Robert G. Elliott

Who was Robert G. Elliott?

Robert Greene Elliott was the "state electrician" for the State of New York – and for those neighboring states which used the electric chair, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Massachusetts – during the period 1926-1939.

He was born in Hamlin, New York, to an Irish immigrant. As a child he was a devout Methodist, and at one point his parents wanted him to be a minister. As a young boy Elliott recounts that he read of the first use of the electric chair and wondered what it might be like to throw the switch at an execution. He became employed in the prison service as a regular electrician. In that capacity he assisted Edwin Davis at electrocutions at Dannemora State Prison in upstate New York. This on-the-job training stood him in good stead in 1926 when he applied for and accepted the post of "State Electrician", which had just fallen vacant by John Hulbert. For each execution he was paid the same fee of $150.

Elliott is credited with perfecting judicial execution by electrocution. He usually made the first contact at 2000 volts, holding it there for 3 seconds.