George Davis portrait   Save
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections
Description: This photograph shows George Davis, a 24-year-old man, of Mahoning County, Ohio. Davis was electrocuted on October 17th, 1935 for the murder of Thomas McClain in Youngstown, 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. Throughout the 1930s, the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, displayed photographs of inmates who were sentenced to death. A total of 315 prisoners, both men and women, were executed in the electric chair known as “Old Sparky” between 1897 and 1963. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08247
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: Mahoning County (Ohio); Youngstown (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Columbus (Ohio)