List of people executed in the United States in 1956

Sixty-five people, all male, were executed in the United States in 1956, forty-six by electrocution, sixteen by gas chamber, two by firing squad, and one by hanging. ^[1]

List of people executed in the United States in 1956

No.	Date of execution	Name	Age of person			Gender	Ethnicity	State	Method	Ref.
			At execution	At offense	Age difference
1	January 3, 1956	Robert Buchanan	35	34	1	Male	Black	Mississippi	Gas chamber	[1]
2		Samuel Wright	20	19				South Carolina	Electrocution	[2]
3	January 4, 1956	Carrol Dayton Farrar	36	34	2		White	Texas		[3]
4	January 12, 1956	William Snyder Byers	19	17				New York		[4]
5	January 18, 1956	Hurbie Franklin Fairris Jr.	22	20				Oklahoma		[5]
6	January 19, 1956	Norman Roye	20	18			Black	New York		[6]
7	January 20, 1956	Henry Lee Boone	33	32	1			South Carolina		[7]
8	January 24, 1956	Johnnie Elwood Gordon	25	23	2			Texas		[1]
9	January 26, 1956	John Francis Roche	28	26			White	New York		[8]
10	January 27, 1956	Walter Philpott	39	38	1		Black	Georgia		[1]
11		Edgar Keeler	38	37				Mississippi	Gas chamber	[9]
12	February 17, 1956	O.C. McNair	24	22	2					[1]
13	February 20, 1956	George Anderson	30	27	3			Florida	Electrocution
14		Percy Ambrister Jr.	29	26
15		Herman Barwicks	28		2					[10]
16	February 24, 1956	Arthur Ross Brown	30	29	1		White	Federal government	Gas chamber	[11]
17		James Larry Upton	22	20	2			New Mexico	Electrocution	[12]
18	March 6, 1956	Smith Edward Jordan	27	24	3		Black	California	Gas chamber	[13]
19		Robert Otis Pierce
20	March 15, 1956	Bernard A. Schreiber	19	17	2		White	Ohio	Electrocution	[1]
21	March 30, 1956	Aubrey Williams	29	25	4		Black	Georgia		[14]
22	April 5, 1956	James Russell	32	Unknown	Unknown			Mississippi	Gas chamber	[15]
23	April 6, 1956	Walter Palmer	30	28	2			Louisiana	Electrocution	[16]
24	April 13, 1956	Michael Timothy Cavanaugh	32	29	3		White	California	Gas chamber	[17]
25		Willie Grady Cochran	37	36	1			Georgia	Electrocution	[1]
26	April 28, 1956	Charlie Copeland Jr.	24	21	3		Black	Florida		[18]
27	May 11, 1956	Verne Alfred Braasch	27		6		White	Utah	Firing squad	[19]
28		Melvin LeRoy Sullivan	25	19
29	May 12, 1956	Tommy Lee Walker	21	18	3		Black	Texas	Electrocution	[20]
30	May 14, 1956	William Durant Cole	30	28	2			Pennsylvania		[21]
31	June 4, 1956	Harry Earl Gossard	41	39			White			[22]
32	June 8, 1956	James Lee Turner	27	26	1		Black	Georgia		[23]
33		Marion Andrew Washington	29	28				Texas		[1]
34	June 15, 1956	Eugene Augustine Morlock	25	24			Native American	California	Gas chamber	[24]
35	June 22, 1956	Dewey Townsel	26	25			Black	Mississippi		[25]
36	June 28, 1956	Ernest Lee Edwards	22	20	2		White	New York	Electrocution	[26]
37	June 29, 1956	Frederick Mosley	25	23			Black	Georgia		[27]
38	July 13, 1956	Henry Thomas	32	26	6			California	Gas chamber	[28]
39		Willie D. Jones	31	30	1			Mississippi		[29]
40		Robert S. Conner	30	28	2			North Carolina		[30]
41		Walter T. Wilson						Ohio	Electrocution	[1]
42	July 27, 1956	Raymond Fuller Sr.	31	27	4			South Carolina		[31]
43	August 20, 1956	Edgar Joseph LaVoie	56	54	2		White	Florida		[32]
44	August 21, 1956	John Henry Tune	26	22	4		Black	New Jersey		[33]
45	August 23, 1956	Frank J. Newman	51	49	2		White	New York		[1]
46		Flaudell Fite	27	26	1		Black	Texas		[34]
47	August 30, 1956	Joseph E. Reade Jr.					White	New York		[35]
48		Timothy Pierce	23	22			Black	Texas		[34]
49	August 31, 1956	Harold Byrd	24	23				South Carolina		[36]
50	September 7, 1956	Besalirez Martinez	46	44	2		Hispanic	Colorado	Gas chamber	[37]
51		Robert Lee Hopkins	28	28	0		White	West Virginia	Electrocution	[1]
52	September 20, 1956	Joseph Allen	59	54	5		Black	Ohio
53	September 21, 1956	Leo Scarber	60	59	1			Arkansas		[38]
54		Paul Cooper	48	47				Georgia		[39]
55	September 28, 1956	Melvin Jackson	20	17	2			Alabama		[40]
56	October 1, 1956	Robert Lee Colson	25	24	1			Florida		[41]
57		Moses Lee Dunmore	21	20
58	October 30, 1956	Leonard Lionel Bingham	26	23	3		White	Texas		[42]
59	November 7, 1956	Mack Drake	35	34	1		Black	Mississippi	Gas chamber	[43]
60	November 8, 1956	Henry Jackson	21	Unknown	Unknown					[1]
61	November 26, 1956	Samuel Woodrow Tannyhill	27	26	1		White	Ohio	Electrocution
62	November 30, 1956	James Franklin Bowman	47	45	2		Black	Kentucky		[44]
63		Charles C. DeBerry	21	19						[45]
64		Robert Sheckles	22	20						[46]
65	December 15, 1956	Artell Bernard Farley Jr.	27	25		White	Washington	Hanging	[47]

Demographics

Gender
Male	65	100%
Female	0	0%
Ethnicity
Black	43	66%
White	20	31%
Hispanic	1	2%
Native American	1	2%
State
Mississippi	8	12%
Florida	7	11%
Texas	7	11%
Georgia	6	9%
New York	6	9%
California	5	8%
Ohio	4	6%
South Carolina	4	6%
Kentucky	3	5%
Pennsylvania	2	3%
Utah	2	3%
Alabama	1	2%
Arkansas	1	2%
Colorado	1	2%
Federal government	1	2%
Louisiana	1	2%
New Jersey	1	2%
New Mexico	1	2%
North Carolina	1	2%
Oklahoma	1	2%
Washington	1	2%
West Virginia	1	2%
Method
Electrocution	46	71%
Gas chamber	16	25%
Firing squad	2	3%
Hanging	1	2%
Month
January	11	17%
February	6	9%
March	4	6%
April	5	8%
May	4	6%
June	7	11%
July	5	8%
August	7	11%
September	6	9%
October	3	5%
November	6	9%
December	1	2%
Age
10–19	3	5%
20–29	36	55%
30–39	18	28%
40–49	4	6%
50–59	3	5%
60–69	1	2%
Total	65	100%

Executions in recent years

Number of executions
1957	69
1956	65
1955	79
Total	213

References

1. "Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File" (PDF). Death Penalty Information Center . Retrieved June 18, 2025.
2. "State v. Wright". Justia Law.
3. "Carrol Farrar Dies In Texas Electric Chair". Brownwood Bulletin via newspapers.com. January 4, 1956. p. 12.
4. "Youth, 19, Dies In Chair". The Lima News via newspapers.com. January 13, 1956. p. 3.
5. "Texas Desperado Electrocuted For Homicide". The Duluth News Tribune via newspapers.com. January 18, 1956. p. 22.
6. "Norman Roye's Sentence Is Carried Out at Ossining". Wellsville Daily Reporter via newspapers.com. January 20, 1956. p. 1.
7. "State v. Boone". Justia Law.
8. "Roche Gives Life For Killing Girl". The Post-Star via newspapers.com. January 27, 1956. p. 1.
9. "Keeler v. State". Justia Law.
10. "Barwicks v. State". Justia Law.
11. "Summary of the execution of Arthur Brown". M. E. Grenander Special Collections & Archives.
12. "Former Sooner Dies in Chair". Miami News-Record via newspapers.com. February 24, 1956. p. 1.
13. "People v. Jordan". vLex.
14. "Williams v. Georgia, 349 U.S. 375 (1955)". Justia Law.
15. "Russell v. State". CaseMine.
16. "State v. Palmer". Justia Law.
17. "People v. Cavanaugh". Stanford Law School.
18. "State Ex Rel. Copeland v. Mayo". Justia Law.
19. "State v. Braasch". Justia Law.
20. "Walker v. State". Justia Law.
21. "Commonwealth v. Cole". Justia Law.
22. "Commonwealth v. Cole". Justia Law.
23. "Turner v. State". Justia Law.
24. "People v. Morlock". FindLaw.
25. "Townsel v. State". Justia Law.
26. "Dollar Mugger Of Fisherman Dies in Chair". Daily News via newspapers.com. June 29, 1956. p. 428.
27. "Mosley v. State". vLex.
28. "Killer Who Made Unlucky Guess Scheduled to Die". The Times via newspapers.com. July 13, 1956. p. 1.
29. "Willie Jones Sentencing". The Commercial Appeal via newspapers.com. July 13, 1956. p. 80.
30. "State v. Conner". Justia Law.
31. "State v. Fuller". Justia Law.
32. "LaVoie Gets Death for Slaying Girl". Sarasota Journal. April 20, 1955. p. 80.
33. "Application of John Henry Tune, for a Writ of Habeas Corpus, 230 F.2d 883 (3d Cir. 1956)". Justia Law.
34. "Fite v. State". Justia Law.
35. "People v. Reade". vLex.
36. "State v. Byrd". Justia Law.
37. "Martinez v. People". Justia Law.
38. "Scarber v. State". Justia Law.
39. "Cooper v. State". vLex.
40. "Jackson v. State". vLex.
41. "Negro Rapists Die In Raiford Electric Chair". Ocala Star-Banner. October 1, 1956. p. 5.
42. "Bingham v. State". CourtListener.
43. "Drake v. State". vLex.
44. "Bowman v. Commonwealth". Justia Law.
45. "Summary of the execution of Charles Deberry". M. E. Grenander Special Collections & Archives.
46. "Summary of the execution of Robert Sheckles". M. E. Grenander Special Collections & Archives.
47. "State v. Farley". Justia Law.

Preceded by 1955

List of people executed       in the United States in    1956

Succeeded by 1957