George Bickham
George Bickham, a 22-year-old Black man, was one of four men held in the small jail at Ponchatoula, Louisiana, in September 1900. A mob broke open the jail doors, took him and three other men from their cells, and hanged them from an oak tree beside the jail. The Age-Herald reports that many people in the town, both white and Black, deplored the killings, and that a law and order committee was formed the next day. The True Democrat dates the killings to late on a Friday night, and neither account says whether the jailer resisted or handed the men over.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob broke open the Ponchatoula, Louisiana jail doors, took George Bickham and three other men from their cells, and hanged them from an oak tree beside the jail.
Reported by: news reports.