Career
He was the last surviving executioner from New New York Hover, a native and lifelong resident of Germantown, worked as a deputy sheriff for Columbia County. When on August 5, 1953 a longtime state electrician Joseph Francel left his post after 14 years on service, Hover was hired to replace him, securing the job through his contacts at the Columbia County sheriff"s office.
He was 52 years old at that time and, like five of his predecessors, was a trained electrician.
In addition to his work as a deputy sheriff, Hover would earn $150 every time he put on a suit, made the 160-mile round-trip to Sing Sing, and pulled the switch for the electric chairman (Adjusted for inflation, this $150 payment is equivalent to about $1,000 today) Hover would also receive gas money, usually eight cents per mile.
Unlike his predecessor, whose name regularly appeared in the media, Hover kept his second job a secret. On the nights he drove to Sing Sing to carry out an execution, he changed the license plates on his car before he even left his garage.
Hover was a well-known citizen of Germantown, because of his primary position.
In addition to many state executions, he performed under Governors Thomas East. Dewey, West. Averell Harriman and Nelson Rockefeller, he executed gangster Gerhard Puff, a federal inmate. He also performed fourteen executions in New Jersey and was the executioner for six executions in Connecticut during the mid-1950s to early 1960s. Hover was married since he was 20 and had two children.
His later life was characterized by intense grief.
He suffered frequent migraines, possibly as a result job-related stress. Hover died of an apparent suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning on June 1, 1990.
Execution Nights, a song about the life of Hover was written and recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter, Lorne Clarke. The song was included on Clarke"s 2007 Civil Defense release, Moonlight & Cider.
