The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-06-30
ONE WHITE MAN AMONG NUMBER LYNCHEO, THE
 9THERS BEING NEGROES
Prominent Citizen Begged the Men to Dssist, But They Told Him They Were Cool, Sober and Deter
 mined and Intended
 to Proceed.

Watkinsville, Ga, June 29.-A mob en- tered the jail at Watlxinsville at o'clock this morning and took therefrom nine death and the ninth escaped only by be- ing thought dead by the mob. The prison CTS taken out and lynched were:
 Lon J. Aycock, white, charged with the murder of F. M. Holbrook and wife, of Oconee county, and seven negroes Rich Robinson, Lewis Robinson, Claude Elder, charged with the murder of the Holbrook couple; Sandy Price, young negro, charged with attempted rape upon the person of Mrs Weldon Dooley; Rich Al len negro convicted and under sentence of death for the murder of Will Rob- ertson, another negro; Gene Yerby. an- other negro, charged with burglary of a rifle from MT. Marshall. and Bob Harris, a negro, charged with shooting another negro.
 All Were Heavily Masked.
 The mob came quietly into Watkinsville little before a. m. There were about 800 men in the crowd. All were heavily masked and no one knew whence they came or to what point they returned. They went at once to the house of Town Marshal T. H. Aiken and quietly called him to the door. As he put his of tI, told that he must deliver the jail key lie refused and the men put pistols in his face and overpowered 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 Courtney Elder, a blacksmith, and made him bring his tools along with him. On their way to the jail they were met by A. w Ashford, a prominent citizen of Wat marshals house and came down town as soon as he could dress.
 Begged Them to Deslst.
 MT. Ashford begged the men to desist and let the law take its course, especially pleading for Aycock on the ground that the evidence had not been secured to war rant his conviction. He also begged them not to lynch those not charged with cap ital crimes. They told him that they were cool sober and determined, and that he might as well go back home and go to bed. The jail was then opened by the town marshal under the cover of several pistols and inside the jail the mob held up Jailer Crow and demanded the keys 10 the cells.
 He refused at first but surrendered them after being menaced with guns. Jailer Crow begged hard for law and or der on the same ground that MT. Ash ford did, and also for the two negroes who were not charged with capital crimes. He was told to shut his mouth They knew what to do, they said and they were going to clear out the whole iail a The mob got every prisoner in the jail except Ed Thrasher, a negro, charged with gambling, who was on the n<sde- meanor side of the prison and was un- noticed. The prisoners were carried to a point some 100 yards from the jail and tied to the fence posts by their necks.
 Aycock Protests His Innocence.
 Aycock protested his innocence to the last He said they were killing an in- nocent man. While the general belief in Oconee county is that Aycock was guilty still there were many who did not be- lieve so. Rich Robinson said it was alright so far as he was concerned. but that three more negroes were in the Hol- brook murder. He named Sidney Nor ris, Jim Taylor and Wiley Durham as the three implicated. These negroes had been ~~-~-------~~~--~>------
 (ConfipiIed rx