The Three Incidents
George W. Peck
Jan. 10, 1880
Born into slavery, George Peck lived in the Poolesville/Beallsville area his entire life, about 22 years. In January of 1880, he was accused of attempted assault on an 11-year-old white girl named Ada Hayes, arrested by the local deputy, and taken temporarily to Poolesville, Md. That night, even before he could be delivered to jail in Rockville, a mob formed and seized Mr. Peck. The mob hanged Mr. Peck in downtown Poolesville across from a local church, leaving the body hanging until nearly 10 am the next morning, as churchgoers were arriving for Sunday services.
A jury of inquest ruled that day that Mr. Peck had died of strangulation at the hands of unknown parties, a ruling that was common in such murders. Montgomery County authorities never attempted to identify or prosecute any of the people responsible for his murder. Ada, the girl in the case, was found by a physician to be largely unharmed, and soon left the area with her family.
George W. Peck
Jan. 10, 1880
Born into slavery, George Peck lived in the Poolesville/Beallsville area his entire life, about 22 years.
In January of 1880, he was accused of attempted assault on an 11-year-old white girl named Ada Hayes, arrested by the local deputy, and taken temporarily to Poolesville, Md. That night, even before he could be delivered to jail in Rockville, a mob formed and seized Mr. Peck. The mob hanged Mr. Peck in downtown Poolesville across from a local church, leaving the body hanging until nearly 10 am the next morning, as churchgoers were arriving for Sunday services.
A jury of inquest ruled that day that Mr. Peck had died of strangulation at the hands of unknown parties, a ruling that was common in such murders. Montgomery County authorities never attempted to identify or prosecute any of the people responsible for his murder. Ada, the girl in the case, was found by a physician to be largely unharmed, and soon left the area with her family.
John Diggs or Dorsey
July 27, 1880
John Dorsey or Diggs (contemporary accounts differ on his correct name; not unusual when reporting at the time showed no interest in details of the lynching victims’ lives) was living and working in Darnestown with a white couple named James and Linnie Tschiffely in 1880. On the morning of July 25, 1880, while James was out of town, Linnie Tschiffely appeared at a neighbor’s house having been badly beaten. She said Mr. Dorsey had raped and assaulted her the night before. After a manhunt that spread out through Maryland and into Washington, D.C., Mr. Dorsey was apprehended on July 26 while walking along a public road and brought to the county jail in Rockville. Within a few hours a mob removed Mr. Dorsey from the jail, marched him in leg irons through Rockville, and hanged him from a tree just beyond the city limits.
The story made the New York Times — in a publication that clearly revealed the prejudices of the time. The paper’s headline, “A Brutal Negro Lynched,” was one that the paper used repeatedly on lynching stories for more than a decade to dehumanize the lynching victims with no regard to the actual facts of each case.
John Diggs or Dorsey
July 27, 1880
John Dorsey or Diggs (contemporary accounts differ on his correct name; not unusual when reporting at the time showed no interest in details of the lynching victims’ lives) was living and working in Darnestown with a white couple named James and Linnie Tschiffely in 1880. On the morning of July 25, 1880, while James was out of town, Linnie Tschiffely appeared at a neighbor’s house having been badly beaten. She said Mr. Dorsey had raped and assaulted her the night before.
After a manhunt that spread out through Maryland and into Washington, D.C., Mr. Dorsey was apprehended on July 26 while walking along a public road and brought to the county jail in Rockville. Within a few hours a mob removed Mr. Dorsey from the jail, marched him in leg irons through Rockville, and hanged him from a tree just beyond the city limits.
The story made the New York Times — in a publication that clearly revealed the prejudices of the time. The paper’s headline, “A Brutal Negro Lynched,” was one that the paper used repeatedly on lynching stories for more than a decade to dehumanize the lynching victims with no regard to the actual facts of each case.
Sidney Randolph
July 4, 1896
An unknown intruder entered the home of the Buxton family in Gaithersburg early on the morning of May 25, 1896, attacking the family with an ax and injuring the two parents and two of their three children. As Mrs. Buxton raised the alarm and neighbors came running, the purpose of the attack seemed unclear — it was not a robbery, and the attacker evidently had used the blunt side of the ax to strike the victims, not the blade, potentially limiting the injuries to the victims.
These and other questions did not stop local vigilantes from spreading out and apprehending two men, both African American. One was George Neale, a neighbor who reportedly had a grudge against Mr. Buxton. Another was Sidney Randolph, a stranger from Georgia who had no clear connection to the family or the area but was spotted walking down a county road.
The saga that unfolded in the weeks that followed saw intensive press coverage, out-of-town detectives called in, the death of one of the children, Sadie Buxton, age 7, and an unusual hearing in Gaithersburg in which locals doubled as jurors and witnesses. George Neale was released and instructed to get out of town.
Sidney Randolph, who steadfastly maintained he had never even been to Gaithersburg, remained in jail pending grand jury action, despite hints in some newspapers that the real attackers were white — and warnings in a Black-owned paper that a lynching was likely. But there was never a grand jury hearing. Early on the morning of July 4, 1896, a group of men arrived at the county jail in Rockville. They dragged Mr. Randolph out of the jail at the end of a rope, threw him in a wagon and drove it to a tree beside what is today Route 355 just north of Rockville, where he was hanged.
Sidney Randolph
July 4, 1896
An unknown intruder entered the home of the Buxton family in Gaithersburg early on the morning of May 25, 1896, attacking the family with an ax and injuring the two parents and two of their three children. As Mrs. Buxton raised the alarm and neighbors came running, the purpose of the attack seemed unclear — it was not a robbery, and the attacker evidently had used the blunt side of the ax to strike the victims, not the blade, potentially limiting the injuries to the victims.
These and other questions did not stop local vigilantes from spreading out and apprehending two men, both African American. One was George Neale, a neighbor who reportedly had a grudge against Mr. Buxton. Another was Sidney Randolph, a stranger from Georgia who had no clear connection to the family or the area but was spotted walking down a county road.
The saga that unfolded in the weeks that followed saw intensive press coverage, out-of-town detectives called in, the death of one of the children, Sadie Buxton, age 7, and an unusual hearing in Gaithersburg in which locals doubled as jurors and witnesses. George Neale was released and instructed to get out of town.
Sidney Randolph, who steadfastly maintained he had never even been to Gaithersburg, remained in jail pending grand jury action, despite hints in some newspapers that the real attackers were white — and warnings in a Black-owned paper that a lynching was likely. But there was never a grand jury hearing. Early on the morning of July 4, 1896, a group of men arrived at the county jail in Rockville. They dragged Mr. Randolph out of the jail at the end of a rope, threw him in a wagon and drove it to a tree beside what is today Route 355 just north of Rockville, where he was hanged.