Southwick, Alfred Porter
(18 May 1826–11 June 1898)
- David Marc
Extract
Southwick, Alfred Porter (18 May 1826–11 June 1898), mechanic, dentist, and proponent of the electric chair as a means of administering the death penalty, was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, the son of Abijah Southwick and Roxanna McDonald. After completing high school, Southwick, who was mechanically inclined, found work in Buffalo, New York, servicing ship engines for the Great Lakes Steamboat Company, which transferred cargo between inland ports and the Erie Canal. He married Mary Flynn, an Irish immigrant, on 26 May 1853. The couple adopted an infant daughter, their only child....
