William Burns was a 22-year-old African-American man who was lynched on October 6, 1907, in Cumberland, Maryland, for the alleged murder of white Cumberland police officer August Baker.[1][2]
Several newspapers at the time account that Officer Baker attempted to arrest Burns, and that Burns allegedly resisted and shot Baker in a scuffle.[2] Burns was then arrested and taken to the Cumberland Jail.[2] Several days later, Baker died in hospital and a mob of men with their coats turned inside out and handkerchiefs over their faces gathered outside the jail at 12:40 am.[2] The mob tore down a telegraph pole and used it to batter down the doors to the jail.[2] One account reports that Burns was dragged out of his cell after the deputy on duty handed over the keys to the cell at gunpoint.[2] Burns was taken outside "peppered with bullets" and left to die.[2] The crowd wanted to hang Burns, but they could not find a rope.[2]
The Allegany County Commissioners offered a reward of $500 for the arrest and conviction of the people who took Burns from the jail.[3] Benjamin A. Richmond, an associate of Governor Lloyd Lowndes Jr. stated that a number of prominent men from Cumberland and vicinity were involved in the lynching.[2]
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