John Bailey
John Bailey, a Black man, was held in the Marietta jail in Cobb County, Georgia, in March 1900. According to the Marietta Journal, a masked mob of about one hundred men broke through the jail door in the early hours of Sunday, March 18, while the sheriff pleaded for his life. The Atlanta Constitution's special dispatch reported that about 125 men demanded the jailer's keys and fired many shots into his cell, while the Journal said the mob took him to the city park, shot him and tried to hang him. The wire broke, officers found him still alive and carried him back to the jail, and he died on the morning of Tuesday, March 20. The Journal reported that his parents received his body and took it to the country for burial.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. A mob of about 125 men took John Bailey from the Marietta jail, fired shots into his cell and died of gunshot wounds, according to the Atlanta Constitution and the Marietta Journal, which also reports that the mob tried to hang him in the city park.
Reported by: Atlanta Constitution (reporters); Marietta Journal (reporters).