Gazette. March 7, 1946. p. 16.
16. "Politics and Weather Warm Up Over State". Times Daily. March 9, 1946. p. 3.
17. "Anderson Adkins, 34, Meets Death Calmly". The Daily News via newspapers.com. March 21, 1946. p. 1.
18. "Death Sentences Upheld by State Supreme Court". The Vicksburg Post via newspapers.com. February 11, 1946. p. 1.
19. "Warner v. Commonwealth". vLex.
20. "Calhoun v. Commonwealth". vLex.
21. "Williamsport Pair Put to Death For Aged Man's Slaying". Reading Eagle. March 25, 1946. p. 6.
22. "100 Watch Hanging of Two Men". Des Moines Tribune via newspapers.com. March 29, 1946. p. 1.
23. "Negro Slayer Pays With Life". Warsaw Daily Union. April 3, 1946. p. 6.
24. "People v. Ming". Justia Law.
25. "Negro Dies In Electric Chair". The Free-Lance Star. April 15, 1946. p. 4.
26. "Mother Begs For Son's Life". The Tuscaloosa News. April 18, 1946. p. 1.
27. "Douglas Negro Electrocuted". Waycross Journal-Herald. April 19, 1946. p. 1.
28. "Slayer Executed". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. April 22, 1946. p. 1.
29. "Torch Slayer Dies In Electric Chair". Reading Eagle. April 26, 1946. p. 1.
30. "People v. Williams". Stanford Law School.
31. "Negro Executed For Murder Of A White Woman". The Robesonian. April 26, 1946. p. 1.
32. "State v. Hart". vLex.
33. "Willie Carter execution notice". The Union Appeal via newspapers.com. May 8, 1946. p. 2.
34. "Three Women See Killer Pay Supreme Penalty In State's Electric Chair". Carlsbad Current-Argus via newspapers.com. May 10, 1946. p. 1.
35. "Alabama Pair Die as Slayers". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. May 24, 1946. p. 4.
36. "Negro Youth Scheduled to Die On Friday For Roberts Murder". The Leesville Daily Leader via newspapers.com. May 23, 1946. p. 1.
37. "Pays With His Life for Criminal Assault". The Robesonian. May 28, 1946. p. 3.
38. "Wife Slayer Puts Blame on Whisky At Electrocution". San Jose Evening News. May 31, 1946. p. 42.
39. "Negro Slayer Puts Up Fight in Death Cell". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. June 14, 1946. p. 9.
40. "Reprieves Granted 3 Condemned Men". The Free-Lance Star. March 21, 1946. p. 1.
41. "Negro to Die in Winnfield Attack Case". The Times via newspapers.com. May 2, 1946. p. 1.
42. "State v. Deaton". CaseMine.
43. "State v. Stewart". CourtListener.
44. "State v. Judge". vLex.
45. "Earl McFarland Dies For 1944 Rape Slaying". The Nevada Daily Mail. July 19, 1946. p. 1.
46. "Convicted Negro Dies in Chair". Herald-Journal. July 20, 1946. p. 1.
47. "Negro Executed At Huntsville". The Victoria Advocate. July 19, 1946. p. 1.
48. "Dies in Chair". The Spokesman-Review. August 3, 1946. p. 1.
49. "Man, 22, Hanged for Assault Try". Baltimore Afro-American. August 10, 1946. p. 12.
50. "His Big Funeral Crime Warning". The Spokesman-Review. August 19, 1946. p. 2.
51. "Skopp Executed at Mass. State Prison". The Lewiston Daily Sun. August 16, 1946. p. 1.
52. "Negroes To Be Executed August 16". Washington Citizen via newspapers.com. July 12, 1946. p. 1.
53. "Killer Bequeaths Eyes to Worthy Blind Man". The Spokesman-Review. August 24, 1946. p. 1.
54. "Death to 2 in Electric Chair". St. Joseph News-Press. August 30, 1946. p. 2.
55. "Two Die in Electric Chair at Huntsville, Texas Prison". St. Joseph News-Press. September 2, 1946. p. 2.
56. "Brookins Dies in Electric Chair". Schenectady Gazette. September 13, 1946. p. 5.
57. "Killer Goes to Death In Oregon Penitentiary". Eugene Register-Guard. September 14, 1946. p. 1.
58. "2 Maryland Men Die in Va. Chair". Baltimore Afro-American. September 17, 1946. p. 10.
59. "Killer Of 2 Women Dies In Gas Chamber". Lodi News-Sentinel. September 21, 1946. p. 4.
60. "People v. Bernard". Stanford Law School.
61. "Execution Ordered". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. September 24, 1946. p. 5.
62. "Three Executed; Steak Denied". The Pittsburgh Press. October 2, 1946. p. 10.
63. "2 Hanged for Attack". Baltimore Afro-American. October 8, 1946. p. 7.
64. "Slayer Is Executed". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 12, 1946. p. 11.
65. "Corrine Sykes Electrocuted". Gettysburg Times. October 14, 1946. p. 4.
66. "Georgia Slayer Dies In Chair". St. Petersburg Times. October 23, 1946. p. 42.
67. "Convict Pact Fails To Save". Lodi News-Sentinel. October 25, 1946. p. 12.
68. "Morris Dies In Chair". The Montreal Gazette. October 29, 1946. p. 6.
69. "State v. Nash". vLex.
70. "Oklahoma Slayer Pays Penalty". The Windsor Daily Star. November 2, 1946. p. 6.
71. "Murray v. State". vLex.
72. "Stevenson v. State". CaseMine.
73. "Governor's Reprieve Sole Hope of 2 NC Doomed Men". The Afro American. November 16, 1946. p. 14.
74. "People v. Leary". FindLaw. November 16, 1946. p. 14.
75. "Negro Admits Beating Georgia Man to Death". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. November 1, 1946. p. 1.
76. "Barnes Refused Review By Court". The Free-Lance Star. October 14, 1946. p. 2.
77. "Reprieves Granted Condemned Men". Herald-Journal. November 10, 1946. p. 42.
78. "2 Murderers Meet Death in Electric Chair". Prescott Evening Courier. December 20, 1946. p. 3.
79. "Court Upholds Death Sentence for Negro". Waycross Journal-Herald. September 7, 1946. p. 1.

Preceded by 1945

List of people executed       in the United States in    1946

Succeeded by 1947