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Race and Mob Violence: The Matthew Williams Case
Introduction

On December 4, 1931, Matthew Williams, a 35-year old African American, shot
and killed his employer, Daniel J. Elliott, a prominent Salisbury lumber
dealer, over a long-standing dispute concerning Williams' wages. After
shooting Elliott, Williams tried to commit suicide, but failed and was shot by
Elliott's son while trying to escape. Williams was taken to Peninsula General
Hospital and placed under guard.
Later that evening, a large mob formed in the center of town and marched to
the hospital. After tricking Williams' guards, members of the mob dragged him
out of a hospital window, paraded the struggling man through the streets of
Salisbury to the small green in front of the county court house. There,
Williams was hung from a tall maple tree in the court house yard. As the crowd
continued to grow, William's body was cut down from the tree, dragged to a
nearby lot, and set ablazed. One eyewitness described the scene as
follows:
We were in the fight club and several hundred persons were waiting for
the first bout.... Suddenly the word came that they were lynching Williams.
There was a stampede for the doors. I drove my car a distance of about a mile
and a half to the courthouse green and they had just cut the negro down. As I
walked around the courthouse here came the leaders, carrying the body along.
As they stepped out into the street they let it drop and then dragged it by
the rope down through the negro part of town. Later I saw the fire, but didn't
want to go down there. We went back to the fight... And some of the fighters
didn't show up and only about half the crowd. It was a quiet and orderly mob.
I saw no drunks. There were many women.
Governor Albert Ritchie and Attorney General William Preston Lane were
under tremendous pressure to identify and bring the mob leaders to justice.
Newspaper reports indicate that local residents who witnessed the lynching
refused to identify the men, even as they eagerly related gruesome details of
the crime.
The story was carried by newspapers across the country. Within
Maryland, newspaper coverage illustrated the underlying cultural conflict
between the urbanized Western Shore and the rural Eastern Shore. Although all
Maryland newspapers condemned the lynching, Baltimore newspapers in particular
viewed the mob action as a sign of a degenerating character common to Eastern
Shore residents. The conflict was so inflamed by an editorial published in the
Baltimore Sun by H. L. Mencken -- who, among other things, suggested
that the mob leaders were well known to local law enforcement officers -- that
prominent Salisbury residents advocated a boycott of the newspaper and the
former town mayor demanded that Mencken and editors of the Sun and Evening Sun
be subpoenaed before the coroner's jury as witnesses.
Despite the number of people who witnessed the lynching, police
investigating the crime were unable to identify the ringleaders and no arrests
were made. Although the Wicomico County grand jury examined 128 witneses,
their final report indicated that there was "absolutely no evidence that
can remotely connect anyone with the investigation or perpetration of the
murder" of Matthew Williams. With that, the case was closed and no
further action was taken.
SOURCES: See "Mob
Described by Brockman" Baltimore News, December 5, 1931 for contemporary account quoted above.
National History Standards

Materials compiled in this document can be used by educators to fulfill the
following National
History Standards for Grades 5-12:
Era 7: The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)
STANDARD 3: How the United States changed from the end of World
War I to the eve of the Great Depression.
Standard 3A: The student understands social tensions and
their consequences in the postwar era.
7-12: Examine rising racial tensions, the resurgence of
the Ku Klux Klan, and the emergence of Garveyism. [Analyze cause-and-effect
relationships]
Primary Resources

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DESCRIPTION: Newspaper Clippings and Correspondence Relating to the Lynching of
Matthew Williams, Courthouse lawn, Salisbury, MD, December 4, 1931
CREATED/PUBLISHED: 1931-
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) 1931 Governor Albert Ritchie, MSA S 1048-1 & MSA S 1048-10.
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "Victim
Hanged From Tree and Body Burned"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Philadelphia Record, December 5,
1931
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "Maryland's
Disgrace -- The Shame of the Eastern Shore"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Baltimore Post, December 5, 1931
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "Mob
Described by Brockman"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Baltimore News, December 5, 1931
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "Coroner's
Jury to Investigate Slayer's Death"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Salisbury Times, December 5, 1931
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: Editorial
cartoon, "Maryland, My Maryland!"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Baltimore Sun, December 6, 1931
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "Lynching
Shames State, Says Governor Ritchie"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Baltimore American, December 6, 1931
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: Portrait,
Governor Albert Ritchie
ARTIST: Douglas Chandor (1897-1953)
CREATED/PUBLISHED: 1929
SOURCE: Maryland Commission on Artistic Property Collection, MSA SC
1545-1103
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "Comments
of Eastern Shore Newspapers on Lynching"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Baltimore Sun, December 6, 1931
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "Five
Will Be Summoned in Lynch Quiz"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Baltimore Post, December 7, 1931
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "Where
Killer was Hanged by Shore Mob"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: [1931]
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: Editorial cartoon, "In
the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Jeffersonian, December 12, 1931
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "Lynch
Negro Near Baltimore: Drags Helpless Man to His Death"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Democratic Messenger (Snow Hill),
December 19, 1931
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "The
Lynching Shore"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Afro-American, February 27, 1932
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "Sho'
Jurors Open Probe of Lynching"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Baltimore Post, March 15, 1932
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "14
Lynchings in State Since 1885, None Prosecuted"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Salisbury Times, March 18, 1932
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "Call
Mortician, Physician in Shore Probe"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Afro-American, March 19, 1932
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "Lynch
Verdict Closes Probe"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Baltimore Post, March 19, 1932
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "They
Saw No Evil"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Baltimore Post, March 19, 1932
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "Lane
Keeps Silent on Lynching Probe"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Evening Sun, March 19, 1932
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "An
Anti-Lynching Law"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Sun, March 20, 1932
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
-
DESCRIPTION: "Shore
Judges Plan Action in Berger Case"
CREATED/PUBLISHED: In Sun, March 22, 1932
SOURCE: GOVERNOR (Newspaper Clippings) Matthew William's lynching,
1931 [MSA S 1048-1; MdHR 8020-1; 2/31/3/14]
REPOSITORY: Maryland State Archives
See also: Biographical Information of Lynching Victims in
Maryland
Additional Media Resources

Judge Lynch's Court in Maryland: Mob Justice in Maryland During the Age of Jim Crow 1860s-1930s
Explorations:
Lynching. From Digital History.
Additional Instructional Resources

Billie Holiday's Song "Strange Fruit"
Billie
Holiday's Strange Fruit: Using Music to Send a Message
The Learning Page:
Lessons by Themes, Topics, Disciplines or Eras
"Domestic
Terror": Understanding Lynching During the Era of Jim Crow
Lynching in the American South: An Educator's Reference Desk Lesson Plan
A Strange and Bitter Fruit
Lynching in the American South: The Mobs and the Crowds
Secondary Resources

Brundage, W. Fitzhugh. Lynching in the
New South: Georgia and Virginia, 1880-1930 . Urbana: University of
Illinois Press, 1993.
Chadbourn, James Harmon. Lynching And The Law. Chapel
Hill, The University of North Carolina Press, 1933.
Cutler, James Elbert. Lynch-Law; An Investigation Into The History
Of Lynching In The United States. Montclair, N.J., Patterson Smith, 1969.
Downey, Dennis B. No Crooked Death: Coatesville, Pennsylvania,
and the lynching of Zachariah Walker. Urbana: University of Illinois
Press, 1991.
Gunning, Sandra. Race, rape, and lynching: the red record of American
literature, 1890-1912. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Hall, Jacquelyn Dowd. Revolt Against Chivalry: Jessie Daniel Ames
And The Women's Campaign Against Lynching. New York: Columbia University
Press, 1979.
Ifill, Sherrilyn A. On the Court-House Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the Twenty-first Century. Boston: Beacon Press, 2007.
Moore, Joseph E. Murder on Maryland's Eastern Shore: Race, Politics and the Case of Orphan Jones. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2006.
Moses, Norton H. Lynching And Vigilantism In The United States :
An Annotated Bibliography. Compiled by Norton H. Moses. Westport,
Conn: Greenwood Press, 1997.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Burning At
Stake In The United States : A Record Of The Public Burning By Mobs Of Five
Men, During The First Five Months Of 1919, In The States Of Arkansas, Florida,
Georgia, Mississippi, And Texas. Baltimore, MD : Black Classic Press,
1986.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Thirty
Years Of Lynching In The United States, 1889-1918. New York, Negro
Universities Press, [1969].
Raper, Arthur Franklin. The Tragedy Of Lynching. Chapel
Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1933.
Sitkoff, Harvard. "Racial
Militancy and Interracial Violence in the Second World War." The
Journal of American History, Vol. 58, No. 3. (Dec., 1971), pp. 661-681.
Smead, Howard. Blood Justice: The Lynching Of Mack Charles
Parker. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Wells-Barnett, Ida B. On Lynchings: Southern Horrors, A Red
Record, Mob Rule In New Orleans. New York, Arno Press, 1969.
White, Walter Francis. The Work Of A Mob. Indianapolis,
Indiana: College Division, Bobbs-Merrill Company, [19--?].
Wright, George C. Racial Violence In Kentucky, 1865-1940 : Lynchings,
Mob Rule, And "Legal Lynchings." Baton Rouge: Louisiana State
University Press, 1990.
Zangrando, Robert L. The NAACP Crusade Against Lynching, 1909-1950. Philadelphia:
Temple University Press, 1980
Associated Heritage and Preservation Organizations
Banneker-Douglass Museum
Mount Moriah AME Church
84 Franklin Street
Annapolis, Maryland
(410) 216-6180
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Credits
Teaching
American History in Maryland is a collaborative partnership of the Maryland State Archives and the Center for History Education (CHE), University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), and the following sponsoring school systems: Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Baltimore City Public School System, Baltimore County Public Schools, and Howard County Public Schools.
Other program partners include the Martha Ross Center for Oral History, Maryland Historical Society, State Library Resource Center/Enoch Pratt Free Library, with assistance from the National Archives and Records Administration and the Library of Congress. The program is funded through grants from the U.S. Department of Education.
This document packet was researched and developed by Nancy Bramucci. Bibliography extracted from African Americans in Maryland.
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