1922
INMATE POPULATION DECEMBER 31, 1922: 1,411
Inmates skilled in carpentry are given the momentous task of building Florida's first electric chair to be used to execute inmates sentenced to death. Lawmakers consider the electric chair a more humane method of execution than public hanging, which took place in the yards of county courthouses. Hanging was a complex procedure, and miscalculations in the person's weight or choice of rope sometimes resulted in decapitation. This chair will remain in use for decades.
The electric chair is introduced in 1922 in what is seen as a humanitarian measure. (Photo courtesy of FPC.)
Convict labor constructing road in Temple Terrace (originally part of Tampa, but later incorporated as a separate city). (Photo courtesy of FPC.)
Taylor County convict labor force in the 1920s. (Photo courtesy of FPC.)
UNION COUNTY BLADE
11 AUGUST 1922
LOCAL AND PERSONAL - Superintendent J. S. BLITCH of the state prison farm was among those to renew subscription to the Blade this week.
1923
INMATE POPULATION DECEMBER 31, 1923: 1,386
Governor Cary Hardee discontinues the convict lease system, resulting in a rise in the number of convicts at the prison. Public hanging is also abolished.
In the early 1920s, Florida employed about 40 prison officers.
Inmates work on roads and highways.
1925 map of Florida roads and highways. (Photo courtesy of FPC.)
Public hanging was abolished. (Photo courtesy of FPC.)
The electric chair at Florida State Prison.
"It's always darkest before the dawn."
This consoling telegram from Superintendent J.S. Blitch to inmate Joseph D. Woodard foreshadows his upcoming parole, and the unusually keen interest displayed by not only Superintendent Blitch, but State of Florida Comptroller Ernest Amos (who wrote a secret letter to Woodard telling him he would soon be paroled) and even then-Attorney General Rivers Buford, who also assured Woodard that he was being paroled shortly. Woodard, who was serving two years for embezzlement, had documentation attesting to an eye condition that, if gone untreated, would have rendered him blind. This was the purported reason for his parole, though his friends in high places might also have contributed to this outcome.
1924
INMATE POPULATION DECEMBER 31, 1924: 1,381
Frank Johnson, a black male, was executed for murder on October 7, 1924 and becomes the first person to be executed by electrocution at Florida State Prison.
When the state of Florida began executing inmates in 1924, the official list was typed and placed in a notebook kept at the prison. Under the "color" category, the "C" stands for "colored," not Caucasian. The county represents the county of conviction. "Date" indicates the date the inmate was executed.
Prison staff kept details of each execution including the exact time of death and witnesses who attended, if any. Often, the sheriff of the county where the inmate was convicted served as executioner.
Frank Johnson's Record
Records were kept for each Florida inmate on "Personnel Cards" such as this one for Frank Johnson, the first inmate executed by the state of Florida. Note that he was "Buried Here," meaning at a cemetery on the prison grounds, a practice that continues today if the family does not claim the body.
In this photo, prison trusty Jack Palmer is strapped into the electric chair at Raiford for a scene in the movie "The Last Mile." (Photo courtesy of FPC.)
1925
INMATE POPULATION DECEMBER 31, 1925: 1,427
Less than two years after his release, Clarence Martin begins his second incarceration at age 24.
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