William Andrews
MSA SC 3520-13746
Lynched in Princess Anne, June 9, 1897
Biography:
William Andrews, aka "Cuba", a local African American laborer, was lynched immediately after we was tried
and convicted of an assault on Mrs. Benjamin T. Kelley on the afternoon of
May 5 in Marion, Somerset County. Andrews, after being arrested for
the attack and pleading guilty to the charges, was taken to Baltimore City jail for safe keeping.1 This
move was necessary to avoid any attacks against the prisoner prior
to the trial date. On June 9, at 11:00 a.m., Andrews was in court
on Main Street in Princess Anne, Somerset County. Within an hour,
he had listened to Mrs. Kelley's tearful testimony, confessed to the crime
without any defense (although he did mention that Mrs. Kelley was wrong
in that he did not have a pistol), and received a guilty verdict for the assault.2 Judge Henry Page ordered that William Andrews be
executed by hanging at the state's request. The crowd cheered as
the sentence was read.3
As court adjourned, the local police force noticed
that a large group of people had gathered in the back lawn of the court house. Fearful of what their intentions were, Judge Page addressed the mob in an attempt to avoid any violence towards the prisoner. He pleaded with the crowd
that Andrews had faced a speedy trial, and the verdict was decisive and
satisfactory, essentially avoiding all of the circumstances that surround mob justifications for lynching.4 Judge Page requested that the people go to their homes
as law abiding citizens of Somerset County. People screamed that
they would only leave if the judge promised not to allow Andrews to be
taken and held in Baltimore, and if the judge could
grant that request, they would disperse: Judge Page concurred.5 As the judge
told the officers that the crowd would allow them to transfer the prisoner
to the jail house on Church Street just across a ravine, Sheriff Nelson
and his deputies took the handcuffed Andrews out of the court, and
were met by the boisterous crowd.6
Immediately, the officers were attacked and attempted to get Andrews to the jail. The crowd simply
overpowered the officers as they tried to protect their prisoner, and Andrews
was literally ripped from the Sheriff's hands the instant they entered the courtyard. While handcuffed, Andrews was punched,
kicked, beaten with bats and clubs, and cut with razors until he was scarcely
alive. Many of the punches found the face and body
of the deputies trying to protect Andrews. Once the crowd was satisfied
they had beaten William Andrews to death, Sheriff Nelson went over to the
body, and realized he was still alive. The mob then grabbed Andrews
once more, and dragged him over to a walnut tree on the property of Z.
James Doughtery, where in an instant he was hanged until his death was
confirmed. William "Cuba" Andrews remained in the tree until around 2:30
p.m. when his body was placed in a plain coffin and buried in the almshouse
burial grounds. Immediately, a jury of inquest was composed, and
within an hour, it determined that he was strangled by a mob of unknown
strangers not from Somerset County.7
Footnotes
1. "Andrews Lynched!" The Cambridge Democrat and News, 12 June 1897.
2. ibid.
3. "Lynched in Haste." The Salisbury Advertiser, 12 June 1897.
4. "Mob Violence." The Cambridge Democrat and News, 19 June 1897.
5. "Lynched in Haste."
6. ibid.
7. "Andrews Lynched!"
Link
to Lynching Profile Questionnaire
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