Lynching of William Burns

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Lynchings Michael Green Nevlin Porter and Johnson Spencer Eliza Woods Amos Miller George Meadows Joe Vermillion Jim Taylor Joe Coe People's Grocery Ephraim Grizzard Alfred Blount Samuel J. Bush Stephen Williams Frazier B. Baker and Julia Baker John Henry James Sam Hose David Wyatt Marie Thompson Watkinsville Ed Johnson William Burns Walker family Laura and L. D. Nelson King Johnson John Evans Jesse Washington Newberry Six Anthony Crawford Ell Persons Jim McIlherron George Taylor 1920 Duluth James Harvey and Joe Jordan
Massacres and riots Opelousas massacre Rock Springs massacre Thibodaux massacre Spring Valley Race Riot of 1895 Phoenix election riot Wilmington insurrection of 1898 Pana riot Robert Charles riots Evansville race riot Atlanta Massacre of 1906 Springfield race riot of 1908 Johnson–Jeffries riots 1912 racial conflict in Forsyth County 1917 Chester race riot East St. Louis riots Elaine massacre Red Summer Chicago race riot of 1919 Washington race riot of 1919 Ocoee massacre Tulsa race massacre Perry race riot Rosewood massacre
Reactions Anti-lynching movement Exodusters movement Great Migration Back to Africa movement
Related topics Black genocide Civil rights movement (1865–1896) Civil rights movement (1896–1954) Mass racial violence in the United States
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William Burns was a 22 year old African American man who was lynched on October 6, 1907 in Cumberland, Maryland for the alleged murder of white Cumberland police officer August Baker.^[1][2]

Several newspapers at the time account that Officer Baker attempted to arrest Burns, and that Burns allegedly 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 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] One account reports that 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]

There are many accounts of the circumstances and events leading to the murder of William Burns. There is no discrepancy about the brutal nature of his murder and the fact that he was never afforded the opportunity of a fair trial, like so many African Americans then and now.

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