The Penn's Grove record., 1905-07-07
EIGHT LYNCHED BY MOB
Seven Negros and White Man Killed
at WatkinsyiIIe, Ga.
WERE TAKEN FROM THE JAIL

Masked Men O~verpowsred JaiIer at Early
Morning Hour and Seized Nine Pris-
0ners Who Were Accused of Murder
and Criminal A~ssault-Led Them q
Short Distance Away and Shot Them
Watkinsville, Ga.-A mob composed
of half a hundred masked men armed
with revolvers, rifles and shotguns, APP
peared at the county Jail, which is To-
Gated in the very heart of the city,
about 2 o'clock in the morning, secured
the keys to the building and, taking
nine prisoners to a spot 100 yards from
the prison, shot eight of them to death.
With the exception of Alonzo Aye
cock, a white man, all victims were
negroes. The ninth man escaped death
by falling to the ground when the first
volley was fired and pretending he had
ben killed. He was wounded in two
places and failed to make his escape
when the mob left. He was returned
to the Jail where he was attended by
a physician.
-Four Of the men lynched, including
the white man, We're charged with
completely in the murder, some weeks
ago, of H. L. Hollbrook and his aged
wife, which occurred at their home,
four miles from this place. Their
mutilated bodies were found by neigh
bors on the morning after the crime.
Their alleged slayers we're being held
in jail here to await trial.
The negroes alleged to have had a
hand in the murder were Richard and
Louis Robinson and Claude Elder. The
four other prisoners who were killed
by the mob were in Jail for various
offenses, some of them being charged
with implication in criminal assault
cases.
There was no disorer of any kind.
The mob gathered quietly at the Jail,
forced Jack Grow, who was on duty,
to surrender the keys. The prison was
cleared of it's prisoners before any one
knew what was happening and the
lynching occurred Immediately. The
bodies of the dead were found where
they fell and remained on the spot
till the coroner could hold the inquest.
Some of the prisoners, it was said,
realizing what was to be their fate,
begged their captOrs ~piteOusly to be
saved. Others marched along stole
ally to the spot picked out to be their
execution ground. The nine men were
forced to stand in the semblance of a
row, although the position of the bod
les would indicate that several had
attempted to run away and were shot
down as they turned to flee.
1t is not known how many volleys
were fired. The negro who lay in the
Jail wounded could give but little in
formation regarding the tragedy.
After the lynching the masked men
dispersed and went their several
ways quickly and silently.
There was no clew as to who COM
posed the mob. and it was not known
what steps would be taken at this
time regarding the matter. Every
thing awaited the action of the cor
oner's jury.
The gruesome evidence of popular
vengeance "a left to strike terror
into the lawless negro element which
the whites of Watkinsville hold re-
sponsible for the series of crime the
lynching was designed to end. There
have been few more terrible punish
ments inflicted under the mob law in
the South than this. The authorities
have Informed the State government
of the occurrence, but what steps will
be taken to punish the men who took
part in the lynching has not been de-
cided.
The murders for which some of the
men were lynched were committed two
weeks ago. An aged white pair that
lived in an isolated farm house were
murdered in a brutal manner, after
being tortured apparently by thieves
who had tried to make them tell where
money was hidden. An effort was
made to set the house afire after the
crime.
Bloodhounds were used to track the
murderers, and they led to a negro
settlement. Seven negroes and a white
man who associated with them were
arrested on suspicion which, in the
popular mind, was certainty. All the
prisoners had bad regulations, and
the feeling that they should be put
out of the way, beyond the possibility
of a miscarriage of justice in the
courts, had been strong since their cap
ture.
The negro who was lynched for at
lacking a white Woman was a member
of the same gang as the others, and his
crime brought to a decision the feeling
that a terrible example should be made
Of the prisoners to put an end to law
1accnncc