Lynching of William Burns

William Burns was a mixed-race or black man lynched on October 6, 1907 in Cumberland, Maryland for the murder of white Cumberland police officer August Baker.^[1][2]

Officer Baker attempted to arrest Burns, but Burns resisted and shot Baker in a scuffle.^[2] Burns was then arrested and taken to the Cumberland Jail.^[2] Several days later, Baker died in hospital and a mob of 50 men with their coats turned inside out and handkerchiefs over their faces gathered outside the jail at 12:40am.^[2] The mob tore down a telegraph pole and used it to batter down the doors to the jail.^[2] Burns was dragged out of his cell after the deputy on duty handed over the keys to the cell at gunpoint.^[2] Burns was taken outside "peppered with bullets" and left to die.^[2] The crowd wanted to hang Burns, but they couldn't find a rope.^[2]

The Allegany County Commissioners offered a reward of $500 for the arrest and conviction of the people who took Burns from the jail.^[3] Benjamin A. Richmond, an associate of Governor Lloyd Lowndes, Jr. stated that a number of prominent men from Cumberland and vicinity were involved in the lynching.^[2]

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