Lynchings on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore: Howard McClendon, alias Harry Flemming, 1934

Howard McClendon, alias Harry Flemming  
Somerset County, Maryland

Howard McClendon, aka McClelland, McClemming, Harry Flemming, was nearly lynched in April of 1934, in Somerset County, Maryland near Crisfield. McClendon was suspected and convicted to murdering a policeman. Little is known about McClendon's life before his crime, other than that he was married. 

In late April of 1934, Howard McClendon's wife Annie McClendon reported her husband to policeman Harry Daugherty for allegedly having beaten her and threatened her with a pistol while intoxicated. Daugherty proceeded to enter the McClendon residence to arrest the suspect, who fled upstairs after realizing his arrest was imminent. Upon pursuing McClendon to the second story of the residence, Daugherty was hit over the head by the suspect with a wrench. After falling down the stairs, Daugherty managed to fire his pistol at McClendon several times, but only glazed his cheek. The suspect then proceeded to stab the policeman six times with a carpenter's chisel before fleeing the domicile. 

After hearing the shots, neighbors informed several other police officers, who entered the house to find Daugherty unconscious and the suspect gone. State policemen and deputies were soon called in to apprehend McClendon. As news traveled throughout Crisfield, mobs began to form in the streets and joined the search party as posses. 500-1000 men were estimated to have been a part of these groups. As George Armwood had been lynched in Somerset County less than a year before McClendon's deeds, the authorities were on high alert to prevent mob violence should it occur. As law enforcement and mobs searched for the suspect, Sheriff Luther Daugherty, a relative of the victim, received a tip that McClendon was hiding at the residence of Joseph Spence, a relative of his wife. The tip proved to be true, and McClendon was apprehended at Spence's home. Out of fear of a potential lynching from the mob, Sheriff Daugherty handed McClendon over to the State Police to be held for his own safety in Baltimore. 

While Howard McClendon was held in Baltimore, Harry Daugherty died of his injuries. McClendon initially denied having killed Daugherty despite the evidence against him, but later confessed. A Somerset County grand jury indicted McClendon in June for Daugherty's murder. McClendon's trial itself was held in July in Dorchester County to reduce the risk of mob action. An active defense was made for McClendon by himself and his attorneys. The defense attorneys held that Daugherty had entered the McClendon home without a warrant, while McClendon claimed that Daugherty had attacked him upon entering his home as he was in bed. After two days of the trial, McClendon was found guilty of murdering Harry Daugherty, and sentenced to life imprisonment in Maryland Penitentiary in Baltimore. 

 

"Shore Posses Scour Swamp After Negro," Baltimore Sun, April 30, 1934.

"Mob Hunts for Negro After Officer is Shot," New York Times, April 30, 1934.

"Negro Jailed Here in Shore Stabbing," Baltimore Sun, May 1, 1934.

"Peace Officer's Attacker Taken to Baltimore," Washington Post, May 1, 1934.

"Inquest Set Today as Policeman Dies," Baltimore Sun, May 2, 1934.

"Crisfield Jury May Expedite Stabbing Case," Washington Post, May 2, 1934.

"Policeman Dies of Wounds," New York Times, May 2, 1934.

"Finds Negro Killed Shore Policeman," Baltimore Sun, May 3, 1934.

"Daugherty, Policeman, Dies Tuesday," Marylander and Herald, May 4, 1934

"Why?" Crisfield Times, May 4, 1934.

"McClelland Denies Killing Policeman," Washington Post, May 4, 1934.

"Alleged Slayer of White Cop Is Snatched From Shore Mob," Afro-American, May 5, 1934.

"Policemen's Benefit at Arcade Theater," Crisfield Times, May 11, 1934.

"Card of Thanks," Crisfield Times, May 11, 1934.

"Locals," Marylander and Herald, May 11, 1934.

"Grand Jury Will Convene Monday," Crisfield Times, June 8, 1934.

"Grand Jury to Reconvene on Monday," Marylander and Herald, June 8, 1934.

"Somerset County Calls Grand Jury," Washington Post, June 8, 1934.

"News from Maryland Told in Brief," Baltimore Sun, June 12, 1934.

"Grand Jury Indicts Negro in Killing," Crisfield Times, June 15, 1934.

"Locals," Marylander and Herald, July 6, 1934.

"News from Maryland Told in Brief," Baltimore Sun, July 21, 1934.

"Murder Trial Opens In Cambridge Tuesday," Washington Post, July 22, 1934.

"Police Guard Stabbing Trial," Washington Post, July 25, 1934.

"Slayer Given Life in Murder Of Policeman," Washington Post, July 26, 1934.

"Life Sentence Imposed For Stabbing Policeman," Baltimore Sun, July 26, 1934.

"McClendon is Guilty 1st Degree," Marylander and Herald, July 27, 1934.

"Slayer of Crisfield Policeman Convicted First Degree Murder," Crisfield Times, July 27, 1934.

 

"Negro Murderer Goes to Begin Life Sentence," Worcester Democrat, August 3, 1934.

"Kills Officer ; Given Life," Afro-American, August 4, 1934.