THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA ^:. THE COLLECTION OF NORTH CAROLINIANA C3U3.2 N87c C.2 00006771255 This book is due on the last date stamped below unless recalled sooner. It may be renewed only once and must be brought to the North Carolina Collection for renewal. aCg • ' ■ .SEP 4 1987 Form No. A-369 Digitized by tine Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://archive.org/details/capitalpunishmenOOnort Capital Punishment in North Carolina SPECIAL BULLETIN NUMBER 10 Issued By The N. C. State Board op Charities and Public Welfare Kate Btjeb Johnson, Comniissioner Raleigh, N. C. 1929 Capital PunisKment in North Carolina SPECIAL BULLETIN NUMBER 10 Issued By The N. C. State Board of Charities and Public Welfare Kate Bukr Johnson, Commissioner Raleigh, N. C. 1929 The Electric Chair at the State Prison, Raleigh, IN Which Executions Take Place TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION. 7 CHAPTER I — HISTORICAL SKETCH 9 Burning at the Stake 10 Crimes Formerly Punished by Death 11 Attempted Reform 12 Provisions for Private Executions 13 The Last Hanging 14 The First Electrocution 15 Limitation of Witnesses 15 Statutes on Capital Crimes 16 CHAPTER II — STATISTICS ON CAPITAL CONVICTIONS 18 Table Showing Annual Number of Admissions to the State Prison of Persons Convicted of Capital Crimes 19 Disposition of Cases 19 Types of Capital Crime 21 Educational Status of Prisoners 25 Age of Prisoners 26 Marital Status of Prisoners 27 Former Occupations of Prisoners 28 CHAPTER III — PRISON POPULATION 29 Table Showing the Number of Persons Received at the State Prison in Each Biennium, July 1, 1908 — June 30, 1927 30 Statistics for the Year 1927 32 County Penal System 33 Education and the Penal System 33 CHAPTER IV — REPORTS OF ELECTROCUTIONS 37 Jim Collins 37 Arthur Montague 39 David Jones 39 Will Williams 39 6 Table of Contents — Continued Page CHAPTER IV — Continued George Love 40 John Leak and Kenneth Hale 40 The Stewarts 41 The Cains 42 Mclver Burnett 43 CHAPTER V — JUSTICE BY EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY 45 Governor Morrison's Statement . 45 Petition for Absolute Pardon 47 Governor McLean's Statement 48 CHAPTER VI — LYNCHING AND MOB VIOLENCE ■. 50 Statistics on Lynching 51 Table Showing Lynchings in the U. S. by Decade 51 Table Showing Instances of Lynchings Prevented 51 Table Showing Annual Number of Lynchings in N. C.l 52 The Case at Asheville 53 Governor McLean's Statement 54 A Case in Franklin County 55 CASE HISTORIES 59 Foreword -. 61 Cases A-Z 63 Conclusions from Case Histories 172 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study is to discuss the infliction of the death penalty in North Carolina, particularly during the 19 years since the electric chair was established as the means of executing capital offenders in this State. There is given here a brief resume of the history of punishment by death in North Carolina, showing the gradual restriction of the appli- cation of the extreme penalty from about 20 crimes in Colonial days to four at present. There are presented figures on the number of per- sons convicted of capital crimes since the electric chair was instituted here, their distribution by race, crime and disposition of case, together with analysis of their educational, marital and occupational status and age. The general trends in criminal convictions in North Carolina dur- ing this period are shown, with figures for each biennium, and as a background, a sketch of the penal system in the State. In one chapter are quoted newspaper reports of several recent electrocutions. The related subjects of lynching and mob violence also are treated, and an example given of the operation of executive clemency to secure justice in a capital case. The latter part of the study is devoted to 26 detailed case histories of persons sentenced to death for capital crimes in North Carolina during the last few years. The primary object of the study is to present to the people of North Carolina, 'and to the State's judicial and penal officers and social workers material which hitherto has not been conveniently available and which, it is hoped, they will find valuable in its bearing on the grave problem of capital crime and the State's method of dealing with those offenders who are guilty of it. The facts presented here are eloquent in them- selves. These facts strongly suggest the necessity of further serious study of the subject of capital punishment and other social problems with which it is related, especially that of mental deficiency. This study does not pretend to be exhaustive, but is suggestive, rather than con- \ elusive. ^ - A visit to the death row in the State Prison at Raleigh is an experi- *^ ence which every citizen of the State should have at least once. The prisoners in the death row are there because the people of North Caro- lina wish them to be or are indifferent to or ignorant of the social fac- tors responsible for their situation. That many persons condemned to death eventually receive commutation of sentence does not lessen the responsibility of the individual citizen in regard to the death penalty. As uncomfortable as it may make him, he should be willing to face the concrete results of whatever attitude, or lack of one, he has had toward capital punishment as it is found in that depressing group at Raleigh. It is hardly conceivable that a person can have the experience of such a visit without asking himself some very pertinent questions. He will see among these condemned men the poor and the ignorant — for the affluent and educated are seldom found in the death cells — the feeble- minded, the insane and the psychopathic. By talking with them he will discover that some of them are so simple in mind that they^have little conception of the seriousness of their situation, or the significance of the electric chair only a few yards away, as the one who naively re- marked, "This 'lectrcushion's shorely gwine teach me a lesson". He will find that many of them are illiterate, that others have no memory of a home, a church, a school or a community whose influence might 8 Capital Punishment have led the wandering feet of childhood along a path that had a happier end. He will see that, if they are not also the victims of mental de- ficiency, these are for the most part the children of ignorance and neglect. He may come to the conclusion that the end, as bad as it is, is not the worst aspect of their situation, and that death is not the epitome of punishment. He may be led to wonder whether there may not be children in his own community who are starting on the same path, and if so, whether he cannot do something about it. And if these impressions give him a feeling of personal responsibility, the purpose of this study will have been largely accomplished. For its prime object is not an arraignment of capital punishment per se, but an effort to present to the people of North Carolina a true picture of what capital punishment means in this State. The North Carolina State Board of Charities and Public "V^T'el- fare hopes thereby to stimulate a sane, popular interest in a tragic human problem, from which, it is hoped, will come an enlarged social program of prevention. If the racial aspect of this study seems conspicuous, it is because it inevitably enters largely into this question in a Southern State. To Lawrence A. Oxley, Director of the Division of Work among Negroes of the State Board of Charities and Public Welfare, is due chief credit for the collection of the material, most of which is publicly presented here for the first time. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the officials of the State Prison at Raleigh for their cooperation in gathering the prison statistics used as part of this study. Members of the Institute for Research in Social Science of the University of North Carolina ren- dered valuable assistance in the preparation of the study, as did mem- bers of the State Historical Commission and Mrs. Lillian B. Griggs, Secretary and Director of the North Carolina Library Commission. Fur- ther acknowledgment is made of the assistance given by Assistant Attorney General Frank Nash, State Pardon Commissioner Edwin B. Bridges, R. Eugene Brown and Dr. Harry W. Crane, of the Staff of the State Board of Charities and Public Welfare and Col. F. A. Olds and Mr. A. R. Newsome of the N. C. Historical Commission. The study was edited by Nell Battle Lewis who rewrote and rearranged most of the material, drew the graphs and collected part of the data presented in the historical sketch. CHAPTER I HISTORICAIi SKETCH "Within the past 28 years more than 3,000 persons have been sent to the scaffold or the electric chair in the United States, and at the present time we are putting men to death to atone for their crimes at the rate of about 100 a year." (Raymond T. Bye in Capital Punishment in the United States.) In North Carolina, capital punishment, or the infliction of the penalty of death for crime under the sentence of some properly constituted authority, was established when the colonists came over to this country from England. They brought with them the English criminal law as it was then in force, which included the common law of crimes, together with the existing statutory modifications. Much of the English common law continues in force in this State, as defined by Section 970 of the Consolidated Statutes. In their first charter the Lords Proprietors of North Carolina were authorized "in person and by their deputies, etc., to make laws and to execute .... by imposition of penalties, imprisonment, or any other punishment, yea, if it be needful and the quality of the offense requires it, by taking away members and life .... provided, nevertheless, that the said laws be consonent with reason, and as near as may be con- veniently agreeable to the laws and customs of this our Kingdom of England". Gruesome pictures of old English methods of inflicting capital pun- ishment have come down to us, and the law books furnish corroboration of the most sensational fiction. Blackstone says that capital punish- ment "consists generally in being hanged by the neck till dead, though in very atrocious crimes other circumstances of terror, pain or disgrace are superadded; in high treason affecting the King's person or govern- ment, embowelling alive, beheading and quartering; and in murder a public dissection". An old form of sentence concludes "and there be hanged by the neck until he be dead, and that afterwards his body be dissected and anatomized". An example of the old English form of capital punishment for treason is found in the following judgment awarded in 1746. (English State Trials, Vol. XVIII, p. 502): "The judgment of the law is and this high court doth award: "That you, William, earl of Kilmarnock, George, earl of Cromertie, and Arthur, lord of Balmerino, and every one of you, return to the prison of the Tower, from whence you came; from thence you must be drawn to the place of execution; when you come there you must be hanged by the neck, but not till you are dead; for you must be cut down alive; then your bowels must be taken out, and burnt before your faces; then your heads must be severed from your bodies' and your bodies must be divided each into four quarters and these must be at the King's disposal. And God Almighty be merciful to your souls." The old law was not satisfied even by such violent measures, but upon every judgment of outlawry or of death, for treason or felony, a man was said to be attainted, attinctus, stained or blackened. The con- sequences of this condition were forfeiture of property and "corruption of blood", which meant forfeiture of rights of inheritance. This was 10 Capital Punishment extended by "bills of attainder", special acts of attaint passed by Par- liament in particular cases not embraced by the general law. Burning at the Stake Both in law and practice North Carolina was the daughter of her English mother. In the early records of this State there are several instances of burning at the stake. Prior to 17 93 slaves were tried "without the solemnity of a jury" by three justices and four freeholders of the county, and sentence was passed by these persons "according to their discretion, as the nature of the crime shall require". (Act of 1741, Iredell's Revisal, Ch. XXIV, Sec. 48.) At such a trial the following judgment was rendered in Duplin County in 178 7 and may be found in the old court records: "At a special court begun and held at the Court House in Duplin County on Thursday the 15th day of March in the Year of our Lord 1787, for the immediate Tryal of Darby and Peter two Negro Slaves the Property of the late William Taylor, Esq., now committed and to be tryed for the murder of the said William Taylor their Master, which court being summoned and convened by the Sheriff of the said County and being duly Qualified according to law, were Present, to wit: Thomas Routledge Joseph Dickson \ Esquires Justices James Gillespie Lewis Thomas "j James Middleton, Sr. I Freeholders. All being owners of slaves Isaac Hunter | and unexceptionable according to law. Alexander Dickson J "The said Negro man Darby being brot before the Court did Confess that he did on the Thirteenth day of this Instant Month felloniously Maliciously and Willfully murder his said Master William Taylor by striking him on the head with an ax into his Brains of which wounds his Master instantly Died whereupon the Court doth pass this Sentence in the word following to wit that the said Negro Man Darby be im- mediately committed to Gaol under a good Guard and that on Tomorrow between the Hours of one and four o'clock in the afternoon he be taken out thence and tied to a Steak on the Court House lott and there burned to Death and to Ashes and his ashes strewed upon the Ground and that the Sheriff see this Order Executed. "The said Negro slave Peter a boy about fourteen years of age being brought before the Court and examined did Confess that he was present when his Master the said William Taylor was murdered and that he did aid and assist his Brother the aforesaid Darby in committing the said Murder, the court having taken into consideration the youth of the said Peter and considering him under the Influence of his said older Brother Darby, have thought proper to pass this sentence in the following words to wit: "That the said Negro boy Peter be committed to the Gaol and there to Remain under a good Guard, till Tomorrow, and then between the Hours of one and four o'clock he be taken thence and tied to a Post on the Court House Lott, and there to have one half of Each of his Ears cut off and be branded on each cheek with the letter M and Receive one Capital Punishment 11 hundred lashes well laid on his bare back and that the Sheriff see this order executed. "To which sentences the Court have hereto subscribed their Names. Thos. Routledge Joseph Dickson James Gillespie Lewis Thojias James Middleton Isaac Hunter Alexander Dickson. "Test W. Dickson, C. G" In November, 1780, a Negro slave girl in Johnston County was con- victed of poisoning the father and family of her master and was sen- tenced "to be taken to the ground of the court green and there be burned to death by a stake". In 1762 also there is record of a Negro slave in Duplin County having been burned to death. The Sheriff who applied the fire received 50 pounds for doing so. These two cases are in the old court records. In New Hanover County, a Negro slave convicted of robbery in Feb- ruary, 1768, after having been hung was beheaded "and his head affixed up upon the point near Wilmington." This is cited in The Biographical History of North Carolina. There are frequent instances of unmentionable mutilations in the old records and in one case Dr. Anthony Newton was paid for amputating the hand of John Burnett, "a notorious felon". The nature of Burnett's offense which was thus punished is not stated. Public whippings, con- finement in the pillory, branding and cutting off the ears also were common. Crimes Formerly Punishied by Death - Numerous crimes were punished by death prior to 1868 when the new State Constitution limited the infliction of the death penalty to persons convicted of murder, arson, rape and burglary in the first degree. The Revised Statutes of North Carolina of 1836-37 (Ch. XXXIV, p. 191) list the following crimes as punishable by death without benefit of clergy: murder, burglary, arson (of dwellings, shops, warehouses, public build- ings, public bridges and private toll bridges) highway robbery, fighting a duel in which one of the parties had been killed, castration, rape, crime against nature, house-breaking in daylight when goods amounting to $2.00 were stolen; malicious maiming (second offense), breaking prison (when the person had been imprisoned for a capital crime), a slave's embezzle- ment of his master's goods to the value of $10.00, stealing slaves, con- veying free Negroes out of the State to sell them, circulating seditious literature calculated to incite slaves to insurrection, and inciting slaves to insurrection by word of mouth (both, second offense). By the act of 18 41 a conspiracy of three or more slaves constituted a rebellion and was punishable by death (Iredell's Revisal, Ch. XXIV, Sec. 47). Though killing a slave ordinarily was murder punishable by death, escaped slaves were outlawed and might be killed without penalty, when public procla- mation had been issued against them. The penalty for bigamy, as set by the General Assembly of 1790, was death with benefit of clergy, unless the first spouse had been absent for seven years across the sea or was living, unknown, in distant parts. Divorce also was an exception. When benefit of clergy was granted in cases of bigamy, the court at its discretion might sentence the offender to be publicly whipped, fined, imprisoned and branded with the letter 12 Capital Punishment B on the left cheek. Benefit of clergy for this crime was taken away in 1809 but was restored in 1829. Benefit of clergy was also allowed to persons convicted of horse-stealing. Punishment for felonies under this benefit usually meant confinement in the pillory, public whipping, brand- ing, fine and imprisonment, any or all. "Benefit of clergy" originally denoted the exemption accorded to clergy- men from the jurisdiction of the secular courts. Later it came to mean a privilege of exemption from the punishment of death allowed to such persons as were clerks, or who could read. This privilege of exemption from capital punishment was anciently allowed to clergymen only, but afterwards to all who were connected with the church, and still later to all persons who could read, whether ecclesiastics or laymen. When a person had claimed this exemption, which was known as "praying his clergy", he was given a psalm to read as a test of his clerical character. Usually this psalm was the 51st which begins, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions". The privilege of benefit of clergy operated greatly to mitigate the ex- treme rigor of the old criminal laws, but it was found to involve such gross abuses that the English Parliament began to enact that certain crimes should be felonies "without benefit of clergy". It was abolished in England during the reign of George IV, and for capital crimes against the United States by Congress in 1790 after which at different times it was abolished by the States. It existed in North Carolina well into the eighteenth century. But its abolition is noted in the Revised Code of North Carolina of 18 5 4. Attempted Reform An interesting, if abortive, attempt at reform of the punishment for at least one capital crime occurred in this State in 1786 when the Gen- eral Assembly declared that "Whereas it is inconsistent with the policy of a well-regulated government that the crime of horse-stealing should be subject to a punishment as that which is inflicted for the most atrocious offense of which human nature is capable, and whereas from the pun- ishment in its nature and gradation bearing no proportion to the guilt, the persons injured from compassion forbear to prosecute, juries from the same motive, too often acquit and if convictions are had, pardons are extended to the guilty, whereby the present mode of punishment is found inadequate to the evil" and enacted that for the first offense of horse-stealing the convicted person should stand one hour in the pillory, be publicly whipped on the bare back with not more than 39 lashes well laid on, have both his ears nailed to the pillory and then cut off, and be branded "in a plain and visible manner" on the right cheek with the letter H, and on the left with the letter T, three-quarters of an inch long and half an inch wide. But the penalty of death without benefit of clergy was retained for the second offense (State Records of North Carolina, Laws, 1777-1788, Vol. XXIV, p. 795). Perhaps this amelioration of punishment for the horse-thief, slight though it was, was considered sentimental at that time, for the General Assembly of 1790 re-enacted the death penalty without benefit of clergy for the first offense of horse-stealing, declaring in regard to the reform four years earlier that "the present method of punishment is not attended with the salutary effect intended by the Legislature". (State Records of N. C, Laws 1788-90, Vol. XXV, p. 74.) In 1817 the first offense of horse-stealing was made "clergiable"; by the Revisal of 183 6-37 benefit of clergy is allowed for the second offense. Capital Punishment 13 There had been other slight modifications of punishments for capital crimes in the early days. By the act of 1754 malicious maiming pun- ishable by death included cutting off or disabling the tongue, putting out an eye, slitting or biting or cutting off nose or lip, "biting or cut- ting off or disabling any limb or member of any subject of his majesty". (Potter's Revisal, Ch. 56, p. 194.) The General Assembly of 1791 made the first offense punishable by the pillory, public whipping, etc., and lim- ited the offense to cutting out or disabling the tongue or putting out an eye. By the same act, maiming of nose, lips, or limbs was punish- able by imprisonment for six months and fine at the discretion of the court. The penalty for counterfeiting, which originally had been death with- out benefit of clergy, also was modified, the Legislature of 1779 setting confinement in the pillory, branding, amputating the ears, whipping and imprisonment as the punishment for the first offense, but retaining the penalty of death without benefit for the second. (Potter's Revisal, Ch. 158, p. 399.) The death penalty for counterfeiting was abolished in 1811, the penalty for the first offense being public whipping, and for the second, whipping, imprisonment and branding with the letter C. Between 18 27 and 18 54 there was further modification. In the Revised Code of North Carolina of 18 54 we find that the death penalty for house- breaking in daylight when goods amounting to $2.00 had been stolen was no longer inflicted, but applied only to breaking into a dwelling at night with intent to commit a felony. Bigamy was no longer pun- ished by death, but by fine, imprisonment and branding. The death pen- alty was not inflicted upon servants who had embezzled their master's goods to the value of $10.00, but those embezzling goods valued as high as $5.00 were publicly whipped and imprisoned at the discretion of the court. Forgery was punished by confinement in the pillory, whipping, fine and imprisonment of not less than six months nor more than three years, at the discretion of the court. Burning of bridges or town build- ings which did not contain archives was changed from a capital felony to a misdemeanor. Horse-stealing was no longer a capital crime. Ben- efit of clergy had been abolished, with the stipulation that none should suffer death except for offenses which previously had been excluded from this benefit. When we recall that about 20 crimes were punished by death in Colonial North Carolina and about 14 as late as 1854, we realize what a marked advance in the humane treatment of felons is represented by the provision of State Constitution of 18 68 which limits the infliction of the death penalty to persons convicted of four crimes, murder, rape, arson and burglary in the first degree. The gradual evolution of cap- ital punishment in North Carolina, as elsewhere, has been in the direc- tion of restriction of the death penalty. In continuation of this trend, it is possible that in time this form of punishment may be abolished in this State without arousing adverse public opinion. Provision for Private Executions By the law of 18 68 and subsequent amendments provision was made for private executions, as follows: "As the ends of justice, public morals and the preservation of order, demand that the execution of all capital offenders should be made pri- vate and invested with the solemnity appropriate to the final act of penal law, any sheriff on whom shall devolve the execution of a sen- tence of death on a public offender, shall be required to provide for the execution of such criminal within the jail-yard enclosure, and as 14 Capital Punishment much removed from public view as the means within his control will allow: Provided, that, for reasons which may be deemed good and sufficient, the board of commissioners may otherwise order. "The sheriff, after having provided for the private execution of the criminal, may admit by ticket, in addition to the required guard, two physicians and necessary assistants, not more than 36 nor less than 18 respectable citizens, to witness for the State, the due observance of the law. "In all cases of affirmance of a sentence for a capital felony the clerk of the Superior Court, at the same time that the decision of the Supreme Court is certified down to the Superior Court, shall send a duplicate thereof to the Governor, who shall immediately issue his warrant under the great seal of the State to the sheriff of the county in which the appellant was sentenced, directing him to execute the death penalty on a day specified in date of said warrant, not less than 30 days from the date of said warrant but this shall not deprive the Governor of the power to pardon or reprieve the defendant or to commute the sen- tence." (Laws of N. C, 1868, Chs. 21, 22, 1, 2, 3; Battle's Revisal, 1873, Ch. 32, ss. 156, 157; Laws of N. C, 1879, Ch. 221, s. 1; The Code of N. C, 1883, Vol. I, Ch. 26, ss. 1243, 1244; Laws of North Caro- lina 1887, Ch. 192, s.c; Revisal of N. C, 1905, Vol. I, ss. 3284, 3285, 3286.) Despite this provision for privacy, executions by hanging continued public in North Carolina until 18 79. The Last Hanging The following quotation from The Raleigh 'Neics and Ohserver of March 12, 1910, describes the last hanging which took place in North Carolina, and the circumstances leading up to it: "The last legal hanging in the old North State took place at Elizabeth- town at high noon today when Henry Spivey, colored, paid the death penalty for the murder of his father-in-law, Frank Shaw, near Abbotts- burg, this county, in the fall of 190 8. "Spivey was tried and convicted at the March term of court 1909, and sentenced to be hanged on May 11th, following. He had been re- spited by the Governor twice and had high hopes of further respite, if not reprieve to life imprisonment. At his trial he had the service of nine attorneys and they have worked diligently to save his neck. "Judge Adams who tried the case refused to sign a petition for life imprisonment, so did Solicitor Sinclair, and only two of the trial jury would sign for reprieve. "Sheriff Clark has had his prisoner guarded closely day and night knowing the character of his man. He had tried to escape from the jail here after his conviction and was taken to the State Penitentiary for safe-keeping and gave the officers of that institution lots of trouble. "The gallows today was enclosed by a high board fence and an in- closure about it was roped off. Spivey seemed brave and walked to the gallows, but just as the black cap was being adjusted he began to sink and with quick presence of mind Sheriff Clark pulled the lever. It was ten minutes before the attending physician pronounced the doomed man dead. "Although Spivey had considerable property at the time of his arrest and had handled thousands of dollars as a gambler, at which business he was an expert, his body was buried by the county authorities, at the county poor farm, his wife refusing to have anything to do with it. "The crowd dispersed in an orderly manner. No trouble was man- ifested or expected, though armed guards were in attendanse". Capital Punishment 15 The First Electrocution In 1909 the method of inflicting the death penalty was changed in North Carolina, and the General Assembly of that year substituted death by electrocution at the State Prison at Raleigh in place of hanging. The first to suffer the death penalty by electrocution in this State was Walter Morrison, a 37-year old Negro of Robeson County, who had been convicted of rape on Polly Rodgers, a Croatan woman. He was executed on March 18, 1910. Morrison was one of the State's most dangerous criminals and his death sentence followed a long series of crimes. As reported in The Raleigh Neios and Ohserver of March 19, 1910, the chief events of his criminal career were as follows: At the April, 18 98, term of Robeson County court he entered a nolo contendere on a charge of assault, and judgment was suspended on the payment of costs. At the October term, 18 98, he was found guilty of an assault with intent to commit rape and was sentenced to five years in the State prison. At the November term, 1903, he plead guilty of housebreaking and judgment was suspended on payment of the costs. At the July term, 190 5, he plead guilty of larceny and was sentenced to twelve months on the roads. While waiting to be carried to the chain gang, he broke jail. At the November term, 1905, a true bill for larceny was returned against him and a capias issued, but he could not be found. At the same term, a true bill for escape was returned against him. Later he was captured and put on the chain-gang to serve out his original term. After serving three days, he escaped, but was later recaptured. It was on the day of his discharge. May 27, 1909, that Morrison com- mitted rape on Polly Rodgers, the crime for which he was electrocuted. On his way home from the chain-gang he enticed this woman, who had her baby in her arms, into the woods, by telling her that a man re- sembling her husband lay dying there. Tried in July, 190 9, he was sentenced to be electrocuted on September 10, 1909, but was reprieved four times because of delay in installing the new electric chair at the State Prison. The later dates set for his electrocution were October 15, 1909, November 12, 1909, January 14, 1910, and March 18, 1910. On March 3, 1910, an application for com- mutation of his sentence was made, but was refused a week later. Since the electrocution of Morrison, 94 persons have met death in the electric chair in North Carolina, 81 Negroes and 13 whites. Limitation of Witnesses Despite the legal limitation of witnesses allowed at an electrocution to "twelve respectable citizens in addition to the warden or deputy warden, prison physician, counsel and relatives of the prisoner, and a minister of the gospel" (C. S. 4660, 1919), at the electrocution of Mclver Burnett in 1924 a crowd of 8 2 persons, ten of them women, jammed themselves into the death chamber at the State Prison. One of the women present was the woman upon whom the coiidemned man had committed rape. These circumstances led the General Assembly of 1925 to enact the following statute further limiting the number of witnesses allowed to attend an electrocution: "Some guard or guards or other reliable person or persons to be named and designated by the warden from time to time shall cause the person, convict or felon against whom the death sentence has been pronounced to be electrocuted as provided by this article and all amendments thereto. 16 Capital Punishment The electrocution shall be under the general supervision and control of the warden of the penitentiary, who shall from time to time, in writing, name and designate the guard or guards or other reliable person or persons, who shall cause the person, convict or felon against whom the death sentence has been pronounced to be electrocuted as provided by this article and all amendments thereto. At such execution there shall be present the warden or deputy warden or some person designated by the warden in his stead; the surgeon or physician of the penitentiary and six respectable citizens, the counsel and any relative of such per- son, convict or felon and a minister or ministers of the gospel may be present if they so desire, and the board of directors of the penitentiary may provide for and pay the fee for each execution not to exceed thirty- five dollars." (Laws of N. C. 1925 c. 123, amending s. 4660 of the Con- solidated Statutes.) Statutes on Capital Crimes There follow the provision of the Constitution of North Carolina de- claring which crimes shall be punishable by death, together with the statutes defining these four capital felonies, murder, rape, burglary and arson, and the statutes legalizing death by electrocution as the punish- ment therefor, and describing the manner and place of execution. Constitution of N. C. Art. XI, Sec. 2. The object of punishment being not only to satisfy justice, but also to reform the offender and thus prevent crime, murder, arson, burglary and rape and these only may be punishable with death, if the General Assembly shall so enact. C.S. 4200. Murder in the first and second degree defined: Punishment. A murder which shall be perpetrated by means of poison, lying in wait, imprisonment, starving, torture, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate and premeditated killing, or which shall be committed in the perpetration or attempt to perpetrate any arson, rape, robbery, burglary or other felony, shall be deemed to be murder in the first degree and shall be punished with death. All other kinds of murder shall be deemed murder in the second degree, and shall be punished with imprisonment of not less than two nor more than thirty years in the State Prison. Rev., s. 3631; 1893, c. 85; 1893, c. 281. C.S. 4204. Punishment for rape. Every person who is convicted of ravishing and carnally knowing any female of the age of twelve years or more by force and against her will, or who is convicted of unlawfully and carnally knowing and abus- ing any female child under the age of twelve years, shall Rev., s. 3637; Code, s. 1101; R. C, c. 34, s. 5; 18 Eliz., C. 7; 1868-9, C. 167, s. 2; 1917, c. 29. C.S. 4232. First and second degi'ee burglary. There shall be two de- grees in the crime of burglary as defined at the common law. If the crime be committed in a dwelling-house, or in a room used as a sleeping apartment in any building, and any part of said dwelling-house or sleeping apartment at the time of the commission of such crime, it shall be burglary in the first degree. If such crime be committed in a dwelling-house or sleeping apartment not actually occupied by any one at the time of the commission of the crime, or if it be committed in any house within the curtilage of a dwelling-house or in any building not a dwelling-house, but in which is a room used as a sleeping apartment and not actually occupied as Capital Punishment 17 such at the time of the commission of the crime, it shall be burglary in the second degree. Rev., s. 3331; 1889, c. 434, s. 1. C.S. 4238. Punishment for arson. Any person convicted according to due course of law of the crime of arson shall suffer death. Rev., s. 3335; Code, s, 985, R. C, c. 34, s. 25, 1870-1, c. 222. C.S. 4657. Death by electrocution. Death by hanging under sentence of law in North Carolina is hereby abolished and electrocution or death by electricity substituted therefor. 1909, c. 443, s. 1. C.S. 4658. Manner and place of execution. The mode of executing a death sentence must in every case be by causing to pass through the body of the convict or felon a current of elec- tricity of sufficient intensity to cause death, and the appli- cation of such current must be continued until such convict or felon is dead; and the warden of the penitentiary of North Carolina or, in case of his death, inability or absence, a deputy warden shall be the executioner; and when any person, con- vict or felon shall be sentenced by any court of the State having competent jurisdiction to be so executed, such punish- ment shall only be inflicted within a permanent death chamber which the superintendent of the State penitentiary is hereby authorized and directed to provide within the walls of the North Carolina penitentiary at Raleigh, North Carolina. The superintendent of the State penitentiary shall also cause to be provided, in conformity with this article and approved by the governor and council of state, the necessary appliances for the infliction of the punishment of death in accordance with the requirements of this article. 1909, c. 443, s. 2. CHAPTER II STATISTICS ON CAPITAL CONVICTIONS Of the 200 persons, 199 men and one woman, who were committed to the State Prison at Raleigh for capital crimes from the time the electric chair was instituted in 1909 through the commitment of Clarence Thomas January 21, 1928, there were 149 Negroes and 51 whites. That is, the Negroes represent 74.5 per cent of the commitments during this period; and the whites represent 25.5 per cent. Since March 18, 1910, when the first electrocution took place, 94 of these 200 persons, or 47 per cent, have met death in the electric chair. Of these 94 persons electrocuted, 81 persons, or 86 per cent, were Negroes; and 13 persons, or 14 per cent, were whites. The 94 electrocutions are distributed thus: 71, or 75.53 per cent, for first degree murder; 21, or 22.34 per cent for rape; and 2, or 2.13 per cent, for first degree burglary. Of the 71 electrocutions for first degree murder, 59, or 83 per cent, were of Negroes; and 12, or 17 per cent, were of whites. Of the 21 electrocutions for rape, 20, or 95.2 per cent, were of Negroes; and one, or 4.8 per cent, was of a white man. Both electrocutions for first degree burglary were of Negroes. On a basis of the total number of convictions for capital crimes during the period, percentages represented by these 94 electrocutions are: Negroes, 40.5 per cent; whites, 6.5 per cent; both races, 47 per cent. The Negro electrocutions represent 54.4 per cent of the Negro convic- tions; and the white electrocutions represent 25.5 per cent of the white convictions. The annual number of electrocutions follows: None in 1909, one in 1910, nine in 1911, two in 1912, none in 1913, six in 1914, two in 1915, nine in 1916, four in 1917, seven in 1918, four in 1919, six in 1920, seven in 1921, four in 1922, seven in 1923, one in 1924, 12 in 1925, four in 1926, five in 1927. Four of the electrocutions included in this study took place in 1928, making the total of 94, but these four are not the complete record for that year. A table follows which gives annual number of admissions to the State Prison of persons convicted of capital crimes, showing distribution by race, by crime for which convicted, and by disposition of case. It should be noted that although these prisoners were sentenced to be electrocuted in the year designated by this table, some of them were not actually put to death until later, which explains the apparent discrepancy between the electrocution figures in this table and the ones given in the preceding paragraph. The following table shows that the largest number of admissions to the State Prison for capital crime in any one year since 1909 is 17, in 1914, 1922, and 1924. The second largest number is 16, in 1919, and the third largest number is 15, in 1916. In only two years, 1916 and 1919, has the number of white admissions exceeded that of the Negroes. Capital Punishment 19 TABLE AA- -ANNUAL ADMISSIONS TO THE STATE PRISON OF PER SONS CONVICTED OF CAPITAL CRIMES Year Total Number of Admissions for Capital Crimes Race of Convicted Person Capital Crimes for Whicli Convicted Disposition of Case Negroes ^A'hites Murder Rape Burglary Electro- cuted Com- muted New Trial 1909 2 2 1 1 1 1 1910 5 4 1 5 3 2 1911 12 10 2 11 1 8 4 1912 4 4 4 4 1913 4 2 2 3 1 1 3 1914 17 14 3 13 3 1 5 12 1915 9 8 1 6 3 6 3 1916 15 7 8 12 2 1 5 10 1917 13 10 3 S 2 3 7 6 1918 8 6 2 5 2 1 4 4 1919 16 7 9 13 3 7 8 1 1920 .. .. 11 6 5 8 3 6 5 1921 8 5 3 7 1 4 3 1 1922 17 12 5 9 6 2 5 12 1923 10 9 1 7 3 0. 7 3 1924 17 14 3 15 2 9 8 1925 13 12 1 9 4 6 6 1 1926 10 8 2 9 1 4 4 2 1927 7 7 5 1 1 4 2 1 ♦1928 2 2 2 2 Total 200 149 51 152 39 9 94 100 6 *Incomplete. Disposition of Cases In addition to the 94 persons electrocuted, 100 persons, 66 Negroes, 33 white men and one white woman, have had their sentences com- muted to life imprisonment or to shorter terms, usually 221/4 years to 30 years in the State Prison. That is, 6 6 per cent of the commutations have been granted to Negroes and 34 per cent to whites. On a basis of the total number of convictions, percentages represented by these commutations are: Negroes 33 per cent; whites 17 per cent; both races 50 per cent. The Negro commutations represent 4 4.3 per cent of the Negro convictions; and the white commutations represent 66.7 per cent of the white convictions. Two Negroes and four whites were granted new trials on appeal to tne Supreme Court, and at the second trial all were found guilty of a lesser offense. For these lesser offenses one white man was sentenced to the county chain-gang and four Negroes and one white man each re- ceived a sentence from 20 to 30 years in the State Prison. On a basis of the total number of convictions, percentages represented by these second trials are: Negroes one per cent; whites two per cent; both races three per cent. The Negro second trials represent 1.3 per cent of the Negro convictions and the white second trials represent 7.8 per cent of the white convictions. 20 Capital Punishment Eleven Negroes and seven whites have escaped after their sentences have been commuted, and none of this number have been recaptured. The average length of time served by each of these prisoners from the date of commutation to the date of escape was three years and nine months. On a basis of the total number "f con\ictions, percentages rep- resented by these escapes are: Negroes, 5.5 per cent; whites, 3.5 per cent; both races, nine per cent. The Negro escapes represent 7.3 per cent of the Negro convictions; and the white escapes represent 13.7 per cent of the white convictions. Six Negroes and two whites have died in prison of natural causes. On a basis of the total number of convictions, percentages represented by these deaths are: Negroes, three per cent; whites, one per cent; both races, four per cent. The Negro deaths represent four per cent of the Negro convictions; and the white deaths represent 3.9 per cent of the white convictions. Six Negroes and six whites have been pardoned. On a basis of the total number of convictions, percentages represented by these pardons are: Negroes, three per cent; whites, three per cent; both races, six per cent. The Negro pardons represent four per cent of the Negro con- victions; and the white pardons represent 11.7 per cent of the white con- victions. Five Negroes and two whites have been transferred to the criminal departments of the hospitals for the insane at Goldsboro and Raleigh. On a basis of the total number of convictions, percentages represented by these transfers are: Negroes, 2.5 per cent; whites, one per cent; both races, 3.5 per cent. The Negro transfers represent 3.3 per cent of the Negro convictions; and the white transfers represent 3.9 per cent of the white convictions. One Negro and three whites have been discharged through special com- mutation of their sentences. On a basis of the total number of convic- tions, percentages represented by these discharges are: Negroes, five- tenths of one per cent; whites, 1.5 per cent; both races, two per cent. The Negro discharge represents six-tenths of one per cent of the Negro convictions; and the white discharges represent 5.8 per cent of the white convictions. TABLE A — DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO DISPOSITION OP CASE NEGROES WHITES Total Per Cent Disposition Number of Prisoners Per Cent of Negro Convictions Per Cent of Total Convictions Number of Prisoners Per Cent of White Convictions Per Cent of Total Convictions (Negro and White) of All Convictions Electrocuted 81 54.4 40.5 13 25.5 6.5 47 66 44.3 33 34 66.7 17 50 Granted New Trial- 2 1.3 1 4 7.8 2 3 Escaped After 11 7.3 5.5 T 13.7 3.5 9 6 4 3 2 3.9 1 4 Pardoned 6 4 3 6 11.7 3 6 Transf d to Hos- pitals for Insane 5 3.3 2.5 ■ 2 3.9 1 3.5 Discharged 1 .6 1 .5 3 5.8 1.5 2 NOTE :■ — Several of the divisions in this table overlap. Capital Punishment 21 Types of Capital Crime In the 200 convictions for capital crime, murder in the first degree leads with 152 cases. There were 3 9 cases of rape and nine cases of first degree burglary. No cases of arson are recorded. Of the 152 cases of first decree murder, 106, or 69.7 per cent were committed by Negroes, and 46, or 30.3 per cent by whites. On a basis of the total number of convictions, percentages represented by these murders are: Negroes, 53 per cent; whites, 23 per cent; both races, 76 per cent. The murders by Negroes represent 71 per cent of the Negro convictions, and the murders by whites represent 45 per cent of the white convictions. Seventy-one of the 152 persons sentenced to death for first degree murder have been electrocuted, or 40 per cent. The racial distribution of these electrocutions is given earlier in this chapter. The largest number of admissions to the State Prison for the crime of first degree murder in any one year was 15 in 1925. Of these 12 were of Negroes and three of whites. The second largest number was 13, in 1914 and 1919. The racial distribution in 1914 was 11 Negroes and two whites, and in 1919 it was six Negroes and seven whites. The third largest number was 12 in 1916, four Negroes and eight whites. (See Table AA.) The 152 sentences for first degree murder represent 38 per cent of the 395 indictments for this crime which were brought in North Caro- lina during the period covered by this study. These 3 95 indictments for first degree murder in turn, represent 9.8 per cent of the 4,043 indict- ments for the three types of homicide which were brought during this period. Among these 4,043 indictments, those for second degree murder lead, 2,655 in number, or 65.7 per cent of the total. There were 993 indictments for manslaughter, or 24.5 per cent of the total number. Of the 39 cases of rape, 35, or 89.7 per cent, were committed by Negroes; and four, or 10.3 per cent, were committed by whites. On a basis of the total number of convictions,' percentages represented by these cases of rape are: Negroes 17.5 per cent; whites, two per cent; both races, 19.5 per cent. The Negro cases of rape represent 23.5 per cent of the Negro convictions, and the white cases of rape represent 3.9 per cent of the white convictions. Twenty-one of the 3 9 persons sentenced to death for rape have been electrocuted, or 53.8 per cent. For racial distribution of these electro- cutions, see above. The largest number of admissions to the State Prison for the crime of rape was six in 1922, five Negroes and one white; and the second largest was four in 1925, all Negroes. (See Table AA.) Since 1909 no white man has been convicted of rape of a Negro woman, and in only one of the four capital cases of rape by white men on white women has the convicted prisoner been electrocuted. The other three men were granted new trials and were resentenced, respectively, to six months, 20 years, and from 23 1/^ to 30 years imprisonment. No Negro has been electrocuted for committing rape on a Negro woman, and in 15 of the 35 cases in which Negroes have been convicted of rape, or in 42.8 per cent of the cases, the Governor has granted executive clemency. Eleven had their sentences commuted from death to from 20 to 30 years imprisonment; one from 17 ^/^ to 30 years imprisonment; two were committed to the criminal department of the State Hospital for Negro Insane at Goldsboro; and one was discharged after serving a commuted sentence of 15 years. 22 Capital Punishment GRAPH I Distribution of Sentences, Commutations and Electrocutions op Persons Convicted of Capital Crimes Capital Punishment 23 PR ( t)t:^i^ ]':Vi. ■^."M 33j^ \i iilid \m 53J mi ^u^ E^^li2[ mil WliWll q^f i^HT'iljei^ -2EC ilE^ V9Z'- ];aj PF3 qin sinr m :BS5 GRAPH II Distribution of Capital Crimes 24 Capital Punishment w Capital Punishment 25 Of the nine cases of first degree burglary, eight, or 88.8 per cent, were committed' by Negroes; and one, or 11.2 per cent, was committed by a white man. On a basis of the total number of convictions for capital crimes, percentages represented by these cases of burglary are: Negroes, four per cent; whites, five-tenths of one per cent; both races, 4.5 per cent. The Negro cases of burglary represent 5.4 per cent of the Negro convictions and the white case represents 1.9 per cent of the white convictions. The largest number of admissions to the State Prison for burglary was three in 1917, all Negroes. (See Table AA.) TABLE B — DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO CRIME COMMITTED NEGROES WHITES Total Per Cent Crime Number of Cases Per Cent of Negro Convictions Per Cent of Total Convictions Number of Cases Per Cent of White Convictions Per Cent of Total Convictions (Negro and White) of AH Convictions Murder . .. 106 71.1 53 46 90.1 23 76 Kape 35 23.5 17.5 4 8 2 19.5 Burglary .' 8 5.4 4 1 1.9 .5 4.5 Educational Status of Prisoners The educational status of the 149 Negroes and the 51 whites sentenced to death in the electric chair was found to be as follows: 120 Negroes and 22 whites are wholly illiterate. That is, of the total number con- victed for capital crimes, 71 per cent are illiterate, of whom 60 per cent are Negroes, and 11 per cent are whites. The illiterate Negroes represent 80.5 per cent of the Negroes convicted; and the illiterate whites represent 43 per cent of the whites convicted. One hundred and twenty-six Negroes had never attended school, rep- resenting 84 per cent of the Negroes convicted and 63 per cent of the total convictions. The number of whites who had never attended school was not determined. Twenty-eight Negroes and 30 whites are able to read and write. That is, of the total number convicted, 29 per cent can read and write, of whom 14 per cent are Negroes and 15 per cent are whites. The Negroes who can read and write represent 18 per cent of the Negroes convicted; and the whites who can read and write represent 5 8.8 per cent of the whites convicted. No Negroes had completed high school, and only one white had done so, representing five-tenths of one per cent of the total number con- victed and 1.9 per cent of the whites convicted. One Negro and five whites had completed the sixth grade, the Negro finishing at the age of 18 years. That is, three per cent of all the men convicted had finished the sixth grade, and of this percentage the Negro represents five-tenths of one per cent and the whites 2.5 per cent. This Negro who finished the sixth grade represents six-tenths of one per cent of the Negroes convicted; and the whites who finished the sixth grade represent 9.8 per cent of the whites convicted. Two Negroes had completed the fifth grade, one at the age of 13 and the other at the age of 15, rdpresenting one per cent of the total convictions and 1.3 per cent of the Negro convictions. One Negro had completed the fourth grade, representing five-tenths of one per cent of the total convictions and six-tenths of one per cent of the Negro con- victions. None of the other Negroes who could read and write had gone as far in school as this. 26 Capital Punishment TABLE C — DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO EDUCATION NEGROES WHITES Total Per Cent Status Number of Prisoners Per Cent of Negro Convictions Per Cent of Total Convictions Number of Prisoners Per Cent of White Convictions Per Cent of Total Convictions (Negro and White) of All Convictions Totally Illiterate 120 80 5 60 22 43 11 71 Never Attended 126 8i 63 * Able to Read 28 18 14 30 58.8 15 29 Completed High School 1 1.9 .5 Completed Sixth Grade 1 .6 .-, 5 9.8 2.5 3 Completed rifth Grade 2 1 3 1 Completed Fourth Grade 1 6 .5 * Undetermined. Age of Prisoners The average age of the 200 prisoners sentenced to death during the period studied is 30.38 years. For the whites the average age is 35.98 years and for the Negroes, 28.41 years. Eighteen Negroes and two whites are in their teens, that is, ten per cent of the total number convicted. Of this percentage, nine per cent are Negroes and one per cent wliite. The Negroes in their teens rep- resent 12 per cent of the Negroes convicted; and the whites in their teens represent 3.9 per cent of the whites convicted. Seventy Negroes and 17 whites are between 20 and 30 years old, that is, 43.5 per cent of the total number convicted. Of this percentage, 35 per cent are Negroes and 8.5 per cent are whites. The Negroes of this age represent 47 per cent of the Negroes convicted; and the whites of this age represent 33 per cent of the whites convicted. Fifty Negroes and 14 whites are between 30 and 40 years old, that is, 3 2 per cent of the total number convicted. Of this percentage, 25 per cent are Negroes and 7 per cent are whites. The Negroes of this age represent 33.5 per cent of the Negroes convicted; and the whites of this age represent 2 7 per cent of the whites convicted. Five Negroes and nine whites are between 40 and 50 years' old, that is, seven per cent of the total number convicted. Of this percentage, 2.5 per cent are Negroes and 4.5 per cent are whites. The Negroes of this age represent 3.3 per cent of the Negroes convicted and the whites of this age represent 17.7 per cent of the whites convicted. Four Negroes and six whites are between 50 and 60 years old, that is, five per cent of the total number convicted. Of this percentage, two per cent are Negroes and three per cent are whites. The Negroes of this age represent 2.7 per cent of the Negroes convicted and the whites of this age represent 11.7 per cent of the whites convicted. One Negro and three whites are between 60 and 70 years old, that is, two per cent of the total number convicted. Of this percentage, the Negro represents five-tenths of one per cent; and the whites 1.5 per cent. The Negro of this age represents six-tenths of one per cent of the Negroes convicted; and the whites of this age represent 5.9 per cent of the whites convicted. Capital Punishment 27 One white is between 70 and 80 years old, representing five-tenths of one per cent of the total number convicted and 1.9 per cent of the whites convicted. There are no Negroes of this age. TABLE D — DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO AGE NEGROES WHITES Total Per Cent Age Number of Prisoners Per Cent of Negro Convictions Per Cent of Total Convictions Number of Prisoners Per Cent of Wliite Convictions Per Cent of Total Convictions (Negro and White) of All Convictions 18 12 9 2 3.9 1 10 20-30 Years 70 47 35 17 33 8.5 43.5 30-40 Years .... 50 33.5 25 14 27 7 32 40-50 Y'ears 5 3.3 2.5 9 17 7 4.5 7 50-60 Years 4 2.7 2 6 11.7 3 5 60-70 Years 1 .6 .5 3 5.9 1.5 2 70-80 Years 1 1.9 .5 .5 Marital Status of Prisoners The marital status of the prisoners is as follows: 91 Negroes and 26 whites are married, representing 58.5 per cent of the total number con- victed. Of this percentage, 45.5 per cent are Negroes and 13 per cent are whites. The married Negroes represent 61 per cent of the Negroes convicted; and the married whites represent 50.9 per cent of the whites convicted. Of the married Negroes, 25 were living apart from their wives at the time of their conviction, representing 12.5 per cent of the total number convicted and 17 per cent of the Negroes convicted. The number of whites who were living apart from their wives could not be determined. Five Negroes and eight whites are widowers, representing 6.5 per cent of the total number convicted. Of this percentage, 2.5 per cent are Negroes and four per cent are whites. The Negro widowers repre- sent 3.3 per cent of the Negroes convicted; and the white widowers rep- resent 15.7 per cent of the whites convicted. Sixty-two Negroes and 18 whites are unmarried, representing 40 per cent of the total number convicted. Of this percentage, 31 per cent are Negroes and 9 per cent are whites. The unmarried Negroes rep- resent 41.6 per cent of the Negroes convicted; and the unmarried whites represent 3 5.3 per cent of the whites convicted. TABLE E— DISTRIBUTION ACCORDING TO MARITAL STATUS NEGROES WHITES Total Per Cent Status Number of Prisoners Per Cent of Negro Convictions Per Cent of Total Convictions Number of Prisoners Per Cent of Wiiite Convictions Per Cent of Total Convictions (Negro and White) of All Convictions Married- . 91 61 45.5 26 50.9 13 ' 58.5 Living Apart from Wife 25 17 12.5 * Widowers 5 3.3 2.5 8 15.7 4 6.5 Unmarried 62 41.6 31 18 35.3 9 40 ♦Undetermined. 28 Capital Punishment Former Occupations of Prisoners Former occupations of the prisoners are as follows: 8 3 Negroes and 33 whites were farmers, that is, 58 per cent of the total number con- victed. Of this percentage, 41.5 per cent are Negroes and 16.5 per cent are whites. The Negro farmers represent 55.7 per cent of the Negroes convicted; and the white farmers represent 64.7 per cent of the whites convicted. Sixty Negroes and 14 whites were common laborers, representing 37 per cent of the total number convicted. Of this percentage, 30 per cent are Negroes and seven per cent are whites. The Negro laborers repre- sent 40.2 per cent of the Negroes con- cted; and the white laborers represent 27.4 per cent of the whites convicted. Four Negroes were railroad firemen, representing two per cent of the total number convicted and 2.7 per cent of the Negroes convicted. One Negro was a minister of the Gospel. One white was a railroad engineer; one, a metal worker; one, a machinist; one, a merchant; and one, a mill worker. CHAPTER III PRISON POPUIiATIOiV To illustrate the trends in criminal convictions in North Carolina since the electric chair has been in use in the State there follows a table show- ing the number of prisoners received in the State prison at Raleigh, together with the number of admissions of offenders guilty of capital crimes during the 19-year per'od covered by this study. This tabu- lation is for each biennium from July, 1908, through June 30, 1926, and in addition the one-year period from July 1, 1926, through June 30, 1927. It will be noted from the following table that during the 19-year period covered, 2,976 Negroes and 2,685 whites, a total of 5,661 prisoners, were received at the State Prison at Raleigh. Of these there were 291 more Negroes than whites. Most of this difference is found in the excess in the number of Negro women prisoners over that of white women prisoners. There were 268 Negro women received and 61 white women, that is, 207 more Negro women than white women. The dif- ference in the number of Negro men and the number of white men is much less marked, as the number of Negro men exceed that of the white men by only 84, with 2,708 Negro men received as against 2,624 white men. From 1920 through 1927 the number of white men received has exceeded the number of Negro men in each biennium. Analysis of the figures shows further that the number of Negro men received at the State prison increased during the second biennium, but decreased in the three following bieftnial periods to a number almost equal to that at the beginning of the tabulation in 1908-10. Part of this decrease came during the pre-war period, 1912-14 and 1914-16, and part during the war period 1916-18. Just after the war, in 1918-20, there was another increase in the number of Negro men, followed In 1920-22 by another decrease. After this there was a sharp rise in 1922-24, and in 1924-26 came the peak in the admissions of Negro men. In the one year period, 1926-27, the number of Negro men received was con- siderably less than half the number in the preceding two-year period. In each biennium from 1908 through 1926 there has been a steady increase in the number of white men received, and the figures for the one-year period, 1926-27, suggest a continuation of the increase in the biennium 1926-28. In 1920-22 for the first time since the State began the use of the electric chair the number of white men received at the State Prison exceeded the number of Negro men. Since then, this excess of white men over Negro men has continued in each biennium and also in the year ending June 30, 1927. In 1924-26 when the largest number of Negro men was received there came also the peak in the admissions of white men. In the number of Negro women, there was decrease in the second and third bienniums, followed by a rise of one in 1914-16, after which there was a decrease of almost a third, followed by another rise, then in 1920-22, a marked decrease of approximately two-thirds. In 1922-24 the number of Negro women rose sharply again to a point slightly above that four years earlier. In 1924-26 the number increased by about one- half and represents the largest number of admissions of Negro women during the entire period. This was simultaneous with the peak for both the white men and the Negro men. During the one-year period, 1926-27, 30 Capital Punishment Q (M W 05 > 1— ( W o O CO w H tf 2 r/1 t^ Qi •-5 1 W 1 ?; 00 o m 1— 1 03 « , Oi iH n >^ 05 h-l 1-5 2 Q :z: 50 Oi ire »J cq o o CO 03 00 05 o CO \n ire 00 (M t* CO ire o ire CO in CO CO ire CO CO CO o 05 CO CO 00 CO do CO •a§ |5 ^ CO ■^ CO o CO c-> 00 CO z^ CO lO CO Lre o o CO Oi Tl< o CO ire ■* ■^ N CO Z o » ^ M «r> ira t- o .. 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