William Burns was a 22-year-old African-American man who was lynched on October 6, 1907, in Cumberland, Maryland, for the alleged murder of white Cumberland police officer August Baker.
[2] Several days later, Baker died in hospital and a mob of men with their coats turned inside out and handkerchiefs over their faces gathered outside the jail at 12:40 am.
[2] The mob tore down a telegraph pole and used it to batter down the doors to the jail.
[2] The Allegany County Commissioners offered a reward of $500 for the arrest and conviction of the people who took Burns from the jail.
[3] Benjamin A. Richmond, an associate of Governor Lloyd Lowndes Jr. stated that a number of prominent men from Cumberland and vicinity were involved in the lynching.