The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1905-07-06
White Man and Eight Negroes Are
Shot TO Pieces
WAS A VERY BL0QDTdIRS1Y MOB
Jail at Watkinsvlle, Ca, Near Athens,
is Entered by From so to rs Masked
Men at 2 a. n1., and of Ten Prisoners
One is Overlooked and Another
Mistakinsly Left Dead, While the
Other Eight Are Shot to Death.

WatklnSVlIle, ia, Specldl.-A Hou
entered the Jail at Watkinsville at 2
o'clock Thursday morning and took
therefrom nine prisoners. eight OF
whom were shot to death, and the ninth
escaped only by being thought dead by
the mob. The prisoners taken out and
lynched were Leon ]. Aycock, white,
charged with the murder OF F. NJ. Hol-
brook and wife, Oconee county, and
seven negroes-Rich Robinson, Lewis
Robinson, and Claud Elder, charged
with the murder Of the Holbrook
couple; Sandy Price. a young negro,
charged with attempted rape on the
person of Mrs. Weldon Dooley; Rich
Allen. negro convicted and under SEN
tence Of death for the murder Of VIII
Robertson, another negro; Gene Yer
by, another negro charged with the
burglary of a rife from Mr.. Marshall,
and Bob Harris, a negro, charged WITH
shooting another negro.
MADE OFFICER OPEN JAIL. y
The mob came quietly into Watkins
u.
about so to Is men in the crowd. All
were heavily masked and no one knows
whence they came or to what point
they returned. They went at once to
the house of Town Marshal L. Fl. Aiken
and quietly called him to the door.
AS he put his head out of the door he
was seized and told that he must de-
liver the Jail key. He refused and the
men put pistols in his face and over
powered him, he being rather small
man. Aiken refused to dress, but some
Of the party dressed him and carried
him along. The mob next seized Court
ney Elder. a blacksmith, and made him
bring his tools along with him.
CITIZENS PLEA DISREGARDED.
On their way to the Jail they were
met by A. w. Ashford, prominent
citizen of Watkinsville. who had heard
the noise at the marshals house, and
came down town as soon as he could
dress Mr.. Ashford begged the men to
desist and let the law take it's course,
especially pleading for Aycock, on the
ground that the evidence had not been
secured to warrant his CONJUNCTION. He
also begged them not to lynch those
not carged with capital crimes. They
told hom that they were cool, sober
and determined and that he might as
we'll go back and go to bed. The
Jail was then opened by the town mar
shall under the cover of several pis-
tolls, and inside the Jail the mob held
UP Jailer Crow and demanded the keys
to the cells. He refused at first, but
surrendered them after being menaced
with guns. Jailer Crow begged hard
for Aycock on the same ground that
Mr. Ashford did, and also for the two
negroes who were not charged with
capital crimes Members of the attack
ing party told him to shut his mouth.
They knew what to do, they said, and
they were going to clear out the whole
Jail.
WHITE MAN DIES PROTESTING.
The mob got every prisoner in jail
except Ed. Thrasher, negro, charged
with gambling. who was on the misde-
meanor side Of the prison and carried
to a point some one hundred yards
from the Jail and tied to three fence
posts, by their necks. Aycock protested
his innocence to the last. He said they
were killing an innocent man. While
the general belief in Oconee county Is
that Aycock was not guilty, still there
are many who did not believe so. Rich
Robinson said it was all right, so far
as he was concerned, but that three
more negroes were in the Holbrook
murder. He named Sidney Norris, Jim
Taylor, and Wiley Durham as the three
implicated. These negroes had been In
Jail before on this charge and had been
released after full investigation by the
committee. The other prisoners did not
open their mouths during their march
to their doom.