Fiendish Brutality
August 3, 1907
Summary
A black man in Maryland killed a cop unprovoked. In response, a mob of whites dig up his grave, shoot bullets into his body, then set his body on fire.
Transcription
Fiendish Brutality
A mob of white men, on last Monday morning dug from its rude grace near Crisfield, Maryland, the body of a colored man named Reed and after firing bullets into it again started a bonfire and reduced the remains to ashes. This man had shot and killed Policeman Daugherty without provocation and only because he had William Hildred, his associate under arrest.
Reed escaped at the time of the shooting but was subsequently captured by the officers and virtually turned over to the mob for he was beaten to a jelly and was dead, before the actual lynching took place. The newspapers of the country have condemned the brutal acts of these fiends and steps have been taken to check the assaults upon innocent colored people of the neighborhood, who knew absolutely nothing about the crime.
Colored people of Reed’s calibre and habits are a disgrace to the race and their lawless efforts are ofttimes directed to the injury of colored people more than they are utilized in the damaging of white ones. Still, it was the law that was outraged and the forms of civilized society that were disgraced. Lawlessness begets lawlessness and this exhibition of passion, if unpunished will result in even more serious breaches of the rules of society.
It seems utterly impossible to punish white people guilty of this species of fiendishness. We have suggested more than once that they be punished while engaged in their nefarious practices. The best way to handle a mob is to shoot the life out of it. Those who reach an untimely grave will be an everlasting example to the lawless elements who are left behind.
It may be that conditions will ultimately change and a jury, sufficiently conscientious to do its duty obtained to the end that time in that portion of maryland is not now or ever high. Lynch-law must go!
A mob of white men, on last Monday morning dug from its rude grace near Crisfield, Maryland, the body of a colored man named Reed and after firing bullets into it again started a bonfire and reduced the remains to ashes. This man had shot and killed Policeman Daugherty without provocation and only because he had William Hildred, his associate under arrest.
Reed escaped at the time of the shooting but was subsequently captured by the officers and virtually turned over to the mob for he was beaten to a jelly and was dead, before the actual lynching took place. The newspapers of the country have condemned the brutal acts of these fiends and steps have been taken to check the assaults upon innocent colored people of the neighborhood, who knew absolutely nothing about the crime.
Colored people of Reed’s calibre and habits are a disgrace to the race and their lawless efforts are ofttimes directed to the injury of colored people more than they are utilized in the damaging of white ones. Still, it was the law that was outraged and the forms of civilized society that were disgraced. Lawlessness begets lawlessness and this exhibition of passion, if unpunished will result in even more serious breaches of the rules of society.
It seems utterly impossible to punish white people guilty of this species of fiendishness. We have suggested more than once that they be punished while engaged in their nefarious practices. The best way to handle a mob is to shoot the life out of it. Those who reach an untimely grave will be an everlasting example to the lawless elements who are left behind.
It may be that conditions will ultimately change and a jury, sufficiently conscientious to do its duty obtained to the end that time in that portion of maryland is not now or ever high. Lynch-law must go!
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Benton Camper
Citation
“Fiendish Brutality,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed March 15, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/867.