Alonzo Williams

Alonzo Williams, a Black man, was held at the Toombs County jail in Lyons, Georgia, in July 1908. Newspaper dispatches report that a mob came to the sheriff's home around midnight and demanded the jail keys. The sheriff refused, a guard was left at his house, and the mob broke into the jail, took Williams from his cell and killed him in a nearby oak grove. Accounts differ on the date, given as July 28 to 30, and on whether he was shot, hanged or both.

Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob took Alonzo Williams from the Toombs County jail in Lyons, Georgia, and shot him to death in a nearby grove, after the sheriff refused to hand over the keys and a guard was left at his house while the jail was stormed.

Reported by: Sheriff Scarboro (the agency that held him); Paducah Evening Sun dispatch from Lyons, Ga. (reporters); Richmond Palladium and Sun-Telegram report (reporters); newspaper dispatch.

Sources (9)

• The Birmingham Age-Herald, July 30, 1908, page 2 The Birmingham Age-Herald, July 30, 1908
• The Montgomery Advertiser, July 30, 1908, page 1 The Montgomery Advertiser, July 30, 1908
• The Paducah Evening Sun, July 30, 1908, page 7 The Paducah Evening Sun, July 30, 1908
• The Richmond Palladium And Sun-Telegram, July 30, 1908, page 6 The Richmond Palladium And Sun-Telegram, July 30, 1908
• New-York Tribune, July 30, 1908, page 3 New-York Tribune, July 30, 1908
• The Sun, July 30, 1908, page 1 The Sun, July 30, 1908
• The Bamberg Herald, August 6, 1908, page 1 The Bamberg Herald, August 6, 1908
• The Miller Press, August 6, 1908, page 3 The Miller Press, August 6, 1908
• The Sisseton Weekly Standard, August 7, 1908, page 3 The Sisseton Weekly Standard, August 7, 1908