EXECUTIONER. The official who inflicts capital punishment. In early times. both among the Romans and time Teutonic peoples. a distine Don was made between two aspects of the fune lion. In Home the lietors executed sentences passed on citizens, while an official called carol lex, whose office was considered degrading, cruci fied or tortured slaves and foreigners. In primi tive Germany the carrying out of the sentence usually fell either to the community from which it proceeded or to the accuser and his friends— a custom which in some places prevailed as late as the sixteenth century, although the counts of the Frankish monarchy had their official jailers and hangmen. Sometimes the youngest bailiff, or the youngest married man, was bound to carry out the sentence; in other cases one of the criminals was allowed to purchase his freedom by acting as executioner. In the towns sentence of death was usually executed by a subordinate official. in times of more definite organization another distinction was made between the Scharf riehter, who beheaded the victim without the necessity of personal contact, and the Henker, usually his subordinate, who carried out sen tences of hanging, burning, quartering, and tor ture. The office of the former was expressly de clared by law to imply no degradation, but popular feeling turned with disgust from it, and required its bearer to occupy a designated place in church and to present himself last of all for communion.
Like many other offices, that of executioner seems to have been at one time hereditary in England, as in several German States, certain families being thus, as it were, condemned to perpetual infamy. in some parts of England the office was annexed to other posts; thus the porter of the city of Canterbury was executioner for the county of Kent in the time of Henry I1. and
Henry III., for which he had an allowance of twenty shillings a year from the sheriff, who was reimbursed by the exchequer. The sun) of thir teen pence halfpenny was long popularly spoken of as 'hangman's wages,' such a sum, equivalent to a merk Scots, having been the fee for each performance.
From Gregory Brandon, the London execu tioner in the reign of James T., the name Gregory was employed as a familiar designation for the profession in general. Brandon managed to procure from the Heralds' College a coat armo rial, and became an esquire by virtue of his office. One of his successors, Dun, is referred to in Butler's Ghost, published in 1682: He was succeeded by John or Jack Ketch, com memorated by Dryden (Epilogue to the Duke of Guise), and his name has since been synonymous with hangman. All parts of England have in recent times depended upon the London execu tioner for the actual hanging. Calcraft and Nor wood have been the best-known holders of the office in modern days. The Parisian executioner is familiarly styled 'Monsieur de Paris.' The Sanson family have been the most distinguished hearers of this title. (See Memoirs of the San sons, London, 1875.) It was one of this family who officiated at the execution of Louis XVI.
In all time Amelican States a provision is made for such an official, hut the title and duties differ in each. In many of the States the sherif is the executioner in his particular county; but in large States like New York, where a State prison exists, the warden of that institution is technical ly, not practically, the executioner. In the United States Army the provost-marshal performs the duties of military executioner.