Mob Kills Negro — Crisfield Lynching, Corpse Strung on Pole, Newspaper Clipping

Crisfield, Md. — A newspaper clipping reports the killing of James Reed in three stark headlines: MOB KILLS NEGRO. CORPSE STRUNG ON POLE. FIERCE RACE WAR IS FEARED.

This is a different paper's account of the same event documented in two companion Receipts — Leave Church to Lynch Man and Negro's Body Torn by Mob. Where those clippings reported the church departure and the exhumation, this one fills in what happened in between.

Reed had fled by rowboat across Tangier Sound. He was pursued by a gasoline launch, captured at a dock, torn from his captors by the mob, and beaten to death before he could be dragged 100 yards. The paper notes that the lynching occurred in broad daylight and that no masks were worn.

No concealment. No pretense of anonymity. The men who killed James Reed did not hide their faces.

The third headline — Fierce Race War Is Feared — is the paper's framing of community response. Not grief. Not outrage at the killing. Fear of retaliation.

Three clippings. Three newspapers. Two days. One man killed and then desecrated. This is the complete record as the local press left it.

Available in three sizes. Framed or print only.