The Lynchings
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Forsyth County's second courthouse was completed in 1905. After hosting the trials of Oscar Daniel and Ernest Knox, it stood until it burned down in 1973.
Courtesy of New Georgia Encyclopedia.
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The October 2 issue of the Gainesville News featured a front page story about the impending trials of Ernest Knox and Oscar Daniel. The story notes that the state militia will be on hand "to preserve the majesty of the law."
Courtesy of Georgia Newspaper Project, Georgia Historic Newspapers.
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The Dahlonega Nugget reported on the trial on October 11, describing Daniel and Knox as "brutes." The last line in the story remarks that Rob Edwards "was lynched and has gone to Hell."
Courtesy of Georgia Newspaper Project, Georgia Historic Newspapers.
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The editors of the Dahlonega Nugget estimated that between 8,000 and 10,000 people viewed the execution of Daniel and Knox.
Courtesy of Georgia Newspaper Project, Georgia Historic Newspapers.
On the evening of September 10, another lynch mob formed outside of the Cumming jail. After Sheriff Reid (who later joined the Klan) abandoned his post, the mob easily overpowered Deputy Gay Lummus and dragged Rob Edwards, a twenty-four-year-old farmhand from South Carolina, out of jail and around the town square. Punches, bullets, and crowbar blows rained down on his body before the mob placed a noose around his neck and hung him from a telephone pole.
While Ernest Knox and accused accomplice Oscar Daniel survived that day, they were later convicted by all-white juries in rushed trials on October 4. Judge Newt Morris (who later participated in the infamous Leo Frank Case) sentenced them to death the following morning.
The hangings took place on October 25. Sheriff Reid had placed the gallows in a natural depression ringed by three hills, and a 15-foot privacy fence mysteriously burned the night before. Although Georgia no longer allowed public executions, an estimated 5,000 white people cheered as Knox and Daniel died.