Martha M. Place (September 18, 1849 – March 20, 1899) was an American murderer and the first woman to die in the

electric chair An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...

. She was

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

on March 20, 1899, at

Sing Sing Correctional Facility Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...

for the murder of her stepdaughter Ida Place.

Background

Martha Place was born Martha "Mattie" Garretson on September 18, 1849, in

Readington Township, New Jersey Readington Township is a township located in the easternmost portion of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 16,126, reflecting an increase of 323 (+2.0%) from the 15,803 ...

, to Ellen (née Wyckoff) and Isaac V. N. Garretson. Place was struck in the head by a sleigh at age 23; her brother claimed that she never completely recovered and that the accident left her mentally unstable. Place lived in New Jersey and worked as a dressmaker. She married a man named Wesley Savacool, but she abandoned him after giving birth to their son, Ross Savacool. Wesley left when Ross was three, and facing hardship, Martha gave Ross up for adoption, going to the Ashenbach family of Newark who had recently lost a son. They renamed him William. In 1893 Martha relocated to New York and went to work as a housekeeper for a man named William W. Place, at 598 Hancock Street in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. She married him later that year. After the marriage Martha asked that they get another housekeeper: Hilda Jans. Place had a daughter named Ida from a previous marriage. William married Martha to help him raise his daughter, although it was later rumored that Martha was jealous of Ida. William called the police at least once after his wife threatened to kill Ida.

Murder

On the evening of February 7, 1898, William Place arrived at his

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, home and was attacked by Martha, who was wielding an

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

. William escaped and ran for help. When the police arrived, they found Martha Place in critical condition. She was lying on the floor with clothes over her head and gas from burners was escaping into the room. Upstairs they discovered the body of 17-year-old Ida Place lying on a bed, blood coming from her mouth. William was an amateur photographer, which involved the use of acid, and the murderer had thrown this acid in Ida's eyes. The evidence later indicated Ida Place died from

asphyxiation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that ca ...

. Martha Place was hospitalized and arrested.

Trial

Place proclaimed her innocence while awaiting trial. One contemporary newspaper report described the defendant in this way: Martha Place was found guilty of the murder of her stepdaughter Ida and sentenced to death. Her husband was a key witness against her.

Execution

The governor of the state of New York,

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

, was asked to commute Place's death sentence, but he refused. Having never executed a woman in the electric chair, those responsible for carrying out the death warrant devised a new way to place the electrodes upon her, deciding to slit her dress and place the electrode on her ankle. Edwin F. Davis was the executioner. According to the reports of witnesses, she died instantly. Martha Place was buried in the family cemetery plot in East Millstone,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, without religious observances. Although Place was the first woman to die in the electric chair, she was the third to be sentenced to die by this method, the first two being

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

Lizzie Halliday Lizzie Halliday ( – June 28, 1918, born Eliza Margaret McNally) was an Irish-American serial killer responsible for the deaths of four people in upstate New York during the 1890s. In 1894, she became the first woman to be sentenced to death b ...

(1894 conviction commuted and sent to an asylum) and Maria Barbella (sentenced in 1895 and acquitted the next year).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Place, Martha 1849 births 1898 crimes in the United States 1899 deaths 19th-century American criminals 19th-century American women 19th-century executions by New York (state) 19th-century executions by the United States 19th-century executions of American people American female criminals American female murderers American murderers American murderers of children American people convicted of murder Burials in New Jersey Executed American women Executed people from New Jersey People convicted of murder by New York (state) People executed for murder People executed by New York (state) by electric chair People from Readington Township, New Jersey