Samuel Gorman, a 17-year-old black boy was sent to jail for the alleged murder of William E. Taylor.

Samuel Gorman, a 17-year-old African-American worked for hay merchant William E. Taylor who owned the shop on 503 Main Street.

[3] On July 23, 1919, Taylor told him that he didn't have any more work for Gorman and he allegedly hit him over his head, fatally wounding him.

[4] [5] [2] This uprising was one of several incidents of civil unrest that began in the so-called American Red Summer, of 1919.

The Summer consisted of terrorist attacks on black communities, and white oppression in over three dozen cities and counties.