Category: TRANSCRIPTS: ATLANTA GEORGIAN

  Atlanta Georgian Monday, May 5th, 1913 The reason for the delay in beginning the Coroner's inquest was that Coroner Donehoo was in Marietta up to 2:30 o'clock. The body of Mary Phagan was exhumed by direction of the Coroner who went to Marietta for the purpose. An examination of the contents of the stomach will be made for the purpose of determining whether the child had been poisoned before she was attacked on the day of her death. It will probably be several days before this examination can be completed. The examination was done very quietly, and few people Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, May 6th, 1913 Atlanta Police Do Not Believe He is Implicated in Tragedy—Letters From Women and 50 Photographs of Girls Found in Prisoners Trunk. The Atlanta police and State officials say they place little importance in the arrest of Paul P. Bowen, the former Atlanta youth who is being held by the Houston authorities. In Bowen's trunk was found a mass of clippings telling of the Phagan killing, and at least 50 photographs of girls and young women. Several times while he was being questioned, Bowen is said to have contradicted himself. Bowen stoutly maintains Read More ...

  Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, May 6th, 1913 Paul P. Bowen, arrested in Houston, Texas, on suspicion of complicity in the murder of Mary Phagan, could not have been connected with the Atlanta mystery, according to members of his family here. Albert Bowen, a brother, said Paul Bowen has been in the West since last August, when he went to Arkansas to work for the Rock Island Railraod. He has never been back to Georgia since, he declared, but has spent the time in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. On April 21, Albert Bowen declared, he received a letter from Paul written Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, May 6th, 1913 Factory Superintendent's Statements on the Witness Stand Considered Distinctly Favorable to Him. Leo M. Frank's testimony before the Coroner's inquest threw no new light upon the Phagan case. Indeed, if it did anything it strengthend the belief in the minds of many persons that the mystery is far from solved. Frank's testimony was distinctly favorable to him. He was on the witness stand for several hours. He answered every question in a straight-forward manner. He was not more nervous than any other man in the room. He never halted for a word Read More ...

  Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, May 6th, 1913 Factory Superintendent Explains Every Hour of the Saturday Phagan Girl Was Slain. Here is told how Frank passed the whole day of the Saturday when Mary Phagan was killed. The following is taken from Frank's testimony: 7 o'clock a. m.—Arose, and dressed at home. 8—Left home for factory. 8:20—Arrived at factory. 8:50 or 9—M. D. Darley and others entered there. 10—Went over to office of Sig Montag, factory manager, on Nelson Street. 11—Went back to the factory office. 12—Stenographer and office boy left him alone in office. 12:10 p. m.—Mary Phagan came for Read More ...

  Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, May 6th, 1913 Body of Slain Girl Exhumed and Bloodstains on Factory Floor Analyzed. NEW THEORY ANNOUNCED Solicitor Believes Victim May Have Been Thrown, Still Alive, Down Elevator Shaft. Solicitor General Dorsey, Chief of Detectives Lanford, Chief of Police Beavers, and all men working under them in the Phagan case seem thoroughly satisfied with the progress they are making in the great mystery. They are actively engaged in many unknown directions—as they say, "piling up evidence to strengthen the case." What evidence the officials have other than that which has already been made public they refuse Read More ...

  Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, May 6th, 1913 By A GEORGIA LAWYER. It is absurd to say, as some people have been saying in Atlanta of late, that Solicitor General Dorsey "has taken the Phagan case from the Coroner," or has "butted in" on the Coroner's business in some way. It would be equally sensible to say that the commanding general in a battle had "butted in" on a captain's business, when, as the battle progressed, the general gave directions of one sort and another to the captain as to its conduct. The truth of the matter is, Solicitor General Dorsey Read More ...

  Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, May 7th, 1913 Detectives Figure Strangling Was a Typical Mediterranean Crime—Solicitor Dorsey Grills Watchman Lee in Effort to Get New Points. A new and sensational interpretation was given the Phagan mystery Wednesday afternoon when it was revealed that Pinkerton detectives are trailing a Greek now missing who was employed in a restaurant near the National Pencil factory before the crime was committed. The reasons that the city detectives give for the adoption of the new theory are: The slaying of Mary Phagan was not a negro crime, as the only negro who has been suspected in Read More ...

  Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, May 7th, 1913 Important Light is Trown on Case Also by Girl Companion of Mary Phagan. With new evidence in hand, Solicitor Dorsey went to the jail at 3 o'clock Wednesday afternoon to question Newt Lee, the night watchman, exhaustively. He plied the negro with questions for forty-five minutes. Before closeting himself with the negro the Solicitor said he had never questioned Lee himself, and he hoped to leave the jail late today with valuable information. Detective Rosser was reported to have found a 14-year-old girl who had important information bearing on the case. This girl Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, May 7th, 1913 Third Time Unfortunate Victim's Remains Have Been Exhumed—Dorsey Says Officials Are Not Looking for Finger Prints, but Other Clews. The body of Mary Phagan was exhumed early Wednesday for the second time in two days. The unofficial explanation is that the exhumation is made for the purpose of making a microscopic and minute examination of every wound on the body for finger prints and other clews as well. Solicitor Dorsey let it be known that the police are not working on the idea that the finger prints would be helpful in solving Read More ...

  Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, May 7th, 1913 Inquest, To Be Resumed Thursday, Will Bring Out Important Facts Not Yet Made Public—Medical Experts To Be Called by Coroner. New mystery was added to the Mary Phagan case on Wednesday, when the authorities for some reason not yet disclosed, did not follow out the order given by Solicitor Dorsey for the exhumation of the remains. It was said by Solicitor Dorsey that he had given this order in the hope that new clews might be discovered. A difference of opinion as to the advisability of the exhumation evidently has arisen, but the Read More ...

  Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 Pinkertons Find No Foundation for Report of Lunch Room Helper's Disappearance. Harry Scott, of the Pinkertons, said Thursday that the information obtained by his agency to the effect that a Greek helper in a restaurant had disappeared following the killing of Mary Phagan had proved baseless so far as he was able to determine. "It was a blind clew," he said. "We were unable to find that any one was missing from the restaurant. Neither were we able to locate the supposedly missing person in Anniston, Ala., where our information said he was." Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 John Black, city detective, followed Scott. Q. Tell about the shirt.—A. Sergeant Bullard and I went out to the rear of 40 Henry Street and searched Newt Lee's room. Q. What did you find?—A. Lots of things. Q. Tell about finding the shirt?—A. We found it in the bottom of an old barrel. Q. Was the shirt on the top or in the bottom of the barrel?—A. In the bottom. Q. When was this?—A. On Wednesday after the murder. Q. Did you see the shirt Lee wore Sunday morning?—A. Yes. Q. What Read More ...

"Boots" Rogers, former county policeman who drove the police to the Pencil Factory when the first news of the Phagan slaying reached headquarters. Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 W. W. Rogers was the first witness. He lives at 104 McDonough Road, and operates an automobile for himself. He said he took a party of officers to the National Pencil plant at five minutes past 3 o'clock Sunday morning, April 27. He corroborated statements of officers regarding the finding of Mary Phagan's body and the notes beside it, and of the body being face downward. Q. Who telephoned Frank of Read More ...

  Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 Man Who Said Mary Phagan Passed His Place Testifies He Was Wrong. J. L. Watkins, who testified that he saw Mary Phagan Saturday afternoon, April 26, between 4 and 5 o'clock, was called to the witness stand. He was accompanied to the inquest by a girl, Daisy Brown, who he said was the girl he mistook for Mary Phagan. He said he became convinced of his mistake when detectives came out to his place and had Daisy Brown to dress as she was Saturday afternoon. Then he discovered, he said, that she was Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 Frank was slightly nervous when he was answering the questions. He was asked: Q. What kind of an elevator floor have you in the factory on the office floor?—A. A solid sliding door. Q. Where was the elevator Friday night and Saturday?—A. I didn't notice it. Q. What protection would there be from a person from falling into the shaft if the door was open?—A. There is a bar across the shaft. Q. Where was the elevator Saturday?—A. I did not notice it. Q. Where was it Sunday?—A. On the office floor. Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 The inquest was resumed at 2:40. Only a small crowd was present. Miss Hattie Hall, stenographer for the Pencil Company, was called. She said she had been connected with the company since December 4. From a pile of papers taken from the factory records, Miss Hall identified a number that were written by herself. She said she did not think she could identify Frank's writing. Miss Hall selected eight letters that she had written. She said she didn't know how long it had taken her to write the letters. Miss Hall looked Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 Miss Corinthia Hall, one of the employees at the National Pencil factory, was a witness. She lives near Kirkwood, at 19 Weatherby Street, and has worked at the factory for three years. She knew Mary Phagan. Miss Hall was at the factory at 11:45 Saturday, April 26. She went to get another girl's coat. She went to the fourth floor and stopped in at the office and asked Mr. Frank if she could go to the fourth floor. She was accompanied by a young woman who had recently married and whose coat Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 Late this afternoon the police and detectives engaged on the Phagan case said they were satisfied with the progress being made before the Coroner's Jury. Apparently all other clews have been abandoned, and the present line of police activity would seem to center around Lee and Frank. Whatever evidence the police have they refuse to disclose. The entire mystery will be taken up by the Grand Jury within the next few days. * * * Atlanta Georgian, May 8th 1913, "Grand Jury to Sift the Evidence in the Phagan Case Within the Read More ...

  Miss Hattie Hall, Superintendent Leo M. Frank's stenographer, who testified to-day at the Phagan inquest.   Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 Crowd in Small, Smoke-Filled Room Breathlessly Follows the Phagan Slaying Inquiry. FATHER WEEPS SILENTLY Jurors, Officials and Detectives Manifest Intense Interest in Replies of Witnesses. In a small, crowded and smoke-filled room at police  headquarters, Coroner Donehoo on Thursday morning began what it is thought will be the last session of the jury impaneled to inquire into the death of Mary Phagan, strangled to death in the basement of the National Pencil Factory April 26. The situation Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 Newt Lee followed Black on the stand. Q. Tell the jury of your conversation with Frank in private—A. I was in the room and he came in. I said, Mr. Frank, it is mighty hard to be sitting here handcuffed. He said he thought I was innocent, and I said I didn't know anything except finding the body. "Yes," Mr. Frank said, "and you keep that up we will both go to hell!" I told him that if she had been killed in the basement I would have known it, and he Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 Newt Lee Called to Stand for Further Examination—Coroner Will Put Case in Hands of Jury by 7 o'clock, It is Predicted. Leo M. Frank, superintendent of the National Pencil Factory, and Newt Lee, night watchman, both of whom are being held in connection with inquiry into the death of Mary Phagan, were recalled to the witness stand late Thursday afternoon at the inquest. Frank was given a more searching examination as to movements on the day of the tragedy than he underwent his first day on the stand and an apparent endeavor Read More ...

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 Harry Scott, the Pinkerton detective who has been working on the case since the day of the crime, took the stand when Schiff concluded his testimony. Scott testified that Frank called him up Sunday afternoon before there was any talk of his arrest and asked the Pinkertons to begin work on the case and find the slayer. Scott testified as follows: Q. How are you interested in the Phagan case?—A. I was retained by the National Pencil Company to find the guilty man. Q. Who retained you?—A. I received a call from Mr. Frank Read More ...

  Luther Z. Rosser, attorney for Leo M. Frank, who was one of the interested listeners to the testimony presented Thursday at the Coroner's inquest into the death of Mary Phagan.   Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 Witnesses Are Quizzed in Detail, but Nothing Important Brought Out. Officials Say They Are Satisfied With Case as It Is Being Developed. Whatever evidence the police officials may have directly to connect any of the suspects with the killing of Mary Phagan, it was not produced at the early session of the Coroner's inquest Thursday. What this evidence is the officials refuse Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 L. A. Quinn, foreman of the department of the pencil factory in which Mary Phagan worked, testified as follows: Q. What is your business?—A. Machinist. Q. Did you know Mary Phagan?—A. Yes. Q. What is your department?—A. Metal department. Q. What department was she in?—A. Same. Q. When did you see Mary Phagan last?—A. The Monday before the murder. Q. Do you know her associates?—A. I know some who talked with her—girls. Q. Any boys in that department?—A. Henry Smith and John Ramey. Q. Were they thrown together?—A. All were working in Read More ...

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 8th, 1913 Miss Hattie Hall, the stenographer who worked at the National Pencil Factory Saturday morning, April 26, testified as follows: She lives at 69 Luckie Street and works for the National Pencil Company, in Montag Bros.' office. Saturday morning, April 26, she went to Montag Bros.' office on Nelson Street, arriving there at approximately 8 o'clock. She left there between 10:30 and 11. She had talked with Frank over the phone several times during the morning. "The regular stenographer at the plant was off, I think on account of sickness," she said, "and I went Read More ...

  Miss Nellie Pettis, at top, who testified against Frank at the inquest. At the bottom, Mrs. Lillie Pettis, her sister-in-law, former employee at the pencil factory.   Atlanta Georgian Friday, May 9th, 1913 Solicitor Dorsey Says He Has Secured Powerful Aid in Search for Slayer of Girl—Woman Says She Heard Screams in Pencil Factory. Shelby Smith, chairman of the Fulton commission, declared Friday afternoon that the board would back Solicitor Dorsey in any and all expense he might incur in the state's exhaustive investigation into the Phagan murder mystery. Smith said; "We have instructed Dorsey to obtain the best Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Saturday, May 10th, 1913 Names of Witnesses Withheld by Dorsey to Prevent "Manufacturers of Public Opinion" Getting in Touch with Them—Satisfied with Progress. Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey declared Saturday afternoon that he was very well satisfied with the progress made in the investigation of the Phagan murder mystery and made the significant remark that he would not reveal the names of new witnesses so that manufacturers of public opinion could not get to them. The Solicitor held a conference with Dr. H. F. Harris, of the State Board of Health, who examined the girl's body. Read More ...

Atlanta Georgian Sunday, May 11th, 1913 Robert T. House, a Special Policeman, Gives New Evidence to City Detectives. In the evidence obtained Saturday in the Mary Phagan case, one piece that the detectives regard as the most important bore on Frank's alleged conduct when he was in company with a young girl in Druid Hills Park. The new evidence came from Robert F. House, a special policeman, who is in the employ of the Druid Hills Land Company. House declared that he had ejected a man from the park at one time from whom he obtained damaging admissions. House visited Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Sunday, May 11th, 1913 Leo M. Frank, calmly and without any apparent fear or apprehension, is awaiting the decision of the 24 men who will determine this week whether or not an indictment shall be returned against him in connection with the killing of Mary Phagan. Yesterday—which was very much like the other days that he has been confined in the Tower—he read, said a few words now and then to the guards, greeted members of his family as they came to see him and discussed various subjects with them in a quiet, matter-of-fact manner, not Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Sunday, May 11th, 1913 BY JAMES. B. NEVIN. Mary Phagan is dead. She was murdered. Leo Frank, and Newt Lee are in jail, upon the findings of a Coroner's jury, held as suspects for investigation by the Grand Jury. Here is a case of cause and effect involving the most elusive series of connecting events that ever came under my observation of criminals and crime, through fifteen years of varied newspaper experience in a number of American cities. It is not my purpose here to try this case. Such comments as I may set down are Read More ...

  Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey, in a characteristic pose, examining a witness. On Solicitor Dorsey is placed dependence for the solving of the puzzling Phagan slaying case. He is making every effort to unravel the mystery.   NO REAL SOLUTION OF PHAGAN SLAYING MYSTERY EVIDENCE AGAINST MEN NOW HELD IN BAFFLING CASE WEAK, SAYS OLD POLICE REPORTER Atlanta Georgian Sunday, May 11th, 1913 Detectives in Coroner's Jury Probe Admit They Have Nothing on Which to Convict Anyone in Mysterious Tragedy of Atlanta. TESTIMONY BROUGHT OUT NO INCRIMINATING POINTS BY AN OLD POLICE REPORTER. The most sensational testimony offered at the Read More ...

  Leo M. Frank, the pencil factory superintendent, held in the Phagan mystery, in a new photograph. Mrs. Frank yesterday visited her husband in the Tower, where he is a prisoner pending the action of the Grand Jury.   Atlanta Georgian Monday, May 12th, 1913 Famous American Detective Cables He Will Return Immediately In Response to Col. Felder's Plea For His Services to Capture Slayer. William J. Burns, the world-famed detective, probably will take charge of the Phagan case. The man who unearthed the dynamite outrages and brought the McNamara brothers to justice, will in all probability come to Atlanta Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Monday, May 12th, 1913 Not Likely to Go to Grand Jury This Week More Time Taken to Strengthen Evidence Evidence in the Phagan case may not be presented to the Grand Jury this week. This was the intimation given by Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey Monday morning, as he began the process of elimination of the unimportant matter contained in the great mass of evidence collected by the Coroner's jury and police officials. The postponement of its presentation to the Grand Jury is to permit the collection in systematic form of all the essential details of Read More ...

    Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, May 13th, 1913 Of the many prisoners confined in the Tower, Leo M. Frank stands far above them all as the central figure in the public eye while the exhaustive investigation into the death of Mary Phagan continues. Hundreds of curious persons apply daily at the prison in a futile effort to see the man now being held in the Phagan mystery. The jailers are beset with thousands of questions pertaining to his life during the two weeks that he has spent behind the bars. Only Frank's attorney, his immediate relatives and a few friends Read More ...

Mary Phagan's mother, Fannie Phagan Coleman (center), with her family in Atlanta, 1902. She holds Mary (right) and another child. Mary Phagan's older sister, Ollie Mae, stands at front left. Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, May 13th, 1913 Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of little 14-year-old Mary Phagan, prostrated with grief for sixteen days following the tragic slaying of her child, took up her household duties Tuesday for the first time, resigned to the calamity that has befallen her home, and relying on the law to avenge the death of her child. "It was such a beautiful morning," said Mrs. Coleman to Read More ...

Solicitor Dorsey in his office; a snapshot of the Phagan case prosecutor taken by a Georgian photographer. Atlanta Georgian Tuesday, May 13th, 1913 Detectives Not Centering All Their Efforts on Frank and Lee Now. Detectives in Phagan mystery are not centering all their efforts upon Frank and Lee. New theories have been advanced, new clews examined and every possible theory is being investigated. It was because of these rumors on the streets to-day that a report was spread that an entirely new lead was being followed by Solicitor Dorsey that might eliminate both Frank and Lee. Solicitor Dorsey paid very Read More ...

A young Leo Frank (top center) and friends enjoy a day at the beach in New York. Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, May 14th, 1913 If Leo M. Frank is guilty of any connection with the murder of Mary Phagan, his actions in the Tower belie the time-honored theories of the greatest criminologists the world has ever produced, visitors to the prisoner declare. Famous psychologists, working on the supposition that the great weight of guilt upon the mind of a murderer will, if given time, finally overbalance the calm exterior with which he faces his accusers, have made excellent use of what Read More ...

William J. Burns Atlanta Georgian Wednesday, May 14th, 1913 Probably Will Not Reveal Presence in City as He Investigates Phagan Case. Colonel Thomas B. Felder said Wednesday that Detective William J. Burns had not arrived, as yet, in New York from his European trip, but that as soon as he did he undoubtedly would start at once for Atlanta to work upon the Mary Phagan strangling mystery. Colonel Felder is acquainted with the day and the hour on which the famous sleuth will reach this city, but for the purposes of the investigation he is withholding the information. "There was Read More ...

Atlanta Georgian Thursday, May 15th, 1913 Noted Detective, Himself, to Take Up Case June 1—One of His Experts Coming Soon. Colonel Thomas B. Felder, noted Atlanta lawyer, Thursday issued the positive statement that William J. Burns would take charge of the Phagan investigation immediately upon his return from Europe, June 1. In the meantime a criminal investigator will be sent from the Burns Agency's New York office to prosecute the investigation. Colonel Felder gave out the following dispatch received from Raymond J. Burns, son of William J. Burns, in New York, which tells of the father's determination to take up Read More ...