James M. Greiner - A Woman Condemned: The Tragic Case of Anna Antonio

Authors and historians who do their own research will probably tell you the same thing. While digging and searching for one thing, you stumble upon something else. Thats what happened here. While researching material about an unfortunate woman who was hanged for murder in my hometown of Herkimer, I came across the story of Anna Antonio. At that time my knowledge of executed women in nineteenth-and twentieth-century New York was somewhat limited. I was already familiar with the Ruth Snyder case, due in part to the sensational grainy photo of her in the New York Daily News when she received that fatal jolt of electricity. The only other woman I had ever heard of was Ethel Rosenberg, victim of the Red Scare of the 1950s. I had never heard of Anna Antonio. My initial reaction after doing a little research was curiosity. What did she do and why did two men follow her to the electric chair at Sing Sing prison? Telling the complete story of the life and times of Anna Antonio would have been impossible had it not been for the support, cooperation, and generosity of a great many people.

Once more I am indebted to Jim Folts and his staff at the New York State Archives in Albany. His friendly and knowledgeable staff couldnt do enough to make my visits thereand there were quite a fewenjoyable. The four volumes of trial transcripts, together with rearguments, Auburn prison records, and Sing Sing prison records, had to be photographed. This involved multiple trips to Albany, and if you dont think that was fun, allow me to introduce my assistant who took all those picturesmy wife Teresa. Equally important as the transcripts is the website called Old Fulton Postcards. Dont let the name fool you. This website is not about postcards; its all about old newspapers. Established and managed by Tom Tryniski, this unique site provides millions of pages of old newspapers to the public for free.

At the Albany Hall of Records, Craig Carlson and his staff retrieved the police blotters of the Albany County Jail while City of Albany Historian Tony Opalka not only provided me with a wealth of information about the south side of Albany but pointed the way to Jim Davies at the Albany Library, which led to Allison Munsell Napierski of the Albany Institute of Art and History. Through their efforts I was able to obtain 1930s photographs of Albany. Lisa Crompton of the Historic Albany Foundation searched through files of homes in the south end and sent not only photographs of Sam and Annas apartment on 3 Teunis Street but a two-page history of the dwelling. A few miles away, Melissa Thacke and Dianne Gade retrieved Cappello family material for me from the archives of the Schenectady County Historical Society. On the other side of the state, Brooke Morse sent me information on the checkered past of Sam Faraci archived in the Ontario County Records, Archives and Information Services in Canandaigua. City of Hudson Historian Pat Fenoff provided information on the notorious red-light district of Hudson in the 1930s, and Guy Cheli was literally my go-to guy when it came to researching photographs of Sing Sing prison. He directed me to Norm MacDonald, curator of the Ossining Historical Society. Norm located the pictures I requested of the Death House and sent them to me post haste. Dana White, village historian for Ossining, simply amazed me at how quickly she sent me the information I needed on Sing Sing prison matron Lucy Many.

The central repository of information on Sing Sing warden Lewis Lawes is the Lloyd Sealy Library at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Special Collections librarian Ellen Belcher was insistent that I use a clear digitalized photograph of Lewis Lawes for this book and I am so glad she did. Its a great picture of the warden.