Felix Lake
Felix Lake, Frank Lake, Dewey Lake and Major Lake were four members of one Black family, and Felix was the father of three of the others. On the night of January 20, 1916, about forty armed men took five Black men from the Worth County jail in Sylvester, Georgia. Sheriff L. A. Potts said he was held at gunpoint and forced to give up the keys, though one account says he opened the door after a man asked him to hold a prisoner for safekeeping. The men were driven toward Lee County and hanged from a tree near Starkville, and their bodies, found the next morning, showed many bullet wounds, and a coroner's inquest jury returned a verdict of death by strangulation and gunshot wounds at the hands of unknown parties.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A coroner's inquest jury returned a verdict of death by strangulation and gunshot wounds at the hands of unknown parties after a mob took the men from the Worth County jail, and Sheriff L. A. Potts said the mob held him at gunpoint and took his keys.
Reported by: Worth County coroner's inquest jury (medical examiner or coroner); Sheriff L. A. Potts (the agency that held him); Associated Press dispatch from Albany, Ga. (reporters).
News reports (9)
- Americus Times-Recorder, January 21, 1916, page 1
- Bryan Daily Eagle And Pilot, January 21, 1916, page 1
- The Waxahachie Daily Light, January 21, 1916, page 1
- The Montgomery Advertiser, January 22, 1916, page 1
- The Montgomery Advertiser, January 22, 1916, page 2
- The Pensacola Journal, January 22, 1916, page 1
- The Richmond Virginian, January 22, 1916, page 3
- Highland Recorder, January 28, 1916, page 1
- Highland Recorder, January 28, 1916, page 2