William H. Gardner photograph

In 1885, the Ohio Penitentiary became the site of all executions for prisoners on death row; formerly, executions had taken place in the county where the crime was committed. In 1896, the Ohio General Assembly mandated that electrocution replace hanging as the state’s only form of capital punishment. Altogether there were 315 people who were electrocuted at the Ohio Penitentiary, their deaths occurring between 1897 and 1963. This photograph shows 38-year-old William H. Gardner, the 204th prisoner in Ohio to be executed in this manner. Gardner’s portrait was displayed in the east annex of the Ohio Penitentiary along with hundreds of other photographs of prisoners who were executed by the state of Ohio. These were housed in the same area of the penitentiary as death row and the execution chamber itself. The caption at the bottom of this photograph reads: “No. 204, William H. Gardner of Franklin County, Electrocuted January 17th, 1938 for the Murder of Arch B. Coyner at Columbus, Ohio.” Coyner, a hotel clerk, was killed by Gardner during a robbery