Library Guides: Lynchings on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore: James Stevens aka Sewell Wright, 1886

Biography

James Stevens (d. 1887)
Executed on February 25, 1887 in Princess Anne, Maryland

James Stevens was executed in Somerset County on February 25, 1887 in Princess Anne, Maryland. Stevens was around 35 years old, and was suspected to have assaulted an elderly white woman. Little is known about Stevens' life before his execution, other than that he also went by the alias Sewell Wright and lived with a woman named Ellen Cannon. The two had five children together.

On the evening of July 11, 1886, James Stevens was suspected to have invaded the home of 79 year old Mary Trehearn. Trehearn attempted to bribe her home invader to leave, but he proceeded to assault her anyways. Three of Trehearn's ribs were broken in the attack. During the struggle, Trehearn managed to wound her assailant by scratching him near his eye. She informed her neighbors of the assault the following morning, and a search party tracked footprints coming from Trehearn's house to the home of James Stevens. Stevens was not home at the moment, but the party managed to track him to another house and promptly arrest him. Stevens had the mark under the eye inflicted by Trehearn. The party brought Stevens to the Justice of the Peace, who committed him to jail to await a grand jury.

Stevens was sentenced to death on October 22, 1886 for felonious assault, and remained confined to the Princess Anne jail to prevent an extrajudicial lynching. Stevens made three attempts to escape his confines. The first was on November 13, 1886, in which Stevens tried to burn the jail down. Little is known about the second attempt. The third attempt took place on January 26, 1887, during which Stevens attempted to escape through a hole in his cell's ceiling. However, all escape attempts proved to be unsuccessful. It was speculated that Stevens would commit suicide while imprisoned, but this did not come to pass.

Stevens' execution date was set for February 25, 1887. While Stevens admitted to breaking into Mary Trehearn's house, he never legally confessed to the assault. While Stevens allegedly confessed his full guilt to clergymen before his execution, he held that the ministers misunderstood his confession. A crowd of 300 people was present as Stevens was led to a sheltered set of gallows away from public eye. He was executed at 12:57 pm.