Herbert W. Meeker photograph   Save
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections
Description: This portrait of Herbert Meeker was housed and displayed in the east annex of the Ohio Penitentiary alongside the photographs of hundreds of other prisoners who were sentenced to death in the state. Also located in this section of the penitentiary were the cells of condemned prisoners awaiting execution and the death chamber itself. The Ohio Penitentiary closed in 1972 when construction of the new Southern Ohio Correctional Facility was completed in Lucasville. At this time, the execution chamber was relocated to the new Lucasville facility and the photograph collection of condemned prisoners was donated to the Ohio Historical Society. Meeker was one of 315 people who were electrocuted in the state of Ohio from 1897 to 1963. The caption at the bottom of his photograph reads, “No. 172, Herbert W. Meeker of Holmes County, electrocuted March 22nd, 1933, for the Murder of his wife, Gertrude.” He was executed at the age of 23. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08231
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Capital punishment--Ohio--History; Electrocution; Death row; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio)
Places: Holmes County (Ohio); Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)