Lynched in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, on October 20, 1894
Biography:
In contemporary newspaper accounts, Stephen Williams is accused of planning an attack on Katie Hardesty on Wednesday, October 17, 1894. These accounts describe that Hardesty’s husband, Albert, was away and she was ill in bed when Williams entered the house. Mr. Hardesty operated a store in Upper Marlboro, and was working there on the evening when the incident occured. The family dog intervened during the struggle that occurred between Mrs. Hardesty and her assailant, lunging at the perpetrator. The Hardesty’s daughter was also in the home and the commotion caused her to yell for help, at which point it is described that Williams fled the scene. Katie Hardesty then left home to tell her husband what had happened.
Stephen Williams was found and arrested. During the preliminary hearing, it is reported that he confessed to the crime of the assault on Katie Hardesty. At 11:30 p.m., on Friday, October 19, a group of men on horseback approached the home of Warden W.J. Spicer, saying they had a prisoner that needed to be jailed, and wished to have the keys. Warden Spicer explained that his key was in a deposit box located at Dr. Latmer’s drug store in town, and that a second key was needed to get into the jail, held by Deputy Warden Dumbhard who was at the jail, and would receive the prisoner. A short time later, the men returned to Warden Spicer’s home, this time with their revolvers drawn, and demanded the keys a second time. Spicer responded by pulling his gun and saying “You can get the keys out of this (his gun).” At that moment, a gunshot was heard at the jailhouse two blocks away, and the men ran off. Fearing that the mob had gotten into the jail, Warden Spicer got dressed and ran to the jailhouse.
By this time a mob had gathered at the back door of the jail. Seeing that it was a double iron door with iron locks, it took one hour with a sledgehammer to break the bricks around the foundation of the door in order to enter the building. A crowd had gathered to witness the mob breaking into the jail. Williams pleaded with the deputy to protect him, all to no avail. The men who entered the jail found Williams hiding under his mattress. Placing a rope around his neck, they dragged Williams down the stairs of the jail, and out onto the lawn.
The crowd led Williams to an iron bridge in between the town and the railroad station. With the other end of the noose tied to the bridge, the mob threw Williams over, breaking his neck instantly. A few minutes later, Warden Spicer approached the bridge, and dispersed the crowd, leaving Williams body hanging. It was removed the next morning and placed under a sycamore tree where fellow lynching victim Joseph Vermillion’s body was buried five years earlier.
This was the third lynching in Prince George’s County, and just like the previous two, the jury came back with the verdict that “Williams came to his death by hanging and being shot by parties unknown.”
Source: MSA SC 3520-13742
MLTRC Prince George’s County Public Hearing, January 25, 2025
Stephen Williams is the last known Black man lynched in Prince George’s County.
Mr. Williams was born in 1870. He was one of nine known children born to Thomas and Maria (Ma-ri-ah) Julia Williams, according to the 1880 federal census. They had nine children. A Williams family tree lists them as Catherine — known as Carrie — Louesa (correct), Thomas, Frank, Stephen, Charles, Henry, Catherine and Sam Elliott. Their parents had been enslaved, so it’s possible that there were more children.
Only one newspaper account of Mr. Williams’ lynching mentioned any family members. The Maryland Independent of Port Tobacco said that Mr. Williams was survived by his brother-in-law James Norris of Bel Alton, Maryland. Mr. Norris was married to Mr. Williams’ sister Carrie.
This family connection led researchers to descendants of Mr. Williams’ sister Carrie and the Norris/Butler family tree. And later locating living descendants of Mr. Williams.
We do not know where Stephen Williams made his home or what he did for a living when he was lynched October 20, 1894 on an iron bridge in Upper Marlboro, not far from the current County Administration Building. The 24-year-old Mr. Williams was accused of planning an attack on a white woman, Katie Hardesty, at her home near Woodmore.
According to newspaper accounts, Mrs. Hardesty was home alone and sick in bed on October 17 when a man entered her bedroom, asking the whereabouts of her husband Albert, a well-known farmer. She told him that he was working at the store he operated in Upper Marlboro. The man lunged at her and a struggle ensued between them. The assailant released her only when the family dog started biting him.
The Hardesty’s daughter heard the commotion and yelled for help. And the assailant fled. Mrs. Hardesty then left her home to tell her husband what had happened.
Mrs. Hardesty and her daughter identified Stephen Williams as the assailant, according to newspaper accounts. The next morning (October 18) the sheriff found Mr. Williams and charged him with attempting to assault Mrs. Hardesty. During the preliminary hearing, Mr. Williams allegedly confessed to crime. He was sent to the county jail in Upper Marlboro.
Late on the night of October 19, a group of men on horseback went to the home of Warden W.J. Spicer, according to news accounts. The men told the warden they had a prisoner to be jailed and needed the jail keys. Warden Spicer told them his key was in a deposit box at a drug store in town. And, that a second key – held by the deputy warden — was needed to get into the jail. Warden Spicer told them the deputy warden was at the jail and would receive the prisoner.
A short time later, the men returned to Warden Spicer’s home with guns drawn, demanding the keys. Spicer then pulled out his gun and told them, “You can get the keys out of this” — meaning his gun. At that moment, a gunshot rang out at the jailhouse two blocks away, and the men ran off. Warden Spicer — fearing that a mob had broken into the jail, got dressed and ran to the jailhouse.
By then, a mob had gathered at the jail’s back door — a double iron door with iron locks. It took the mob an hour with a sledgehammer to break the bricks around the door’s foundation and gain entry, according to newspaper stories. A crowd witnessed the mob breaking into the jail. Williams pleaded with the deputy warden to protect him, all to no avail.
The men who entered the jail found Mr. Williams hiding under his mattress. Placing a rope around his neck, they dragged him down the stairs of the jail, and out onto the lawn.
The mob led Williams to an iron bridge in between the town and the railroad station. They threw the rope over one of the bridge’s beams and hauled Mr. Williams up. The mob secured the rope to the bridge railing. A volley of shots were then fired and the lynchers disappeared, leaving the body hanging.
A few minutes later, Warden Spicer arrived and dispersed the crowd. He took down Mr. Williams’ body, and laid it under a sycamore tree, according to the Baltimore Sun. Other papers reported that Mr. Williams body wasn’t taken down until the next morning.
Mr. Williams’ body was turned over to an undertaker, who dug a grave in the jail yard, the Sun reported.
The investigating jury’s verdict was that Mr. Williams, “came to his death by hanging and being shot by parties unknown.”
Some newspapers claimed that Black men were part of the lynching party or supported the lynch mob’s actions. These reports are hard to believe.
The Baltimore Sun said that Upper Marlboro citizens, “without respect of race, color or condition,” agreed that Mr. Williams deserved his fate. The paper also claimed Mr. William’s father said, “he couldn’t blame the people as it was a bad crime.”
The paper added, “while lawlessness is always to be deplored … the crime “was of such a brutal character that lynching was the only proper punishment.”
Lynching was the only proper punishment? Mr. Stephens was lynched by a mob and then his body was riddled with bullets. All well before he was even tried, much less convicted.
Clearly, there is much more to this story than what newspapers of the time tell us. We remain committed to learning more about Mr. Williams, uncovering the truth about his lynching and working to hold accountable those responsible for his brutal murder.