Dr. Bobbie Legg, Descendant of Lynching Perpetrator, Shares Reflections
- MoCoLMP
- Jul 1
- 7 min read
A public recognition ceremony on Friday, May 16, marked the completion of the County’s lynching commemoration site in Rockville. The ceremony featured an address by Dr. Bobbie Legg, a Montgomery County native and descendant of one of the perpetrators of the 1896 lynching of Sidney Randolph. Randolph was lynched on July 4, 1896.
Dr. Legg’s decision to publicly share her family’s connection to this history offers a rare and poignant perspective on the process of racial reconciliation. She provided deeply moving testimony before the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission last fall.
The ceremony marked the addition of enhancements to the site that the Montgomery County Commission hopes will encourage contemplation and reflections of the events depicted, honoring Sidney Randolph (1896) and John Dorsey-Diggs (1880). This event is part of the County’s efforts to acknowledge and confront its history of racial terror, which also includes the 1880 lynching of George Peck in Poolesville, where there is a separate historical marker.
Governor Wes Moore stated, “Loving your country doesn’t mean lying about its history.” For me, it’s “Loving my family doesn’t mean lying about its history.”
Three years ago, without any previous suspicion, I discovered that my ancestors led a brutal attack and murder of an innocent man, Mr. Sidney Randolph. On a hot summer night after a long day of work, I received a printed copy of my great-grandmother's memoir. She had recorded it, with the help of my great-uncle during the 1980s. I was a child at that time and have memories of visiting her in her home—she lived in a cozy house in Washington, DC, near the National Cathedral. As children we would climb up on her bed, nestled on top of a quilt, so that my great-grandmother could see us up close, as her vision was failing and she was not able to walk. Often, my mom would take us to the National Zoo after our visits to with my great-grandmother; she would tell us to say hello to the giraffes. They were her favorite animal.
During those same years, I now know, my great-grandmother, after her 95th birthday, gave a clear testimony of Mr. Randolph’s lynching. She identifies that her uncle, Mr. Alec Carlysle, with other men in positions of power, led the white mob that attacked and killed Mr. Randolph and spread racial terror throughout the region. My great-grandmother was 11 years old at the time of the brutal lynching.
My great-grandmother writes that after her father died, her mother worked as a school teacher in Washington DC, and, at times, my great-grandmother would stay with her grandparents in Gaithersburg, Maryland. In her memoir, she reports the events stating that Uncle “Alec, along with other important men about town, blackened their faces and went in search of the negro. He was in jail in Rockville. In the dark of the early morning, they got him out of jail, I don’t know how, but they did, and drove down the road a little bit and tied him to a tree and lynched him.” She reports that Alec Carlysle provided the herdic that was used and that following the lynching he carried a gun in fear of retaliation from the Black community. My great-grandmother reports that her aunt, would identify “the tree where the man was hanged,” whenever she visited.
Sidney Randolph’s life was stolen by self-righteous white men who believed they were greater than the justice system. They robbed him of his safety, they robbed him of his very breath and ended his life. Their actions spread paralyzing fear across the Black community, and extended that fear to any persons who allied with the Black citizens. Racial terror was the tyranny they used to choke off life from not only the victims, but to their families and communities and loved ones who dared believe they had a right to exist.
We do not know if Sidney Randolph had any children. What we do know is that my ancestor and the mob of influential white men, stopped his future. They robbed him of future love, future education and future children. Meanwhile, my ancestors continued to be influential business leaders throughout Montgomery County. My family went on to have generations of children with educational and career opportunities.
Accountability of the abuser is needed for justice. What would have been different in my family should my great-great-uncle faced appropriate criminal charges for his actions? He would likely have been in jail and faced an expensive legal battle. The toll, emotional and financial, of having a family member incarcerated is immense. I wonder, if legal accountability occurred, would that have affected my great-grandmother's ability to go to college—which she did. Or to buy a home—which she did. Or to have children—which she did. It is reasonable to assume, that I have benefitted from my great-great-uncle never facing criminal charges. On a larger scale, it is reasonable to assume that the communities in Maryland, and across this country, were impacted. White communities had a reinforced sense of power, flexing their ability to never be challenged. Black communities faced unimaginable trauma affecting their beliefs, emotional constitution, and physiological responses. This physical and psychological torture changed the emotional, financial and educational health of Black communities.
I extend my most heartfelt apology for the egregious hate crime that was committed and took the life of Mr. Sidney Randolph. He was an innocent man, traveling through Montgomery County, when he was brutally attacked and beaten by two men who prejudicially profiled him and began the accusations that preceded his detainment and lynching. Those two men, who I believe are my relatives, began a hellscape that Sidney Randolph had to endure. Mr. Randolph experienced the most disgusting, heinous and sickening sides of humanity during his final days. My heart can only hope that he went quickly to a place of peace and eternal love.
To be apologetic for the actions my ancestors took is an emotional state, but it does not bring repair to the generations of Maryland families that have been grossly harmed by racial terror. Accountability is important. This history has been not been publicly shared, to my knowledge, since 1896. Why? For me as a white woman who works towards equality, I want to know why. My great-grandmother was raised by a strong mother, who was a fervent suffragette. A suffragette who fought for women to have equality. My great-grandmother was married in the Unitarian Universalist Church, a group known for advocacy on social justice issues. In my grandfather’s written works, in the 1990s presumably after he knew about his mother’s confession of this lynching, he called out the beating of Rodney King by law enforcement and the unjust verdict that followed. With these actions related to social justice, why was so much silence was kept?
I speak my truth and my great-grandmother's report of this lynching because I believe we are only as sick as our secrets. I am deeply grateful that my great-grandmother, in the last years of her life, chose to speak about her memory and knowledge of this heinous crime. In her closing years, she chose to clearly name her uncle, Mr. Alec Carlisle, as a lead assailant in the homicide of Mr. Sidney Randolph.
I believe generations have been harmed by racial terror in Montgomery County and throughout the United States. I believe restitution is appropriate, necessary and essential for healing and shared growth and prosperity. I believe emotional health, job opportunities, home ownership and educational opportunities were all directly harmed by racial terror. I believe we can build a more just society by actively supporting mental healthcare, education, financial resources and home ownership of those adversely affected, both directly and indirectly, by racial terror that was directed at Black communities.
My great-grandmother stated that Alec Carlysle was “a good friend of the colored people” and that “on election days he had a way of finding a bottle of gin here and there for a vote.” She stated that “they all loved him.” I believe our habilitation of racial relations in our country must address the core beliefs that give rise to these statements and behaviors. There is nothing kind, friendly or loving about having persons in power engage with persons of a marginalized community in a manipulating manner to solidify their ongoing reign in a position of power. I ask that all of us who descend from oppressors have the courage and humility to look at history and contemporary relations. Almost all of us with fair skin, can tell stories of our own struggles, we seek that validation. We quickly mold our story into the American story of surviving and overcoming. I believe that the humility it takes to acknowledge the inhumane actions of past generations is an important step in realizing the changes we need to make today to create a healthy community for all.
I am thankful for the work of the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Committee. I extend my gratitude to the citizens, governmental leaders, academics, and advocates who have made this day possible. I give gratitude to the Maryland and the Montgomery County Lynching Memorial Project who support truth, reconciliation and healing of this horrible past. Most of all, I extend my love and gratitude to the descendants of victims and their communities. You, have endured relentless trauma through many generations. May we all see you and hear you. May we step into a place of deep and humble understanding. And may we work together for a future filled with greater healing and health.
As part of her great wisdom, Ida B. Wells stated, “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” I hope my sharing today brings one bit of light on our history.
Thank you.
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