Matthew Williams

Depiction of the lynching of Matthew Williams by Edmund Duffy. From the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Allen Seeber Matthew Williams (February 8, 1908 – December 4, 1931) was a black man lynched by a white mob in Salisbury, Maryland, on December 4, 1931.

Life of Matthew Williams Matthew Williams was born to Harry Williams and Annie née Hardy on February 8, 1908, in Norfolk, Virginia. Only a few years later, he lost both of his parents: his mother died of pneumonia in 1912, and his father died in 1915. Williams and his older sister, Olivia, were then sent to live with their maternal grandmother, Mary Handy, in Salisbury, Maryland.

Williams attended school until he was fourteen, when his grandmother died. He then took a job at the Elliot Box and Crate Factory and was known for keeping to himself and earning an impressive amount of money for a black laborer at the time. Professor and civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill wrote in her book, On the Courthouse Lawn, that Matthew Williams was reported to have $56 in savings at the time of his death. He was extremely conscious of his finances, depositing half of it in the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank of Salisbury and the other half in the Prudential Bank after hearing about the bank failures during the Depression era. There was no trace of this money after his death.

On the afternoon of December 4, 1931, a supposed confrontation at work led to Williams being hospitalized at Peninsula General Hospital (now Peninsula Regional Medical Center). He was placed in the "Negro Ward" in a straitjacket, with his head bandaged so that he could not see. Williams was severely injured from bullet wounds, but his death occurred much later.

Eventually, Williams was dragged from the hospital by an angry mob that had heard of the incident. Although local police were present, they did not try to stop the mob from lynching Williams on the courthouse green. Hours later, after the body was hanged and burned, the authorities removed Williams' body. /

In conducting her research, Ifill gained substantial insight into not only the history of lynchings but also their enduring impact on communities on the Eastern Shore. In an interview following the publication of her book, she explained that the most disturbing part of her research was not the lynchings themselves, but the silence surrounding their existence.

Vigils Eastern Shore communities have engaged in is hosting vigils on the anniversaries of crimes.