Berry Washington
Berry Washington, a Black man in his seventies, was held in the Telfair County jail at McRae, Georgia, in May 1919. Accounts say a mob took him from the jail, carried him to Milan, hanged him to a post and then shot his body, most giving the date as May 26. The sheriff was away at the time, and a grand jury later described the deputy left in charge as sympathetic to the mob, while no account says the jail's officers resisted the mob or kept the keys. The grand jury said the evidence was not sufficient to identify those responsible, and a judge ordered removal proceedings against the sheriff for gross negligence. Officials at Milan were reported to have asked that the killing be kept out of print, and the Atlanta Constitution said no arrests had been made by late July.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A Telfair County grand jury said a mob took Berry Washington from the jail near McRae in May 1919 and lynched him, with a deputy left in charge described as sympathetic to the mob.
Reported by: Telfair county special grand jury (court); Atlanta Constitution (reporters).
News reports (11)
- The Cordele Dispatch, June 1, 1919, page 6
- The Cordele Dispatch, July 25, 1919, page 5
- The Birmingham Age-Herald, July 25, 1919, page 1
- Pine Bluff Daily Graphic, July 25, 1919, page 1
- Alexandria Gazette, July 25, 1919, page 1
- Richmond Times-Dispatch, July 25, 1919, page 1
- The Savannah Tribune, July 26, 1919, page 1
- The Birmingham Age-Herald, July 28, 1919, page 4
- The Birmingham Age-Herald, September 7, 1919, page 13
- The Montgomery Advertiser, September 7, 1919, page 3
- Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 7, 1919, page 1