Henry 'Peg' Gilbert

Henry 'Peg' Gilbert was a deacon at Union Springs Baptist Church and a respected landowner in Harris County, Georgia, and his granddaughter and great-grandson have kept his story alive. In 1947 he was held in the county jail, and a mob beat him to death in his cell, according to Georgia Public Broadcasting, and no one was ever tried or convicted. The Harris County police chief claimed Gilbert had been beaten in self-defense, while the body reportedly showed a shattered skull, broken legs and bullet wounds, and his family disputes the police chief's account. A memorial ceremony was held for him at Union Springs Methodist Church seventy years later.

Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched (disputed). The Harris County police chief said he beat Gilbert in self-defense, while a later account says a mob broke into the jail and beat him to death in his cell.

Reported by: Harris County police chief (the agency that held him); a later retrospective account.

News reports (2)

• Her Grandfather Was Lynched In Georgia 70 Years Ago. 'There Was No Therapy Back Then.' Georgia Public Broadcasting, May 22, 2018
• A Jim Crow–Era Murder. A Family Secret. Decades Later, What Does Justice Look Like? Mother Jones, October 18, 2021