List of people executed in the United States in 1959

Fifty people, all male, were executed in the United States in 1959, forty by electrocution, nine by gas chamber, and one by hanging.[1]

The state of West Virginia would conduct its final execution this year, before abolishing capital punishment in 1965. Leonard Shockley became the last person to be executed while still a juvenile in the United States.

List of people executed in the United States in 1959

No. Date of execution Name Age of person Gender Ethnicity State Method Ref.
At execution At offense Age difference
1 January 12, 1959 Willie Horne Jr. 25 23 2 Male Black Florida Electrocution [2]
2 January 19, 1959 Jimmie Lee Thomas 35 32 3 [3]
3 February 2, 1959 Dallas Edgar Withers 36 33 White [4]
4 February 4, 1959 Phillip Slater 35 1 Black Texas [5]
5 February 6, 1959 J.C. Murray 54 53 Georgia [6]
6 February 27, 1959 James Lewis Feldkamp 25 21 4 White California Gas chamber [7]
7 March 7, 1959 Vernice Lonnie Craft 41 39 2 Black Arizona [1]
8 April 3, 1959 Elmer David Bruner White West Virginia Electrocution [8]
9 April 10, 1959 Leonard Melvin Shockley 17 16 1 Black Maryland Gas chamber [9]
10 April 13, 1959 Lester G. Graves 23 22 White Pennsylvania Electrocution [10]
11 April 24, 1959 Willis Dameron Boyd 24 23 Virginia [1]
12 William Brown 56 55 Black [11]
13 May 4, 1959 Cleveland Thompson 36 26 10 Pennsylvania [1]
14 May 22, 1959 Richard G. Riser 33 29 4 White California Gas chamber [12]
15 Edward Eckwerth 31 28 3 New York Electrocution [13]
16 May 28, 1959 Milton Williams 28 26 2 Black Texas [14]
17 May 29, 1959 Vender Lee Duncan 31 5 California Gas chamber [15]
18 June 1, 1959 Harley Austin Conner 58 55 3 White Florida Electrocution [16]
19 John Frazier 44 42 2 Black [17]
20 Frank Peterson 28 27 1 [18]
21 June 5, 1959 Frank Junior Hill 36 35 Georgia [1]
22 June 15, 1959 Thomas Rutledge 33 32 White Tennessee [19]
23 June 24, 1959 Carl Daniel Kier 23 20 3 Black Maryland Gas chamber [20]
24 June 25, 1959 Charles Raymond Starkweather 20 19 1 White Nebraska Electrocution [21]
25 June 26, 1959 Cecil Herman Ward 26 24 2 California Gas chamber [22]
26 July 3, 1959 Walter J. Byomin 42 40 Ohio Electrocution [23]
27 July 16, 1959 Ralph Dawkins 24 22 Black New York [24]
28 Jackson Turner Jr. 23 21 [1]
29 July 23, 1959 Leroy Keith 52 49 3 [25]
30 July 24, 1959 Lawrence Smith 19 18 1 Arkansas [26]
31 August 4, 1959 Jessie Doffies Smith 42 41 Texas [1]
32 August 7, 1959 William Charlton 23 22 Georgia [27]
33 August 21, 1959 Stephen A. Nash 35 32 3 White California Gas chamber [28]
34 August 28, 1959 E.C. Daniels 49 47 2 Black Florida Electrocution [29]
35 Sam Wiley Odom 20 18 [30]
36 September 18, 1959 Harvey Murray Glatman 31 29 White California Gas chamber [31]
37 September 20, 1959 George James Davies 41 38 3 Connecticut Electrocution [32]
38 September 23, 1959 John E. Day Jr. 30 21 9 Black U.S. military Hanging [1]
39 September 25, 1959 Leo Lee 56 53 3 Arkansas Electrocution [33]
40 October 2, 1959 William Young 40 39 1 [1]
41 Thomas Walker 52 50 2 [34]
42 October 23, 1959 J.T. House 25 24 1 [1]
43 Arthur Hayes 44 43 [1]
44 October 26, 1959 Frank Wojculewicz 42 34 8 White Connecticut [35]
45 October 28, 1959 Robert Lee Williams 22 20 2 Black Pennsylvania [36]
46 November 13, 1959 Willie George City 21 1 Florida [1]
47 John Edward Paul 24 Unknown Unknown [37]
48 December 4, 1959 Ernest Cornell Walker 25 24 1 Alabama [38]
49 December 11, 1959 Edwin Ray Dockery 26 25 White [39]
50 December 18, 1959 Eddie Wilson 25 Unknown Unknown Black Georgia [40]

Demographics

Gender
Male 50 100%
Female 0 0%
Ethnicity
Black 33 66%
White 17 34%
State
Florida 10 20%
Arkansas 6 12%
California 6 12%
Georgia 4 8%
New York 4 8%
Pennsylvania 3 6%
Texas 3 6%
Alabama 2 4%
Connecticut 2 4%
Maryland 2 4%
Virginia 2 4%
Arizona 1 2%
Nebraska 1 2%
Ohio 1 2%
Tennessee 1 2%
U.S. military 1 2%
West Virginia 1 2%
Method
Electrocution 40 80%
Gas chamber 9 18%
Hanging 1 2%
Month
January 2 4%
February 4 8%
March 1 2%
April 5 10%
May 5 10%
June 8 16%
July 5 10%
August 5 10%
September 4 8%
October 6 12%
November 2 4%
December 3 6%
Age
10–19 2 4%
20–29 20 40%
30–39 12 24%
40–49 10 20%
50–59 6 12%
Total 50 100%

Executions in recent years

Number of executions
1960 56
1959 50
1958 50
Total 156

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The ESPY File" (PDF). Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  2. ^ "The governor and the condemned man's sister". Tampa Bay Times. March 17, 1991.
  3. ^ "Thomas v. State". Cetient.
  4. ^ "Withers v. State". CaseMine.
  5. ^ "Slater v. State". CourtListener.
  6. ^ "Murray v. State". Justia Law.
  7. ^ "Stolid Killer Dies In Gas Chamber". Daily Independent Journal via newspapers.com. February 27, 1959. p. 1.
  8. ^ "State v. Bruner". Justia Law.
  9. ^ "Shockley v. State". vLex.
  10. ^ "Commonwealth v. Graves". CourtListener.
  11. ^ "Verdict In Negro Murder Trial Postponed". Northern Virginia Daily. January 13, 1959. p. 5.
  12. ^ "People v. Riser". Justia Law.
  13. ^ "United States of America Ex Rel. Edward Eckwerth, Appellant, v. Wilfred L. Denno, Warden of Sing Sing Prison, Respondent, 261 F.2d 511 (2d Cir. 1959)". Justia Law.
  14. ^ "Williams v. State". Justia Law.
  15. ^ "Slayer's Appeal Rejected". The San Francisco Examiner via newspapers.com. February 4, 1959. p. 24.
  16. ^ "Conner v. State". vLex.
  17. ^ "Negro Sentenced To Die In Chair". The Orlando Sentinel via newspapers.com. December 13, 1957. p. 9.
  18. ^ "Negro Returned to Florida To Face Trial for Murder". Wellsville Daily Reporter. November 18, 1958. p. 9.
  19. ^ "Rutledge Executed At Penitentiary". The Jackson Sun via newspapers.com. June 15, 1959. p. 1.
  20. ^ "Killer Dies In Gas Chamber For Murder Of Mrs. Bopst". The Baltimore Sun via newspapers.com. June 15, 1959. p. 1.
  21. ^ "Charles R. Starkweather, Relator and Plaintiff, Appellant, v. John Greenholtz, Deputy and Acting Warden, Nebraska State Penitentiary, Respondent and Defendant, Appellee, 267 F.2d 858 (8th Cir. 1959)". Justia Law.
  22. ^ "Cecil Herman Ward, Appellant, v. State of California, Respondent, 269 F.2d 906 (9th Cir. 1959)". Justia Law.
  23. ^ "State v. Byomin". CourtListener.
  24. ^ "Court Denies Appeal Of an Executed Killer". The New York Times. October 20, 1959.
  25. ^ "SLAYER DIES IN CHAIR; Killer of Bronx Taxi Driver Electrocuted at Sing Sing". The New York Times. July 24, 1959.
  26. ^ "Smith v. State". CaseMine.
  27. ^ "Smith v. State". Justia Law.
  28. ^ "People v. Nash". Stanford Law School.
  29. ^ "Daniels v. State". Justia Law.
  30. ^ "Odom v. State". Justia Law.
  31. ^ "People v. Glatman". Stanford Law School.
  32. ^ "State v. Davies". Justia Law.
  33. ^ "Lee v. State". Justia Law.
  34. ^ "Walker v. State". CaseMine.
  35. ^ "State v. Wojculewicz". Justia Law.
  36. ^ "Com. v. Williams". vLex.
  37. ^ "Paul v. State". vLex.
  38. ^ "Walker v. State". Justia Law.
  39. ^ "Dockery v. State". Justia Law.
  40. ^ "Wilson v. State". Justia Law.
Preceded by
1958 		   List of people executed   
   in the United States in   
1959 		Succeeded by
1960
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