Essays by Samantha Porter and William Morgan

The George Armwood Lynching
By Samantha Porter

Lynchings have long been used to terrorize African Americans and to maintain white supremacy.  Lynchings were mainly used to control African Americans by instilling fear in them.  African Americans were lynched based on crimes ranging from raping white women, assaults, looking in a window at a white family, robbery and theft, insulting a white person, attempting to register to vote, testifying against a white man and murder.1   In Princess Anne in 1933, a lynching took place because a white woman was allegedly raped by a black man and this story was the last reported lynching in the “Free” State.

On October 17, 1933, Mrs. Mary Denston, an eighty-two-year-old white woman was in Princess Anne visiting her daughter.  Unaware that an African American man was behind her, she was dragged into a bush and was raped.  His name was George Armwood.  He was said to be between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-eight.2   Reporters at the Baltimore Afro-American said he was feeble-minded.3 He was arrested and was brought to Wicomico County jail because lynch mobs were forming. Lynch mobs formed again once Armwood was in the Salisbury jail, so, fearing for Armwood’s safety, Captain Edward Johnson moved Armwood to Cecil County and then to Baltimore for safekeeping.4   Albert Ritchie, then governor of Maryland, told State’s Attorney John B. Robins and Circuit Judge Robert F. Duer to keep Armwood in Baltimore because of the mood of the crowd.5  Thinking nothing would happen to Armwood, on October 18 at two in the morning, Somerset officers brought Armwood back to Princess Anne.6 Clarence Mitchell stated what this meant for Armwood: “Anyone with common sense would have known that bringing Armwood back would be dangerous because two years prior, Matthew Williams was lynched in Salisbury.”7 Later that day, after Armwood was brought back to Princess Anne, many accounts say that a relative of Denston was telling people of lynching Armwood.  And later that night at around seven o’clock, that was exactly going to happen.8

Around seven in the evening, a mob of 300 to 2,000 men, women, and children, came to the jail in which George Armwood was being held. Sheriff Luther Daugherty left the station earlier, leaving thirteen policemen in charge, but the policemen had no chance against the large crowd.  Without any support from the militia, because the commander refused to help an African-American, the policemen had to protect the mail and Armwood alone.9   Of course, the policemen trying to protect the jail were not enough because they were outnumbered.  And as a result, the policemen were knocked senseless with bricks and stones and mob members eventually got into that jail with the help of a beam or pole.10

While the angry mob was in the jail, they went from floor to floor ready to kill Armwood; they found him hiding under a mattress.  As Armwood was being dragged from the cell, he pleaded for his life.   Almost a second later he was stabbed.  He was dragged downstairs, hitting his head on each step until he got outside the jail.  When George got outside he was bleeding from head to chest.  The crowd began to beat him.  A white boy of the age of seventeen or eighteen cut off his ear.  A rope was then placed over his neck and they dragged him through the streets where Duer lived and hanged him on a tree.11   Initially, the Afro-American reported that he was hanged from a telephone wire.12 Even though stories say that Armwood was dead and others say he was semi-conscious, he was still beaten by the crowd after he was hanged.13   After everything was done, his body was then dragged again through the streets and was taken to the courthouse where gasoline was poured on him and was set on fire.14   His body was then thrown into a lumberyard.15

Clarence Mitchell, who became a civil rights activist and NAACP lobbyist, was a reporter for the Baltimore Afro-American at the time of the killing.  Mitchell arrived at the lumberyard the next morning after hearing about the lynching the previous day.16 He described what he had seen: “the skin of George Armwood scorched and blackened while his face suffered many blows from sharp and heavy instruments.  A cursory glance revealed that one ear was missing and his tongue, between his clenched teeth, gave evidence of his great agony before his death.”17   The Afro was the only paper to run a photograph of Armwood’s body.18

The next month, on November 28, 1933, Governor Albert Ritchie sent the National Guard to Somerset County to arrest nine of the suspected lynchers of George Armwood, of whom four were arrested: William H. Thompson, Irving Adkins, William P. Hearn, and William S. McQuay. After their arrest, all four were taken to the First Regiment Armory on S. Division Street.  When the word got out, a mob of 500 people formed at the Armory. Three lines of troops were already lined up outside of the Armory, holding either a rifle, a shotgun, or tear gas.  But that did not stop the mob from closing in to free the four prisoners.  Salisbury firemen came because a fire alarm was turned on, but after they saw what was going on, the firemen hosed down the mob in order to help the soldiers.  Even after being hosed, the mob still pressed on.  As a result, General Reckford ordered his troops to “Let ‘em have it,” and a dozen tear gas canisters went off.  Some of the people fled and some pushed forward.  The soldiers used their rifles to beat the crowd back, also using their bayonets to poke at the shins and legs of the mob. Slowly but surely more people retreated, but others were determined to get the prisoners out.  Without the soldiers noticing, some of the mob found a way to the back of the Armory where they demanded the release of the prisoners.  The crowd eventually got into the Armory and found the prisoners, but in their way were police and militiamen.  The mob did not get in and due to threats, the militiamen and the prisoners left on a bus to go somewhere safe.  Even after that, searches were done to find the other five suspected lynchers, but it was said they fled their homes.19

For the four arrested, they were sent to a Baltimore City jail to await a habeas corpus trail.  While in jail, the four prisoners were treated as though they had not committed any crime. Their cells were unlocked and Warden Harry Martin “thought of the four men [more] as guests than prisoners.”20   At the habeas corpus hearing, State’s Attorney John Robins had no evidence to show that the men should be arrested, even with the affidavit copies of the testimony from the state troopers.  So with no clear evidence, Thompson, Adkins, Hearn, and McQuay were released.21 In January of 1934, forty-two witnesses were called to the Grand Jury hearing.  Even with the State troopers there who had identified the leaders of the lynch mob, no indictments were handed to anyone accused of being involved with the lynching of George Armwood.  Reports from the Grand Jury were sent to Judge Duer, and the Armwood lynching case, the last reported lynching in the state of Maryland, was over.22

Many questions have arisen about the lynching of George Armwood, but two really stick out. How did the mob get into Armwood’s cell so easily? Well, at that time, there were accusations that Sheriff Daugherty gave mob leaders the key to Armwood’s cell.  He was never arrested for his accusation.23 Why wasn’t anyone convicted for the lynching? Of course, no one was convicted because no one wanted them to be convicted. The police refused to arrest lynchers, witnesses refused to identify the lynchers, and jurors did not want to indict suspected lynchers.24 And even now, no one has come forward to give names.  Lastly, did George Armwood really rape and assault Mrs. Denston?  Well, stories say that he confessed in a letter25 and others say he did not confess.26 I guess the people who would know if George really did this crime are George and Mrs. Denston.

This is a picture of George Armwood after his death. This picture was placed in The Afro American Oct. 21, 1933.

This is a picture of the jail where George Armwood was being held. This photo is from the Albert Ritchie Papers MS 710 Box 49.

MS 710, Albert Ritchie Papers, Box 49, Maryland Historical Society

The Lynching of Matthew Williams
By William Morgan

“With parade, rope and fire, Salisbury executed judgment tonight on Matthew Williams, 35-year-old Negro murderer.”1 These words from a newspaper describe the second to last lynching in the state of Maryland in 1931. The location was Salisbury, a small community on the Eastern Shore where racial problems have existed since the times of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. The person lynched was an African American male named Matthew Williams who was accused of murdering a white male.

Lynchings are open public murders of individuals suspected of a crime conceived and carried out more or less spontaneously by a mob.2 Lynchings have been a problem in the United States for many years. According to social economist Gunnar Myrdal, every state in the U.S. with the exception of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont has had lynching causalities.3

On December 4, 1931 in Salisbury, Williams was lynched. The story told by local authorities was as follows, “Matthew was angered over low wages so he walked to Elliot’s office and shot him in the head. Then Williams turned the gun on himself. Elliot’s son ran into the office and picked up Williams’ gun and shot him.” Williams arrived at the hospital and his wounds were only superficial. He was placed in a straitjacket and his head was heavily bandaged.4

Word spread that Williams was alive and at the hospital. By this time, a crowd had gathered and was emotional and upset. Soon the crowd started to say, “Let’s lynch him.”5 Soon the crowd arrived at the hospital and went to a side door where they met the hospital superintendent Helen Wise. She told the lynchers, “Well if you must take him, take him quietly.”6 The next thing you know, Williams was taken out a window, dragged down the street towards the courthouse. He was lynched by a mob and was hanged on a tree outside of the courthouse, then his body was burned.7

Baltimore Afro-American, Enoch Pratt Free Library

The reaction to Williams lynching was met with a strong voice from certain newspapers. The Baltimore Post, in an editorial the day after the lynching stated,
The mob, by this time grown to some 2,000, applauded the dying convulsions of a fellow creature. It was a ‘Shoreman’s holiday. But not yet was the ‘Shoreman’s vengeance satiated. The body of the wretched victim was cut down, taken to a vacant lot near the Negro quarter, saturated with oil, and set on fire. Ghastly and brutal crime! Was the arm of authority raised to curb the mob? Apparently not. Was there any voice lifted in the name of mercy and humanity? None was audible. Perhaps fear held silent those whom cruelty had not maddened…..The lynching yesterday was a disgrace to the Eastern Shore; another lynching there would be the shame of Maryland.8

An eye witness, Howard A. Nelson, told Baltimore Afro-American reporters how he heard of Williams’s death, “I was standing talking to an acquaintance on Main Street about the killing of that man Elliott, when I noticed a group of men milling about the front of the town paper, the Salisbury Times. When I had finished my conversation, I went over to read the bulletin. ‘I read the bulletin that was posted on the front of the building. It read: The nigger who murdered Mr. Eliott, a prominent citizen, has been reported as being dead.’”9

GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching, 1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14], Maryland State Archives

The lynching of Matthew Williams played a role in Maryland politics since Governor Albert Ritchie spoke about the lynching in a harsh way. After the lynching, Governor Ritchie addressed the people of Maryland by releasing a statement. It stated, in part, “The crime of this negro was a shocking thing, but he should have paid the penalty for it through the established legal machinery. The action of the mob in lynching him must bring the blush of shame to every law-abiding Marylander, whether on or off the Eastern Shore.”10

After Williams was lynched, his family looked for justice. They would find none. “No one was tried or convicted for the lynching of Matthew Williams…More than one hundred witnesses were called before the grand jury after the Williams lynching…the men were found by the jury to have died ‘at the hands of persons unknown’”11

The lynching of Matthew Williams showed the division between African Americans and whites. It showed how African Americans could not rely on the justice system to protect them or look out for them legally. It demonstrated how African Americans were viewed as a violent element of society who need to be put in their place once something tragic occurs, for how else could a mob go to a hospital, pull a man out of a hospital bed, parade him around town, kill him, set him on fire and no one is ever convicted? This was not the last lynching in Maryland nor for the Eastern Shore for in 1933 George Armwood was lynched by a mob and this marked the last official lynching in the state of Maryland.

“Maryland, My Maryland” Editorial Cartoon from Baltimore Sun, December 6, 1931, Maryland State Archives