The Lynchings of James Carroll, John Biggus, and James Bowens
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Lynching in America

The Lynchings of James Carroll, John Biggus, and James Bowens, also, Lynching in America. . , The Lynchings of James Carroll, John Biggus, and James Bowens. Three Black men were victims of racial terror lynching in Frederick County between 1879 and 1895. Each was abducted following reports of attacks against local white women. On April 17, 1879, a mob of more than 70 white people lynched 24-year-old James Carroll. Mr. Carroll was on a train from Washington, D.C., to Frederick in police custody when he was seized by the mob. After he was forced off the train, the mob used a rope it placed around Mr. Carroll's neck to drag im through a muddy embankment to the edge of nearby woods in Point of Rocks, where it hanged him. On November 23, 1887, John Biggus, a 19-year-old Black teen, was lynched by a mob of 100 or more white men. After seizing Mr. Biggus from the Frederick jail, the mob took him to a nearby field and killed him as he professed his innocence. Mr. Biggus was shot three times and hanged. On November 17, 1895, a mob of approximately 300 white men lynched young Black man, James Bowens, after he was seized from the Frederick jail. As Mr. Bowens was hanged, the mob fired a gunshot into his head. A member of the mob made a brief speech afterwards, stating they had lynched Mr. Bowens "to teach men of his class that they must let the white women of Frederick county alone or suffer the consequences." No one was held accountable for the lynchings of James Carroll, John Biggus, or James Bowens., Lynching in America. Thousands of Black people were the victims of lynching and racial violence in the U.S. between 1865 and 1950. During the Reconstruction era, lynching became a notorious and highly effective form of racial terror intended to intimidate Black communities and enforce racial hierarchy and segregation. After the Civil War, there was violent resistance to equal rights for Black Americans, and an ideology of white supremecy that led to the violent abuse of Black men, women, and children. Though law enforcement was legally required to protect those in their custody, many Black people were pulled out of jails or seized from police hands by white mobs. Racial terror lynchings were not the action of a few extremists, instead lynchings were seen as a community spectacle and included burnings and mutiliation, sometimes carried out in front of large crowds numbering in the thousands. Many Black Americans were lynched for perceived violations of social customs, for engaging in interracial relationships, or for the accusation of alleged crimes. As in many other racial terror lynchings, the body of each Frederick County lynching victim was left hanging overnight to be viewed by white spectators, further terrorizing the Black community. Many victims of these acts of violence were not recorded and remain unknown, but at least 34 racial terror lynchings have been documented in Maryland alone, with at least three having taken place in Frederick County.