The lynchings of Isaac Kemp, William Andrews, Garfield King, James Reed, George Armwood, Matthew Williams, and an unknown victim were not the only instances of mob violence on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. Between 1868 and 1940, over 20 Black men and two women accused of crimes were the victims of attempted lynchings. These instances of racial terror followed the same patterns as those that lead to the deaths of other victims. Attempted lynchings included extrajudicial posses formed to apprehend the suspects, rumors of plans to seize a suspect from jail to be killed, or actual mobs formed with the intention of hanging a suspect themselves--yet were thwarted by law enforcement.
Name of Victim | Date of Attempted Lynching | County |
William Wilson, William Wells, Frank Rounds, and George Bailey | April 1868 | Somerset |
Jenkins Showell | November 1875 | Worcester |
James Stevens | July 1886 | Somerset |
Henry Taylor and Arthur Courtney | June 1893 | Somerset (lynching attempt took place in Virginia) |
John Henry | November 1905 | Worcester |
William Lee |
June 1906 | Somerset (lynching attempt took place in Virginia, mobs formed in other counties as well) |
Edd Watson | June 1906 | Somerset |
Henry Taylor | January 1908 | Worcester |
Wesley Miles | June 1912 | Somerset (mobs formed in other counties as well) |
Bailey Jonabe | November 1915 | Somerset |
George Chelton | January 1923 | Somerset |
Richard Howard, Alonzo Taylor, Sidney Mills, and Warner Brittingham | December 1924, March 1925 | Worcester |
Harry Merrill | December 1924 | Somerset |
Euel Lee | October-November 1931 | Worcester |
Sam Jones | February 1934 | Somerset |
Howard McClendon aka Harry Fleming | April 1934 | Somerset |
James Bowland | September 1934 | Somerset |
William Holland | October 1934 | Somerset |
Arthur Collick, Charles Manuel, George Selby, Lillian Blake, and Martha Blake | February 1940 | Worcester |