From the vault of hideous medical experimentation: the hanging of John H. Skaggs and the attempt to use electrical current to return him from the dead. This horrible story is a real historical Frankenstein episode from the backwoods country of the Missouri boot-heel of 1870.
If you dare, you can read the whole story yourself in the pages of the September 1, 1870 edition of the Nashville Tennessean. I'll highlight key elements of this gruesome event below to provide a summary of the events that chilled the nation to the bone, but spare the reader the gory details. To get the ghastly play-by-play of pulse restoration, foaming at the mouth and blood letting you'll have to read the story at the link above.
John H. Skaggs was convicted of the 1870 murder of Robert Vinkler Richardson, who was a well-known Confederate general during the Civil War. Skaggs was sentenced to be hanged on August 26, 1870 in Bloomfield, Missouri, a town in the Missouri boot-heel 35 miles from the nearest telegraph station. A reporter on the scene was assigned by the St. Louis Republican to cover the execution of Skaggs.
Skaggs was publicly hanged for about nine minutes when Dr. J. W. Jackson, one of two physicians engaged by the county Sheriff to determine time of death, felt Skaggs' pulse and stated that it had ceased about two minutes before. The Sheriff urged letting Skaggs hang there 10 to 20 minutes more, however Dr. Jackson thought that useless and the second physician, Dr. Joseph F. McDonald confirmed that Skaggs' pulse had ceased. Dr. Jackson ordered the guards to take Skaggs down from the gallows, lowering him down instead of cutting the rope. Skaggs' neck had not been broken. The crowd rushed forward to see Skaggs' lifeless body and several persons noticed a little box wrapped in newspaper lying on the ground that was picked up by Dr. Jackson and brought to the court house along with Skaggs' body. It was described as a "galvanic battery."
Skaggs' body was carried into an unfinished room in the newly constructed court house and placed on a carpenter's bench. Dr. Jackson got on one side of the bench and Dr. McDonald on the other and Skaggs' body and the battery were in between them. The doctors took Skaggs' shirt off and connected the battery to the body with poles and wires. The Sheriff protested that he would be implicated in this and Skaggs had to die. Dr. Jackson commenced turning the crank of a generator to send electrical current through the body. The crowd had pushed into the court house to watch and collectively gasped "Oo-ooo-oo" when Skaggs' fingers twitched. The Sheriff and the Rev. W. W. Norman protested against the attempt to resuscitate Skaggs and stated that the doctors would be held responsible. A debate between the Sheriff, the Reverend and the two doctors about whether Skaggs was dead or not ensued until after several minutes the doctors resumed operations.
At 2:30 a.m., during a break in the operations, the doctors complained that the wires to the battery had been stolen, so they used their hands as conductors between the generator and Skaggs' body with the current passing through them. The doctors could hardly withstand the current. Finally, the Sheriff returned the wires that he had hidden in his pocket.
The reporter describes the ghastly details of the macabre scene minute-by-minute until finally after 8:00 a.m. he has to depart for a train back to St. Louis to meet his publishing deadline. Skaggs later died despite the efforts to resuscitate him, putting to an end one of the most bizarre events in American history of crime and punishment.
So, who was this John H. Skaggs? Here's what we know:
- He appealed to the Governor of Missouri for clemency and was listed as being from Jackson, Missouri in Cape Girardeau County, age 33
- The 1870 census for Cape Girardeau County taken 9 August 1870 has a John H. Skaggs living in the household of Rebecca Hare whose son Joel Hare was jailer
- At one point around 3:30 a.m. the doctors discovered from an old wound that John H. Skaggs had been shot at some point in the past, probably during the Civil War
- A John H Skaggs served as a corporal in the Confederate Tennessee 10th Cavalry
- In the 1860 census for Perry County, Tennessee a John Skaggs was listed as age 24, son of James and Malinda Skaggs
- In the 1850 census for Perry County, Tennessee a John Skaggs was listed as age 13, son of James and Malinda Skaggs
- John's father, James Skaggs, was born in Kentucky about 1815
Perhaps there is a connection...John H's mother was a Francisco or "Cisco". Evaline Skaggs, great-granddaughter of James C (Rev War soldier from SC) was also married to a Francisco (George). The Francsicos, Smiths, and the Safeway Skaggs were all from TN. The only thing throwing this off is that the birthplace of John H's father is listed as KY on census records. Sigh. -DS
ReplyDeleteIt is likely that the Frank Skaggs was William Franklin Skaggs, who resided in Dunklin County and was a son of Dr.Samuel Meshach Skaggs of Calloway County, KY. He is referred to in the records as “Franklin Skaggs”, as well as “W.F.Skaggs”. In addition, W.F.Skaggs uncle, Dr. Richard Montgomery Skaggs was in business at the time of his death in 1869 with a John H.Skaggs. In the materials pertaining to the convicted John H.Skaggs, there is mention of R.M.Skaggs wife, Isabella(Norsworthy by maiden name). It seems unlikely that the hanged John H.Skaggs was related to R.M.Skaggs, as they came from two different branches, but it is a remarkable coincidence that the two were business partners.
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