The Lynching at Maryland
June 19, 1897
Summary
A black criminal, sentenced to death, is brutally murdered by a mob of lynchers before the verdict could be carried out lawfully.
Transcription
The lynching of William Andrews at Princess Anne, Md., was without palliation or excuse.
He had been tried, convicted and sentenced to death. There was no delay in the matter. And yet he was taken from the officers of the law, kicked and beaten into insensibility, knives being plunged into his body, his flesh out; and every species of barbarity which fiends could devise visited up on him.
The mob essayed to make a martyr of him, and thereby tended to minimize his crime.
It is plainly evident that they were more uncivilized than their victim, and were capable of committing even a more heinous crime than the one with which he was charged.
The heart sickens at the recital of the brutality of the mob. It was a murderous throng indeed.
The Governor and the sheriff are not without blame in this matter. The prisoner should have been protected. The mob should have at least given him a chance for his life by releasing him, and permitting him to defend himself against its fury. But, it was cowardly for this.
If sheriffs will not protect prisoners, they have no right to arrest them.
It is far better to die a free man resisting the arrest of a cowardly officer, than to submit to him mandates and be butchered like a cur.
Let us live right and do right, and prepare to defend ourselves against all comers. Lynch-law must-go!
He had been tried, convicted and sentenced to death. There was no delay in the matter. And yet he was taken from the officers of the law, kicked and beaten into insensibility, knives being plunged into his body, his flesh out; and every species of barbarity which fiends could devise visited up on him.
The mob essayed to make a martyr of him, and thereby tended to minimize his crime.
It is plainly evident that they were more uncivilized than their victim, and were capable of committing even a more heinous crime than the one with which he was charged.
The heart sickens at the recital of the brutality of the mob. It was a murderous throng indeed.
The Governor and the sheriff are not without blame in this matter. The prisoner should have been protected. The mob should have at least given him a chance for his life by releasing him, and permitting him to defend himself against its fury. But, it was cowardly for this.
If sheriffs will not protect prisoners, they have no right to arrest them.
It is far better to die a free man resisting the arrest of a cowardly officer, than to submit to him mandates and be butchered like a cur.
Let us live right and do right, and prepare to defend ourselves against all comers. Lynch-law must-go!
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Lower Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Brian Schrott
Citation
“The Lynching at Maryland,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed March 15, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1173.