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Died in jail or a lockup

One of 4 people whose names were not reported

died May 21, 1911 · Columbia County Jail, Columbia County, Florida

Six Black men held at the Columbia County jail in Lake City, Florida, were taken from it in the early hours of Sunday, May 21, 1911. About a dozen men who had come by automobile showed a forged telegram to a teenage boy left in charge of the jail, and he released the prisoners to them. The men were driven about a mile out of town and shot to death, and their bodies were found at daybreak. Their names do not appear in the newspaper reports.

Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched (neglect alleged). Newspaper reports say a teenage jailer released the prisoners to a group carrying a bogus telegram, and that the group drove them out of town and shot them.

Reported by: 1911 newspaper reports on the Lake City, Florida, killings (reporters).

News reports (5)