Did You Know? A Teen Was Lynched in Baltimore County in 1885

Did you know that in 1885, a white mob in Baltimore County lynched a 15-year-old Black boy before his execution appeal could be heard? The killing of Howard Cooper remains one of the region’s most haunting examples of racial terror during the post-Reconstruction era.

Howard Cooper was accused earlier that year of assaulting a white woman near Rockland. Like many accusations against Black people at the time, the claim required little evidence. After Cooper fled in fear, he was captured and jailed. In May 1885, an all-white jury convicted the teenager and sentenced him to death in a trial that reportedly lasted less than a minute. The alleged victim never testified that an assault occurred, yet the conviction stood and his appeal was denied.

As community leaders, including Rev. Harvey Johnson of Baltimore’s Union Baptist Church, raised funds to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, Cooper was returned to the Baltimore County Jail in Towson to await execution. His execution was scheduled for July 31.

But in the early morning hours of July 13, 1885, at least 75 white men stormed the jail, abducted the child, and hanged him from a nearby sycamore tree. His body was left on display as a warning to Black residents and travelers. Members of the mob even distributed pieces of the lynching rope as souvenirs.

Howard Cooper’s mother buried her son in an unmarked grave in Ruxton. No one was ever prosecuted. Today, his story stands as a stark reminder of how racial violence and injustice shaped Maryland’s history.

Remembering Howard Cooper, Lynched At 15 In Baltimore County was originally published on 92q.com