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Died in jail or a lockup

Wright Smith

died October 5, 1898 · Jennifer Road Detention Center, Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Wright Smith, a Black man, was held in the Annapolis jail in Maryland. Shortly after 2 a.m. on October 5, 1898, a masked mob of roughly thirty to fifty men came to the jail, and newspaper accounts say the night watchman was forced at gunpoint to hand over the cell keys. The men took Smith from his cell to a lot near the city cemetery and shot him many times, and he died there. The Evening Star reported that the governor said he would investigate the lynching.

Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. Newspaper accounts say a masked mob forced the night watchman at gunpoint to hand over the keys, took Wright Smith from his cell at the Annapolis jail, and shot him near the city cemetery.

Reported by: Alexandria Gazette (reporters); Associated Press dispatch (reporters); Portland Daily Press (reporters); Providence News (reporters); Dakota Chief (reporters); Jamestown Weekly Alert (reporters); EJI (advocates).

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