George Maledon
Photo credit: True West Magazine
He was called the Prince of Hangmen, but much of his story is unknown. George Maledon probably began hanging men in the state of Arkansas in 1873. Some accounts claim that he hanged 50 men during his career, while other reports say he hanged 88 men before he retired in 1891.
Unlike other hangmen, Maledon appeared to take his job seriously. According to a newspaper article published in 1896:
A hanging by Maledon was worth going miles to see. It was a thing of scientific beauty. From the moment the subject began to prepare for the march to the scaffold, the little Dutch hangman was at his heels. He had been up before daylight, greasing his ropes, oiling the hinges of the gallows trap, and adjusting and readjusting his noose.
Maledon was always eager for the job to get done. If the condemned would falter in any way, Maledon would say, “Oh, come on, now. It’s nothing at all. You won’t feel it, and I’ll have it all over in a jiffy.”
Experience taught Maledon how to kill with a noose. He had bungled his first few executions, with one man slowly choking to death and another man nearly decapitated by the fall. To ensure a quick and bloodless death, Maledon began practicing his technique on bags of sand, each bag weighing anywhere from 41 to 102 kilograms (90–225 lb). After his study of weights and heights, hanging the condemned became almost second nature to him.
More than likely he even used a new rope to do the actual hanging. Just speculation on my part, you understand.
Coffee inside again today!
