J.H. Thompson photograph   Save
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections
Description: The east annex of the Ohio Penitentiary, where death row and the execution chamber were located, displayed photographs of hundreds of prisoners who were condemned to death throughout the state’s history. This portrait of 67-year-old J. H. Thompson is one of them. The caption at the bottom of his photograph reads: “No. 196, J. H. Thompson of Highland County, Electrocuted December 17th, 1935, for the Murder of Herbert Green at Hillsboro, Ohio.” In 1885, the Ohio Penitentiary became the site of all executions for prisoners on death row; formerly, executions had taken place in the county where the crime was committed. In 1896, the Ohio General Assembly mandated that electrocution replace hanging as the form of capital punishment. Altogether there were 315 people who were electrocuted at the Ohio Penitentiary. Their deaths occurred between 1897 and 1963. Thompson was the 196th prisoner in Ohio to be executed on the electric chair. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08250
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Capital punishment--Ohio--History; Electrocution; Death row; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio)
Places: Highland County (Ohio); Hillsboro (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Columbus (Ohio)