Lynching of Stephen Williams

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Stephen Williams was an African American man, lynched in Upper Marlboro, Maryland on October 20, 1894.[1][2]

Williams had confessed to assaulting Mrs. Katie Hardesty, an offense described as "one of the most brutal in the criminal annals of Prince George's County" and was locked up in the Jail in Upper Marlboro.[1] A group of masked men broke into the jail and pulled Williams from under his mattress, put a rope around his neck and dragged him from the jail.[1] Williams was dragged to the "iron bridge just between the town and the railroad depot."[1] The rope was thrown over the top beams of the bridge and Williams was "hauled up."[1] A round of gunfire was unleashed into Williams' hanging body and the corpse was left dangling on the bridge.[1]

This was the same bridge that Joe Vermillion was lynched on in 1889.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "State of Maryland: Lynching of Stephen Williams, Colored, in Prince George's County" (PDF). Baltimore Sun. October 22, 1894. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  2. ^ "Stephen Williams Lynched in Upper Marlboro, October 20, 1894". Biographical Series. Maryland State Archives. November 13, 2007. pp. MSA SC 3520-13742. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
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