Biography
Bailey Jonabe
Nearly lynched November 1, 1915 in Crisfield, Maryland
Bailey Jonabe was nearly lynched in Somerset County on November 1, 1915 in Crisfield, Maryland. Bailey had attacked a mate on an oyster boat. Little is known about Jonabe before the ordeal, other than that he had been hired from Baltimore to work as a deckhand on the schooner Minnie V for Captain Charles Middleton.
On November 1, 1915, Bailey Jonabe had reportedly acting strangely and been to see a doctor on Smith Island. While the doctor could not tell what was wrong, Captain Middleton permitted Jonabe to go into Crisfield instead of work that day. Part of the ride to Crisfield involved passage on the oyster boat Emma Florence (aka Wilmer Florence). Once on board the boat, Jonabe locked two of the boat's hands in a cabin, attacked another with a piece of wood, and assaulted the ship's mate Carroll Hurley with a spike. Jonabe was soon overpowered in the fight and tied up to be brought back to Crisfield by sailboat. Hurley was initially not expected to survive the assault, but was transported to General and Marine Hospital in Crisfield and saved.
Jonabe was taken to Crisfield by Captain John Evans, who brought him before a judge to be committed to jail in town. As word spread of the attack, Smith Islanders traveled to Crisfield by boat with hopes of seizing Jonabe from jail to be lynched. However, Somerset County Sheriff Sterling caught wind of the lynching plans, and whisked Jonabe away in a car to the county jail in Princess Anne. Little is known about Jonabe's case after this incident.
Newspaper Clippings
"Mate Assaulted By Negro," Baltimore Sun, November 2, 1915.
"Carroll Hurley Assaulted by Negro," Marylander and Herald, November 9, 1915.
