August 16, 1919 - T. Berry Bruce
For three decades, Bruce held a singular and grim distinction: the only publicly identified executioner in the United States. Operating in Mississippi from 1957 to 1987, he carried out between fourteen and sixteen executions by lethal gas, a period that spans some of the most turbulent chapters in American criminal justice history.
From Wikipedia
Thomas Berry Bruce (August 16, 1919 – October 12, 1994) was the Mississippi executioner active from 1957 until 1987, during which time he was the only US executioner on public record. He executed between 14 and 16 people, including Jimmy Lee Gray, during his career. For many years, his wife was unaware of his occasional duty; she thought that he only marketed fruits and vegetables to grocery stores. Bruce received $250 per execution. All of his executions were conducted using the gas chamber.
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