American Hangman

A Biography of Amos Lunt, the Executioner of San Quentin

Tobin T. Buhk (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

290 Seiten

2022
McFarland & Co Inc (Verlag)
978-1-4766-8592-2 (ISBN)

Artikel merken

In the 1890s, Amos Lunt served as the San Quentin hangman, tying the nooses that brought the most dangerous criminals in the Wild West to their deaths. This book follows Lunt’s trail from the Santa Cruz police department to the San Quentin State Prison, and covers his friendships with a series of death row inmates.

In the 1890s, Amos Lunt served as the San Quentin hangman, tying the nooses that brought the most dangerous criminals in the Wild West to their deaths. A former police chief who became the hangman of San Quentin due to an unfortunate turn of events, Lunt stood on the gallows alongside bank robbers, desperadoes and assassins for five years.

This book follows Lunt's trail from the Santa Cruz police department to the State Prison. Covering his interesting friendship with a series of death row inmates and the gradual deterioration of his sanity, it is a one-of-a-kind biography that details an American executioner. Also profiled are his subjects--20 of the West's most heinous criminals--as well as Lunt's preparations for their hangings and their final moments on the gallows.

Writer and researcher Tobin T. Buhk lives in Jenison, Michigan.

Table of Contents

Biographical Timeline

Preface: Enter the Hangman (Friday, April 20, 1894)

Introduction: The Hangman’s Odyssey

Part I: From Boston to San Quentin (1846–1894)

1. Go West, Young Man (1847–1886)

2. The Wild West of Amos Lunt, Lawman (1886–1890)

3. Sheriff William E. Hale and the Sutton Debacle (1888–1889)

4. The Last Straw: Sheriff McDougall and the Eubanks Hanging (January 1891)

5. Warden Hale and the Politics of Execution (April 1891)

6. The San Quentin Gallows and Gallows Procedures (April 1891–August 1892)

7. Off the Wall (May 1891–June 1891)

8. One Hot Summer (July 1891–August 1892)

9. He Died with His Boots on (Friday, March 3, 1893)

Part II: The Hangman of San Quentin (1894–1901)

10. Learning the Ropes: Lunt Becomes Hangman (Friday, February 2, 1894)

11. Tight Rope (Friday, April 20, 1894)

12. The Triple Event (Friday, June 7, 1895)

13. “Tighten up the Rope” (Friday, July 26, 1895)

14. Hanging by a String (Friday, August 9, 1895)

15. “The Gallows Frame Rattled” (Friday, October 18, 1895)

16. Tenth Man (Friday, October 25, 1895)

17. The Master and the Apprentice (Friday, December 11, 1896)

18. Business Not as Usual: Chun Sing (Wednesday, February 17, 1897)

19. Unlucky No. 13 (Friday, April 23, 1897)

20. “With a red-hot iron” (Friday, May 14, 1897)

21. “The Criminal of the Century” (Thursday, November 11, 1897)

22. The Rix Interview (Saturday, November 20, 1897)

23. Friday the Thirteenth (Friday, December 10, 1897)

24. The Bat in the Belfry (Friday, January 7, 1898)

25. Bloody Spring (Friday, March 11, 1898)

26. “It was a family affair and I killed her” (Wednesday, April 6, 1898)

27. “If I had been a good boy and obeyed my mother…” (Friday, May 27, 1898)

28. The Hunchback of San Quentin (Friday, October 14, 1898)

29. The Final Noose (Friday, October 21, 1898)

30. The End of the Line (January 23–October 7, 1899)

31. Descent (October 23, 1899–September 20, 1901)

32. Hangman’s Friday (Friday, September 20, 1901)

33. Fates of the Major Characters

34. Twenty-One Ghosts: The Man Behind the Myth

Appendix 1: Chronological List of Executions Performed by Amos Lunt

Appendix 2: The Drop

Appendix 3: “The Official Table of Drops”

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	31.03.2022
Zusatzinfo	49 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Verlagsort	Jefferson, NC
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	376 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
Themenwelt	Recht / Steuern ► Strafrecht ► Kriminologie
ISBN-10	1-4766-8592-4 / 1476685924
ISBN-13	978-1-4766-8592-2 / 9781476685922
Zustand	Neuware