Anonymous and Undated Note Seeking Promise of a Reward for Identifying the Lynchers in Annapolis, Maryland, Who Shot Wright Smith from Behind on October 5, 1898 after Smith Had Temporarily Escaped from a Lynch Mob and Was Fleeing for His Life

[Lynching]

About this Item

Printed in ink on one side of a small sheet of cheap ruled notebook paper. Approximately 13 x 20 cm. The paper is browned but still sound. Text of Note: Mr Wiley Bates Sir, I was with the party who tried to stop the murder of Wright Smith in October last. I seen who put six balls in his back while the rest of them tryd to hang him. If you will have the Reward Money to pay me then I will come forward to testify in court. You can answer my note by see the Reverend Johnson at Union Baptist and he will pass it along to me. signed by a citizen of Balt." Smith, an African American laborer from Baltimore, was accused of breaking into and trying to rob a home near Annapolis belonging to a white oysterman named Morrison at around 10:30 pm on Sept. 2nd. The oysterman's white wife and her sister were in bed. The sister reported that Smith had forced them out of bed and threw Mrs. Morrison down the stairs after which the women successfully resisted and the robber left without robbing them. Smith was later arrested and the two women identified him as the robber. Smith was jailed in Annapolis. A lynch mob, suspected to be mostly from Baltimore where the Morrisons had lived until a recent move, broke into the jail around 2 am on Sept. 5th and seized Smith. He managed to break away, yelling "Help" and "Murder" but his escape was shortlived as he was shot several times from behind and died. After an inquest, no members of the lynch mob were identified and no one was charged. Wiley H. Bates, an African American businessman and the third African American to serve as an alderman in Annapolis sought to have the Annapolis City Council to pass a resolution condemning the lynching but the resolution found almost no support. Union Baptist Church, a Black church in Baltimore, was led by Rev. Harvey Johnson, 1843-1923, from 1872 until his death. Johnson was also active in civil rights efforts. Bates and Johnson appear to have been likely figures one would contact. We acquired it from a longtime collector far from Maryland but he had no significant chain of ownership to offer. Nonetheless, this intrigued us. What would Bates and Johnson have done about this offer? How much did the witness want? Would such testimony have had any chance of getting a white lynch mob killer charged or then convicted by a white jury in 1898?

Seller Inventory # 95507

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Anonymous and Undated Note Seeking Promise of a Reward for Identifying the Lynchers in Annapolis, Maryland, Who Shot Wright Smith from Behind on October 5, 1898 after Smith Had Temporarily Escaped from a Lynch Mob and Was Fleeing for His Life
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Law
  • African Americana