The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-10
VAIN PLEA TO LYNCHERS.
utRrLAND MOB HANGS A CON-
DENIED NEGRO IN a JIFFY.

,,ar.Cs pleaded Guilty 70 an Assault ana was
eeutenced to Bo FunnEod-Meb Demanded
u,m and Judge Page Tried 70 Quiet Then-
The Mas soiscd and Put 90 Death Brutaily.
PRINCESS ANNE, Nd, Juno 9.-Judd William
Andrews, colored, was beaten nearly TO death
and then hanged by n mob here at IL o'clock this
rorning. He had just been tried and convicted
IA felonious assault upon Mrs. Benjamin KEEL
lev. A white woman, and had been sentenced to
no hanged. There was never any doubt OF tho
nepro's conviction or his sentence to death.
Tho assault was committed on May 8 at
Marion. Somerset county. near here. Tho negro
,ros taken to the Baltimore jail for safe keeping
.,d was brought back here last night under a
,,ronR guard Of officers. As early as 3 o'clock
this morning men from Marion and other parts
n, the county began to arrive. By the time
court opened to-day six or seven hundred men
from outside the county seat were gathered In
the neighborhood Of tho jail. The town police
men we're powerless. The crowd increased as
the trial proceeded. The negro pleaded guilty
and the Court promptly sentenced him to death.
when the death sentence became known to
the crowd, which had now increased to q thou
sand men. a shout OF exultation went up and the
leaders were heard to say:
LETS make quick work of tho negro"
Close UP to the Court House square pressed
the mob. Judge Page wont out upon the Court
House steps and argued with the crowd. who
were demanding that the negro DO delivered up
10 II. The Judge pleaded for the law to take Its
course, but the crowd refused to listen to him.
The scene was the strangest ever witnessed In
Somerset, and tho unavailing efforts Of Judge
Page, the foremost man in influence as well
as in official position in the county. to restrain
the Infatuated mob were pathetic. When the
sheriff attempted to take the prisoner to Jail
.koy aurrouDded nv tho mOb N fey yarda
from the Court House. Tho negro prayed and
pleaded for his life, but was taken from tho
sheriff. The brutality Of the mob was horrible.
Respectable citizens acted like madmen. The
negro was knocked down, kicked in tho face, and
stamped upon by the heavy-booted countrymen.
When he would try to rise they would knock
him down with bludgeons and again trample
upon him. Several brutes cut and lacerated tho
diving man with their penknives. Before he be-
came unconscious he begged the mob to kill
him.
A dozen stalwart men picked up tho negro
and hurried him to a big oak tree on Church
street, about thirty yards from the Court House.
A rope was quickly placed about his neck.
Several half-drunken men caught hold Of the
rope and, shouting like iends. drew it taut.
The next instant the already half-dead man
was dangling from a lower limb of the tree
After half a dozen pistols had been emptied at
the negro the mob dispersed. In the desperate
crowd were a number of men from other Eastern
Shore counties.
The authorities will investigate the affair and
q number of arrests will be made. 1t is sale
that a company of militia would have beer
ordered out to guard the prisoner had it no
been feared that there would be a repetition O
the Urbana tragedy.
A special session of the court was called to tr,
Andrews. to satisfy the demands of the com
munity. Chief Judge Page presided, and h,
was assisted by Associate JudgesHolland OF W
eomico county and Lloyd Of Dorchester coenly.
The crime Of which Andrews had been con
ricted was most brutal. Mrs. Kelley. the vic
tim, is the wife Of a farmer. She had been at
store in Marion on the day she was assaulted
and was walking along wooded road on her re
turn when she was met by Andrews, whom sh
Knew by sight. The negro asked her for he
pocketbook. She gave it to him in her trigh,
He found only a dollar in 1t, and this appeare
to anger him. He knocked Mrs. Kelley dow
and assaulted her. She dragged herself to he
home and informed her husband.
Hundreds Of men gathered at tho alarm an,
secured the country for the negro, who wa
caught by q constable q day afterward an
hidden in the woods until he could be take
safely to Jail. He spent ono night there, an
the next day Sheriff Nelson telegrapked Go,
Lowndes TOT lnsCructions, ana recelVou worn Z
take him to Baltimore. 1t was feared that
would be impossible to get the negro out Of tn
county, but the Sheriff did 80. After that tn
feeling against Andrews seemed to die down
particularly when it became known that
speedy trial would be had.
ANNAPOLIS, Md, June Gov. Lowndes Q
Maryland is much put out by the lynching o
the negro. Andrews, at Princess Anne to-day
He said the law should take its course. To sey
eral newspapers that telegraphed him tonight
he replied that while he had not received tn
details, from what he heard he believed it to b
an outrage, the man having been sentenced t
death. A~special term had been ordered for tn
trial.