Illinois Executions Perhaps not the happiest topic in the genealogical world, but you never know where
you might find that lost individual. We all have at least one person in our tree who seemed to have just vanished
off the face of the planet. Maybe you can find yours listed here. Once you find a familiar name, make sure to check
the old newspaper microfilms, because you can be sure the execution was reported to the fullest. Of the 356 executed Women in the United States prior to lethal injection becoming
legal,
two of them were from Illinois:
Elizabeth Reed from Crawford County (read her story
on our Crawford
county website. The trial was conducted in Lawrence County, which is why she is listed
under Lawrence here)
and
(prior to Lethal Injection)
Illinois Genealogy Trails would like to gratefully acknowledge the source of this information as coming from Rob
Gallagher's BEFORE THE NEEDLES website, which contains the THE HISTORY OF EXECUTIONS IN AMERICA BEFORE LETHAL
INJECTION.
Visit his site for more information on this topic from around the country since only the Illinois portion of Mr.
Gallagher's site is reprinted here (with his permission :-) Make sure to stop by and say thanks!
Visit Before the Needles to view pictures of Illinois' three electric chairs
Marie Porter from St. Clair
Read about Menard County's only executed person, Charles Houlden here on our Menard County site.