Cooper, an African American resident of Towson, Maryland, was accused of the assault, rape and attempted murder of a 16-year-old white girl, Miss Kate Gray, on April 2, 1885. Cooper, who said that he was 17 years old but was reported to be about 20 or 24, encountered Miss Gray on a county road near her house, about six miles from Towson. He apparently knew her, or at least knew her name, because she claimed that he called out her name. After she ignored him and continued walking along, Cooper pursued her, beat her and dragged her into the woods and assaulted her over a three-hour period until being frightened away by one of her dogs. He was discovered four days later hiding in a barn near Towson and was jailed at Baltimore City and after June 30 at Towson.
On the evening and early morning of July 12 and 13, 1885, about 75 men wearing black muslin masks and handkerchiefs over their faces approached the jail where Howard Cooper was being held. They used an old flagpole to break in the back door, then smashed the lock on Cooper's jail cell and forced it open. They immediately put a cotton rope around his neck and led him back out the back door into the jail yard, where they hanged him from the nearest tree.
On the evening and early morning of July 12 and 13, 1885, about 75 men wearing black muslin masks and handkerchiefs over their faces approached the jail where Howard Cooper was being held. They used an old flagpole to break in the back door, then smashed the lock on Cooper's jail cell and forced it open. They immediately put a cotton rope around his neck and led him back out the back door into the jail yard, where they hanged him from the nearest tree.
Cooper, an African American resident of Towson, Maryland, was accused of the assault, rape and attempted murder of a 16-year-old white girl, Miss Kate Gray, on April 2, 1885. Cooper, who said that he was 17 years old but was reported to be about 20 or 24, encountered Miss Gray on a county road near her house, about six miles from Towson. He apparently knew her, or at least knew her name, because she claimed that he called out her name. After she ignored him and continued walking along, Cooper pursued her, beat her and dragged her into the woods and assaulted her over a three-hour period until being frightened away by one of her dogs. He was discovered four days later hiding in a barn near Towson and was jailed at Baltimore City and after June 30 at Towson.
On the evening and early morning of July 12 and 13, 1885, about 75 men wearing black muslin masks and handkerchiefs over their faces approached the jail where Howard Cooper was being held. They used an old flagpole to break in the back door, then smashed the lock on Cooper's jail cell and forced it open. They immediately put a cotton rope around his neck and led him back out the back door into the jail yard, where they hanged him from the nearest tree.
On the evening and early morning of July 12 and 13, 1885, about 75 men wearing black muslin masks and handkerchiefs over their faces approached the jail where Howard Cooper was being held. They used an old flagpole to break in the back door, then smashed the lock on Cooper's jail cell and forced it open. They immediately put a cotton rope around his neck and led him back out the back door into the jail yard, where they hanged him from the nearest tree.
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