Charles Whitley
MSA SC 3520-13736
Lynched in Prince Frederick, Maryland, June 6, 1886
Biography:
Charles Whitley was lynched Sunday, June 6, 1886. He was eighteen or nineteen years old and worked as a cook for the Lyle family, accompanying them from Stafford, Virginia to Calvert County, Maryland. Reverend L. M. Lyle of the M. E. Church South reportedly said that Whitley was an excellent servant to the Lyles. Whitley was murdered for the alleged attempted assault of Lyle's five year old daughter.
Whitley was arrested by Sheriff Anderson on Wednesday, June 2, the same day as the alleged crime. Reverend Lyle described the events to The Baltimore Sun on June 10th. According to Lyle's wife, Whitley asked their eldest daughter, Daisy, who was eleven years old, to accompany him while he picked a salad for dinner. When she refused, he took a basket and went into the yard where Annie and Sammy, five and three years old respectively, were playing. Then, according to Sammy, Whitley carried Annie into the woods. Mrs. Lyle panicked after trying to calm Sammy and sent Daisy to find Annie. When Daisy returned with Annie she claimed she had found Whitley assaulting her, and that he had threatened them both not to tell. Whitley returned to the house after the girls with the salad. Reverend Lyle learned of the event from his wife after he returned from the store and blacksmith's shop.
Reverend Lyle apprehended Whitley with a pistol
and handed him over to Sheriff Anderson. It was reported that around
10:00 p.m. Sunday night, forty masked men rode to the jail and overpowered
the guards on duty. Several shots were fired at the jail but no one was hurt. The men found Whitley chained to the floor and cut him
loose with an ax. A noose was fastened around Whitley's neck.
The men took him about a mile from the jail and hung him from a persimmon
tree.1 His body was cut down the next morning and buried near the
jail. Even though the guards were placed at the jail to prevent the
lynching, they were greatly outnumbered. Therefore, the guards were
charged with no wrongdoing.
A jury of inquest was summoned by Sheriff Anderson.
The State's Attorney, John B. Biscoe, examined the witnesses and the jury
rendered a verdict stating that Charles J. Whitley came to his death on
Sunday, June 6, 1886 and was hung by persons unknown to the jury.
The jury also charged James W. Lyons with aiding and abetting a lynching.
He was identified by the Sheriff and one of the guards. There were no found
reports on the penalty of Lyon's charges.2
1. "The Calvert Lynching," The Baltimore Sun, June 12, 1886.
2. "Charged with Abetting the Lynching," The Baltimore Sun, June 14, 1886.
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