Died in jail or a lockup
Name not reported
Five Black men held in the jail at Sylvester, Georgia, were taken from it by a mob on January 20, 1916, and hanged from a tree limb beside a road. According to an Associated Press report, the mob gained entry by telling the jailer that they had come to protect the prisoners from a planned lynching. The men's bodies were found the next morning with many bullet holes in them.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched. The Associated Press reports that a mob got into the Sylvester jail by telling the jailer they had come to protect the prisoners, then hanged the five men from a roadside tree limb.
Reported by: Associated Press (reporters); Nashville Banner (reporters).