On June 30, 1905, the town of Watkinsville, Georgia, became the site of one of the most horrific acts of racial violence in American history. That night, a large mob seized nine men from the Oconee County jail and executed eight of them by gunfire. The incident has been described as “one of the worst episodes of racial violence ever in Georgia,” leaving a scar on the community that echoes more than a century later.
The events leading to the lynching began in May 1905, when a local storekeeper, F. M. Holbrook, and his wife were brutally murdered in Oconee County. In the aftermath, law enforcement arrested one white man, accused of committing the murder, and three African American men, accused of being accomplices. These individuals were held in the Oconee County jail alongside six other African American men, detained for various other alleged offenses.
At first, everywhere was calm, with even the press praising the community for “not rushing to judgment” and for allowing the justice system to take its course. But that calm didn’t last, as racial tension and mob violence soon took over.
In the early hours of June 30, 1905, a large mob of between 50 and 100 masked white men, reportedly from neighboring Morgan County, organized and traveled to Oconee County. Around 2 a.m., the mob forced the town marshal to lead them to the county jail, while the jailer, allegedly threatened at gunpoint, handed over the keys to the cells.
The mob seized nine of the ten prisoners, including the murder suspect, leaving one prisoner untouched. Of those taken, only one had been convicted of a crime; the others were still awaiting trial.
The prisoners they seized from the jail were Lon J. Aycock, Claude Elder, brothers Lewis Robinson and Rich Robinson, Sandy Price, Rich Allen, Bob Harris, Gene Yerby, and Joe Patterson. All but Aycock were Black.
The men were tied to nearby fence posts, and the mob opened fire. Eight men were killed instantly, while one survived by pretending he was dead.
Contemporary reports, including a photograph of the victims still tied to the fence posts, capture the chilling brutality of the scene. Following the murders, several bodies were buried together in a mass grave. Sandy Price, one of the victims, was later identified by his mother and remains the only victim with a known grave.
Despite the scale and brutality of the massacre, no one was ever held accountable for the killings. Like many lynchings of the era, the crime was allowed to fade without justice, leaving the victims’ families to bear both the loss and the silence that followed.
For decades, the Watkinsville lynching remained largely unacknowledged in public discourse. Yet the memory of the victims endured, but in recent years, efforts have been made to honor them and confront this painful chapter in Georgia’s history.
In 2020, the 115th anniversary of the lynching was marked with a vigil. Attendees gathered at the former site of the jail and marched to Sandy Price’s grave, paying respects to the men who were murdered. On the 120th anniversary in 2025, a second vigil was held at the Oconee County courthouse, featuring the unveiling of a memorial plaque dedicated to the victims.
Sources:
http://www.oconeecountyobservations.org/2025/07/unveiling-of-marker-recognizing-1905.html?m=1
https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82014179/1905-06-29/ed-1/seq-1/
