IkeaBoy
04-18-2002, 06:29 PM
Here you go--
from <a href="http://www.albany.edu/~brandon/ecfaq.html"> this site</a>
3. Who invented the chair?
At least five people have had "inventor of the electric chair" attached to their names, some of them by their own statements.
1. Alfred P. Southwick was the Buffalo dentist who first came up with the idea to use electricity to kill prison inmates and served on the commission which drew up the law that established the first chair in New York. His obituary said he was known as "old electricity" because of his work on the chair.
2. Harold Brown, a lobbyist who took orders from Thomas Edison, conducted many of the early experiments with the chair and helped construct the apparatus for the first electrocution at Auburn Prison in New York.
3.and 4 Carlos McDonald and A. P. Rockwell served on a commission which drew up the detailed plans for the chair and are credited with designing the chair. Rockwell's obituary called him the "father of the electric chair."
5. Edwin Davis, the first electric executioner, began his career as Brown's assistant and pulled the switch at the first execution. He went on to kill more than 300 prisoners in several states. He also took out a patent for the electric chair.
Where Edison comes into play?
Edison 'created' DC current, Westinghouse 'created' AC current. Because they were competitors Edison proved that AC could kill people by killing animals with AC current on a metal plate. When an electric chair was made, it was AC being used to kill.
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This message was edited by IkeaBoy on 4-18-02 @ 10:32 PM
from <a href="http://www.albany.edu/~brandon/ecfaq.html"> this site</a>
3. Who invented the chair?
At least five people have had "inventor of the electric chair" attached to their names, some of them by their own statements.
1. Alfred P. Southwick was the Buffalo dentist who first came up with the idea to use electricity to kill prison inmates and served on the commission which drew up the law that established the first chair in New York. His obituary said he was known as "old electricity" because of his work on the chair.
2. Harold Brown, a lobbyist who took orders from Thomas Edison, conducted many of the early experiments with the chair and helped construct the apparatus for the first electrocution at Auburn Prison in New York.
3.and 4 Carlos McDonald and A. P. Rockwell served on a commission which drew up the detailed plans for the chair and are credited with designing the chair. Rockwell's obituary called him the "father of the electric chair."
5. Edwin Davis, the first electric executioner, began his career as Brown's assistant and pulled the switch at the first execution. He went on to kill more than 300 prisoners in several states. He also took out a patent for the electric chair.
Where Edison comes into play?
Edison 'created' DC current, Westinghouse 'created' AC current. Because they were competitors Edison proved that AC could kill people by killing animals with AC current on a metal plate. When an electric chair was made, it was AC being used to kill.
[/quote]
This message was edited by IkeaBoy on 4-18-02 @ 10:32 PM