George Ratcliff
George Ratcliff, a Black man aged 25, had worked for the same farmer for about a decade, according to the Asheville Register. He was held in the Haywood County jail in Waynesville, and around 1 a.m. on March 5, 1900, about fifty masked men broke through the jail doors and demanded his release. The sheriff and a deputy refused, and the mob fired through the bars of his cell, killing him, as the Asheville Citizen reported. Residents interviewed in 2019 said they had heard of him only in fragments, and one said he 'didn't even get a trial.'
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. The Asheville Citizen reported that a masked mob broke into the Haywood County jail and shot Ratcliff through the bars of his cell, and that the sheriff and a deputy refused to release him.
Reported by: Asheville Citizen (reporters).