George Tutt was born in October 1884. He was 15 years old at the time of the 1900 census. George Tutt was the son of Katie Tutt, age 60 at the time of the 1900 census, who was a widow. The Tutt family resided in Trenton, Todd, Kentucky, including Katie, George, his sisters Sarah (28 years old at the time of the census) and Bessie (14 years old at the time of the census), and his nephew Robert (the son of Sarah, who was 5 years old at the time of the census). Katie Tutt worked as a cook, and she was unable to read or write. She also had 13 children, 8 of which were living in 1900. George’s sister Sarah was also a cook and was unable to read or write. In 1900 George and his sister Bessie had been in school for five years and were both able to read and write.
On April 3rd, 1908, George Tutt was 23 years old and had been in jail in Elkton, Kentucky for about six months awaiting trial. He was accused of shooting and wounding another individual. His trial was dismissed, due to his claims that the shooting was accidental and the lack of information that could be provided by witnesses. He returned to Trenton, Kentucky after this, and was fined $25 and given 10 days in jail for allegedly carrying a concealed weapon.
On the same night of this arrest, a masked mob of about 30 to 40 men came to the jail, took George from his cell, and whipped him.
What happened to George Tutt after the mob stormed the jail cell is unknown. Some reports claimed that Tutt was told to leave the country, while other reports simply said he had been whipped, then freed, and “not been heard from.” One article says that Tutt was lynched by the mob. His body was never found. The members of the mob were never arrested or prosecuted.
In 1913, the Madisonville Hustler recorded that an African American man named George Tutt was arrested in Louisville on “false charges.” There is no indication that this is the same George Tutt who was assaulted in 1908. However, since Goerge Tutt’s fate in 1908 had not been determined, there is a possibility that the 1913 George Tutt is also the 1908 George Tutt.
Location of the Lynching
