What is it that catches my eye when I see a picture of “the chair”? Is it morbid fascination? There but for the grace of God go I? Ride the lighting? Old Sparky? Gruesome Gertie. Wikipedia lists a few more electric chair names: Sizzlin’ Sally, Old Smokey, Yellow Mama.
Nobody killed more people, with more regret, than Lewis E. Lawes.
That, by God is a lead.
The warden of the Sing Sing Correctional Facility for 21 years, Lawes supervised the executions of 303 prisoners, all the while condemning the practice of capital punishment as barbaric, inequitable and futile.
And that, my friends is a nut graph to die for…pun intended.
A Man Who Knew About The Electric Chair
If I was still doing a radio show I would play this Bessie Smith tune:
Send Me To The ‘lectric Chair
Judge you wanna hear my plea
Before you open up your court
But I don’t want no sympathy
‘Cause I done cut my good man’s throat
I caught him whith a trifling Jane
I warned him ’bout before
I had my knife and went insane
And the rest you ought to know
Judge, judge, please mister judge,
Send me to the ‘lectric chair
Judge, judge, good mister judge,
Let me go away from here
I wanna take a journey
To the devil down below
I done killed my man
I wanna reap just what I sow
Oh judge, judge, lordy lordy judge
Send me to the ‘lectric chair
Judge, judge, hear me judge
Send me to the ‘lectric chair
I love him so dear
I cut him with my barlow
I kicked him in the side
I stood here laughing o’r him
While he wallowed around and died
Oh judge, judge, lordy judge
Send me to the ‘lectric chair
Judge, judge, sweet mister judge
Send me to the ‘lectric chair
Judge, judge, good kind judge
Burn me ’cause I don’t care
I don’t want no one good mayor
To go my bail
I don’t want to spend no
Ninety-nine years in jail
So judge, judge, good kind judge
Send me to the ‘lectric chair
