Jerry Holmes
Jerry Holmes was one of six Black men held at the Lake City county jail in Columbia County, Florida. In the early hours of Sunday, May 21, 1911, a group of more than a dozen men posing as officers showed a bogus telegram to the sheriff's teenage son, who was left in charge while the sheriff was away, and the men were released to them. The group drove the prisoners about a mile outside town, made them stand together, and shot them until they were dead. One account says the men were killed after they resisted, another says they were tied to trees before being fired on.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob posing as officers took Jerry Holmes from the Lake City jail, using a bogus telegram to persuade the sheriff's 16-year-old son to release him, then shot him about a mile outside town.
Reported by: Lake City dispatch in the Norwich Bulletin (reporters); news dispatch from Lake City, Fla., dated May 23, 1911 (reporters); Mountain Home Maverick report (reporters).
Sources (14)
- The Birmingham Age-Herald, May 22, 1911, page 1
- The Montgomery Advertiser, May 22, 1911, page 1
- The Bridgeport Evening Farmer, May 22, 1911, page 4
- Norwich Bulletin, May 22, 1911, page 1
- The Richmond Palladium And Sun-Telegram, May 22, 1911, page 2
- The Topeka State Journal, May 22, 1911, page 8
- Mountain Home Maverick, May 25, 1911, page 2
- American Falls Press, May 25, 1911, page 2
- The Palatka News And Advertiser, May 26, 1911, page 4
- Montpelier Examiner, May 26, 1911, page 2
- The Savannah Tribune, May 27, 1911, page 4
- Bonners Ferry Herald, May 27, 1911, page 3
- Elk City Mining News, June 1, 1911, page 6
- The Alaska Citizen, June 26, 1911, page 6