Lynching in America / Lynching in Allegany County

Marker Text: On October 6, 1907, a white mob lynched an 18-year-old Black teenager known as William Burns in Cumberland, Maryland. Days earlier, William visited a saloon at the canal wharf after work. When he was accused of disorderly conduct and asked to leave, a local white officer came to arrest him. Reports alleged that the officer severely beat William and in the struggle between the two men, the officer was shot. Afterward, William was arrested and placed in the county jail. By the early morning hours of October 6, rumors of the officer’s death fueled anger among white residents, hundreds of whom surrounded the jail. For more than half an hour, armed authorities failed to intervene and disperse the mob. Facing no resistance, the mob broke into the jail, abducted William from his cell, and dragged him into the street. The mob then beat him to death and shot his body repeatedly. Thousands of white spectators, including “hundreds of Sunday School it lay exposed. White mobs killed Black people with impunity during this era, knowing that law enforcement regularly ignored its duty or failed to prevent even the most visible public spectacle lynchings. Later, it was discovered that William Burns was actually Robert Hughes. Like many young Black men at the time, he likely came to Cumberland to find work and opportunity. Despite the large mob, no one was ever held accountable for the lynching.