Kentucky’s legal records include many cases that resulted in execution, leaving behind detailed paper trails in circuit courts, governor’s correspondence, penitentiary registers, and contemporary newspapers. Additional entries contributed after the original compilation appear at the end of the page.
This index is provided to help researchers locate records related to capital cases in Kentucky. It is not a complete list of executions, but a working reference drawn from multiple historical sources. When a surname appears in parentheses, it reflects the enslaver’s name as recorded at the time.
Source: Sandy Gorin
| Name | Age | Race | Gender | Job | Crime | Execution date | Notes |
|---|
Maysville, Mason Co. August 28, 1878 newpaper reads: 18 years ago, last Tuesday, Charles Collins was hanged at this place (Maysville - Mason Co.) for the brutal murder of the Cobb family. The execution took place about noon on the road leading from East Maysville to the Flemingsburg pike.
Those he had killed and robbed included: Francis Cobb, Sr. age 70 and his two sons George age 15 and Abijah age 17 on July 24, 1861. Also, injured were other members of the Cobb family.
Other records state that Collins was hung on a sycamore tree on Limestone Creek directly in front of the J.G.Fee School; which is now the location of the Mason Co. detention center. submitted by: Phyllis Mastin
Munfordville, Hart Co. The last execution by hanging was of Elijah Custer Gardner, a white man that was born on 5 August 1887. He was hung for committing murder.
submitted by: perkipurple2@aol.com