Legal Executions in New York State

Book excerpt: On August 5, 1639, Gregory Peterson, a soldier at the Fort Amsterdam garrison, was executed by a firing squad for an unknown act of mutiny. Peterson was the first person known to be executed in what was to become New York. All known executions conducted in or by the estate of New York from 1639 through 1963 are covered here. In 1963 the last execution occurred before the state formally abolished the death penalty in 1965 (and reinstated it in 1995). Arranged chronologically, each entry includes the executed person's name and race, and the crime for which he or she was sentenced to death. This is followed by details of the crime and information on the place and method of execution.