Tag Archives: A. S. Colyar

Colyar Imputes Arrest to Felder Conspiracy

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Colyar ImputesAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Sunday, May 25th, 1913

Knoxville Charge Against Him Not Pressed for More Than Four Years

A. S. Colyar was detained late Saturday afternoon on the request of E. D. Conners, chief of police of Knoxville, Tenn. to face an indictment charging forgery returned four years ago by the grand jury at that city. The amount involved is $90.

Colyar hotly maintains that his arrest is a plot of Colonel T. B. Felder’s to get him out of town. He declares that the Knoxville official was prompted to press the old charge against him by a friend of Felder’s.

Colyar was taken into custody by city detectives on the street and accompanied them to police headquarters. He was closeted with Chief of Police Beavers and Chief of Detectives Lanford for nearly an hour. Later he secured bond and was allowed his liberty.

SAYS FELDER CAUSED ARREST.

“I have been in Knoxville many times since the indictment was returned against me,” Colyar told Chief Beavers, “and there never was any attempt to press the charge or arrest me. If Felder had not devised the plot, no action would have been taken at this time. Continue Reading →

Long Criminal Record of Colyar is Cited

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Long Criminal Record

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Sunday, May 25th, 1913

A deluge of statements and affidavits tending to connect him with criminal operations all over the United States and Mexico, and showing that he has served time in half a dozen penitentiaries and been an inmate of a number of insane asylums, poured in Saturday upon the head of A. S. Colyar, the man who has stirred the city with his dictograph plots and his graft and bribery accusations involving Colonel Thomas B. Felder, Mayor James G. Woodward and others.

Twenty-four hours after Colyar fired his first shot he was in jail. He was arrested by detectives at the request of the police of Knoxville, Tenn., who wired Chief Beavers that they hold a Grand Jury indictment against Colyar for forgery. The wire received by Chief Beavers follows:

Knoxville, Tenn.,  May 24, 1913.

J. L. Beavers, Chief of Police, Atlanta, Ga.:

I hold Grand Jury warrant for A. S. Colyar, charge forgery. Age 50 to 55. Six feet high. Long black hair; large Roman nose; smooth shaven; slightly stoop-shouldered. All around crook. Found around hotels. Arrest and wire.

ED D. CONNERS,

A number of affidavits dealing with the character of Colyar and each declaring him to be the last word in crookedness were made yesterday afternoon by various persons, and are in the possession of Colonel Felder. Extracts from a few of them are printed below: Continue Reading →

Colyar, Held as Forger, is Freed on Bond; Long Crime Record Charged

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Colyar HeldAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Sunday, May 25th, 1913

Athens Judge Tells Colonel Felder That Dictograph ‘Trapper’ Is Under Suspended Sentence in Georgia. Knoxville Complaint To Be Pressed.

A. S. Colyar, soldier of fortune, who plotted the destruction, by means of the dictograph, of Colonel T. B. Felder and Mayor Woodward, last night was released under bond from the city prison.

The charge of forgery on which he was arrested, he declared, was trumped up in order to take him from Atlanta, and was brought, he says, by Felder or his friends.

Colyar was arrested at Marietta and Forsyth Streets Saturday afternoon by Detectives Chewning and Norris when a telegram came from Ed Conners, of Knoxville, Tenn., to hold him. The charge mentioned in the telegram was that Colyar obtained $90 from Rosa Johnson, of Knoxville, on a forged draft.

Several hours later two friends came to Colyar’s rescue. Detective R. S. Ozburn signed the required bond of $1,000 and an unknown friend delivered $200 as a cash bond for the prisoner. Colyar was released.

Chief Beavers said last night that he arrested Colyar as a matter of courtesy to Chief Conners, possessing no warrant authorizing him to take Colyar into custody. It probably will be Thursday, according to the telegram from Chief Conners, before requisition papers can be had.

“The alleged incident occurred four years ago,” Colyar said last night. “During that period I have been to Knoxville a number of times, and have not been molested. The charge, coming as it does now, is the result of a plot to “get me away from Atlanta.” Continue Reading →

Attorney, in Long Statement, Claims Dictograph Records Against Him Padded

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Colonel Thomas B. Felder in an earnest attitude, as he denies charges of attempted bribery and sourges Atlanta's police officials.

Colonel Thomas B. Felder in an earnest attitude, as he denies charges of attempted bribery and s[c]ourges Atlanta’s police officials.

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Sunday, May 25th, 1913

Colonel Thomas B. Felder Saturday night issued an exhaustive statement denying once more that he had offered a bribe of $1,000 to Chief Lanford’s clerk, G. C. February [sic], for evidence involving his superiors; charging that the dictograph records of his conversations with February and A. S. Colyar were padded; denouncing Colyar as a proved crook and ex-convict, and charging wholesale corruption in the police department, particularly against Beavers and Lanford. He said he would furnish positive proof of this corruption later.

Here is Colonel Felder’s statement, in full:

To the People of Atlanta:

The publication of the sensational “story” relating to myself and my connection with the Phagan case is but the symptom of manifestation of one of the most diabolical conspiracies ever hatched by a venal and corrupt “system” to protect crime in a civilized community.

To be more specific, this conspiracy was formed just after the arrest of Newt Lee and Leo Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan. The controlling genius of it is Newport Lanford, chief of the city detectives. Its object is to shield and protect the murderers of this innocent child, and in its wicked ramifications it marks our distinguished (?) chief of detectives as the Lieutenant Becker of our “system,” and renders his co-conspirators as dangerous to the lives, liberty, property and reputation of our citizens as the bloody and deadly Society of the Mafia.

Pity it is that the press of the city has been and is being made the innocent, if effective, instrument in their hands to further and effectuate the object of this wicked conspiracy by prostituting their potential columns to the exploitation of the mass of forgeries, and perjuries which has been given to the public through their columns, for it is known that these papers have tacitly sanctioned the utterances of Colyar by reproducing his affidavits in the face of the fact that [t]he editors and proprietors of all would, without hesitation, swear that they would not believe him on oath if called upon to do so.

Says Police Shielded Frank.

Strangely enough, a portion of the criminal record of this man Colyar is reproduced, showing him to be a man steeped in crime and infamy, while in the parallel columns is published his defamatory utterances against me. Continue Reading →

Colyar Tells Where He and Col Felder Ought to be for Good of Society

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Colyar Tells Where

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Sunday, May 25th, 1913

Editor The Journal:

I herewith hand you a telegram in answer to one that I got Chief of Police Beavers to send, which explains one of Thomas B. Felder’s visions, which appeared in the Morning Eye-Opener of Saturday, and from my relations and connections with this astute and would-be bribe giver, my conscience tells me that society at large would be better off if T. B. Felder and myself were both in Sing Sing.

(Signed) A. S. COLYAR.

The telegram referred to follows:

Ossining, N. Y., May 24, 1914.

J. L. Beavers.

Chief of Police, Atlanta, Ga.

No record of A. S. Colyar can be found in Sing Sing prison.

JOHN S. KENNEDY, Warden.

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Atlanta Journal, May 25th 1913, “Colyar Tells Where He and Col Felder Ought to be for Good of Society,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Colyar a Success in Preacher Role

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Colyar a SuccessAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Sunday, May 25th, 1913

Professed Conversion During Revival at Cartersville and Married Rich Widow Before the Meeting Was Over.

Athens, Ga., May 24.—(Special.)—A. S. Colyar, now in the public eye in the Felder matter, had a short, hot, meteoric career in Athens in 1905. He came here representing himself as a former law partner of Hon. Andrew Lipscomb, of Washington, ingratiated himself with the bar, passed a forged check on his father at the Georgia National bank, secured the indorsement of Colonel C. H. Brand, then prosecuting attorney for the state, on a fraudulent draft and disappeared.

He was located in Richmond, Va., serving a sentence on the chaingang for a serious offense. Requisition brought him back to Athens and on April, 11, 1905, he faced the charges of forgery, was convicted, and in a speech to the court before he was sentenced, he not only had jurors and attorneys weeping, but actually those he had wronged financially and the court itself, Judge Russell. He broke down and was carried from the room.

The sentence was suspended, a fund was made up in the court room of enough to buy him a suit of clothes and a ticket to Chattanooga. At Cartersville he left the train and was drawn to a revival meeting in progress, professed conversion, and went to preaching with great apparent power. Before the meeting was over, he had married a rich widow whose husband had been dead only a short time and he is said to have absorbed a small fortune left his wife.

He preached in Athens a number of times, billing himself ahead like a circus and filling the old Colonial theater with the curious crowd that wanted to hear him.

He went to Atlanta that summer and spoke at a tent meeting which was being conducted under the direction of Dr. Broughton and the Tabernacle church. On the docket of the superior court today the suspended sentence is still open and stands against Colyar. Judge Russell, who suspended that sentence, is now on the appellate court, which this week decided that a judge cannot effectively suspend sentences.

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Atlanta Constitution, May 25th 1913, “Colyar a Success in Preacher Role,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

“Becker of South” Lanford is Branded by Col. Tom Felder

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Becker of South

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Sunday, May 25th, 1913

System of Corruption as Poisonous as That of the Mafia Exists in Atlanta, According to Statement Made by Attorney Accused of Trying to Bribe Secretary G. C. Febuary to Steal Affidavit in the Phagan Case—Says Detectives Are Trying to Shield Murderer of Girl.

COLONEL FELDER IS MAKING HIMSELF LAUGHING STOCK, SAYS LANFORD; HINTS AT NEW BRIBERY CHARGES

A. S. Colyar, Leading Figure in Bribe Charges, Is Placed Under Arrest on Warrant From Knoxville, But Is Released on Bond—Connally [sic], Negro Employee of the National Pencil Factory, Tells Officers He Wrote Notes at Dictation of Frank—Police Believe These Were the Ones Found by the Body of Mary Phagan.

Branding Detective Chief Newport Lanford as the “Lieutenant Becker” of the south, and charging that there exists in the Atlanta police department a “system” of corruption that is as poisonous as the deadly society of Mafia, Colonel Thomas B. Felder has issued counter charges to those of attempted bribery made against him Friday afternoon.

He declares that every bit of his sensational accusations can be supported by substantial evidence. He even asserts that the charges against him were made in an effort to shield and protect the murderer of Mary Phagan, whom the detective department are alleged to be assisting by the destruction of damaging evidence and by procuring witnesses.

First, and the most important of Saturday developments, was the indictment by the grand jury of Leo M. Frank, the suspected factory superintendent. The true bill was returned before noon. He now will be tried before Fulton superior court on the direct charge of Mary Phagan’s murder.

Second, was the confession of James Connally, a negro sweeper in the pencil factory, who declares that he wrote, at the dictation of Frank, notes which the detectives believe to be the ones found by the body of Mary Phagan. After making complete acknowledgement to Detective John Black and Harry Scott, he made an affidavit supporting the confession. Continue Reading →

Frame-Up Aimed at Burns’ Men, Says Tobie

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FrameAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Denouncing A. S. Colyar as an “eagle-beaked crook,” W. C. Tobie, the Burns detective who is here making an investigation of the Phagan case, declared on Saturday that the charges of bribery and double-dealing brought against Felder were a frame-up concocted by the Pinkerton Detective Agency and the Atlanta Police Department, with these three ends in view:

To discredit the Burns Agency.

To drive the Burns Agency from the State of Georgia.

To discredit Colonel Felder because he employed Burns men.

Tobie charges also that Colyar was used as the “capper” in the frame-up. He declares that Colyar tried to induce him to be a party to a fake frame-up on the Police Department and the Pinkertons, and that Colyar invited him to attend the conference at the Williams House No. 2 between Colonel Felder, G. C. February [sic] and Colyar. He declares that Colyar told him he had affidavits that proved crookedness and graft in the Police Department and that he heard Colyar, on last Sunday, offer to sell the evidence to Colonel Felder for a stipulated sum. He declares also that Colyar said he wanted to get even with the police because they had arrested him once.

Tobie’s Complete Statement.

Mr. Tobie’s complete statement, in which he outlines the position of the Burns Agency in the squabble, follows: Continue Reading →

Felder is Charged with Bribe Offer for Phagan Papers

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Felder is ChargedAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

City Detective Department Holds Statements Alleging Attorney Made Attempt to Secure Coleman Affidavit.

SAY FELDER OFFERED $1,000 FOR THE PAPER

Report of Conversation Between Col. Felder, Secretary Febuary and A. S. Colyar Taken Down by Gentry

Colonel Thomas B. Felder—the man who brought the dictograph south and used it with such telling effect in the Blease investigation in South Carolina—has himself [several words illegible] and a charge of [several words illegible] against him and [several words illegible] which [several words illegible] the department declared [several words illegible].

Charges are made that Colonel Felder offered a bribe of $1,000 in order to have affidavits [1 word illegible] Phagan murder case stolen from the [1 word illegible] of Chief of Detectives N. A. Lanford and that he offered  [several words illegible] the chief’s secretary if he would make the theft.

The charges are backed up by a detailed dictograph record of [several words illegible] which took place in a room of the Williams house No. 2 last Wednesday [several words illegible] Colonel Felder, Secretary G. C. Febuary and A. S. Colyar, [several words illegible] the [several words illegible] according to sworn statement by George M. Gentry [several words illegible] the expert [several words illegible] who is a nephew of Colonel W. T. Gentry [several words illegible].

Affidavit Says Felder Approached Colemans

The affidavit which the detectives declare Felder offered $1,000 to gain is a statement signed by Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Coleman and stepfather and mother of Mary Phagan. In this statement they [1 word illegible] that Colonel Felder approached them and [several words illegible] it would not cost them 1 cent.

Affiant told him he did not want to employ him and did not want to have anything to do with him, reads the affidavit. It goes on to explain that Mr. and Mrs. Coleman are satisfied with the work of the Atlanta police department. Continue Reading →

Colyar Called Convict and Insane

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A. S. Colyar, who figures in the dictograph sensation. Records show he has been confined in two insane asylums and numerous prisons. His operations are alleged to extend from New York to Mexico. He is a member of a prominent Tennessee family. His exploits with the dictograph have created a big sensation in the Phagan case.

A. S. Colyar, who figures in the dictograph sensation. Records show he has been confined in two insane asylums and numerous prisons. His operations are alleged to extend from New York to Mexico. He is a member of a prominent Tennessee family. His exploits with the dictograph have created a big sensation in the Phagan case.

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Records Show He Has Been Confined in Numerous Prisons and Twice in Asylum.

Who is A. S. Colyar?

The records show that Colyar was once confined in the Middle Tennessee Insane Asylum, and that more recently he was sent to Lyons View, the East Tennessee Asylum. Information from Nashville is that he served time in prisons all over the State, as well as in Sing Sing, New York, and a jail in Virginia. Telegrams from Chattanooga paint him as a wild adventurer who spends considerable time in prison and is always in trouble.

In Prison Many Times.

NASHVILLE, TENN., May 24.—A. S. Colyar is a son of the late A. S. Colyar, of this city, one of the most brilliant lawyers and statesmen Tennessee ever produced. When not violently insane his mind works brilliantly, but always to the wrong end. He has been in prison time after time, but always evaded long sentences through influence of his father’s friends.

Young Colyar’s most noted exploit, as it is understood here, consisted in connection with the famous Mollineux murder case in New York. He went from Nashville to New York, saw General Mollineux and offered to have his son acquitted for $20,000.

“Your son is innocent,” Colyar is reported to have said, “One of my clients, now in the Tennessee penitentiary, is guilty. He confessed to me. For $20,000 I can get him out of the penitentiary, bring him here, induce him to confess and save your son’s life.”

Next day, so the story here runs, General Mollineux advanced him half the money, Colyar went back to Nashville, engaged a well-known pickpocket as a confederate, took him to New York with half a dozen guards and claimed the rest of the $20,000. The ruse might have worked, except for the fact that an assistant district attorney secured information about Colyar and blocked his plans.

* * *

Atlanta Georgian, May 24th 1913, “Colyar Called Convict and Insane,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Charlie C. Jones Shown by Dictograph to Have Been Foxy; Detective Miles Talks Freely

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Charlie C

George M. Gentry, stenographer who heard dictograph conversation in adjoining room and took it down in shorthand.

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Proprietor of “Rex” Near-Beer Saloon and Private Sleuth Are Quoted as Having Negotiated With Febuary for Papers in Phagan Case—Jones Was Very Cautious in His Utterances

MILES WAS QUITE POSITIVE MAYOR WOODWARD WOULD SEE TO IT THAT FEBUARY WAS PROTECTED

Following the alleged dictographed conversations of Colonel Thomas B. Felder and Mayor Woodward Wednesday afternoon an engagement was made by A. S. Colyar for Charles C. Jones, proprietor of the “Rex” near-beer saloon, and E. O. Miles, a private detective, to meet G. C. Febuary, secretary to Chief of Detectives N. A. Lanford, in room No. 31 of Williams House No.2, to further discuss the subject of extracting certain papers from the safe of the chief of detectives.

This alleged discussion was also dictographed, and from the dictograph record it appears that Jones was too foxy for the ingenious machine. He was apparently very guarded in his utterances, although he took occasion to attack Police Chief Beavers and Marion Jackson, of the Men and Religious Forward Movement, for their part in closing up the restricted district.

Miles was more frank in his conversation. The dictograph record quotes him as agreeing to meet Colyar and Febuary outside Fulton county for the transfer of the papers and assuring the latter that he would be protected by Mayor Woodward.

THE DICTOGRAPH RECORD.

Following is the dictograph record on the Miles-Jones-Febuary-Colyar conversation:

The following conversation occurred in room No. 31 at Williams House, No. 2, 34-36 N. Forsyth street, Atlanta, Georgia, Wednesday evening between eight and nine o’clock, between C. C. Jones, E. O. Miles and A. S. Colyar:

Colyar: It has been very warm today, hasn’t it?

Miles: Yes, it has. I asked Mr. Felder if you mentioned Mr. Jones’ name to him and he said no. Continue Reading →

Felder Charges Police Plot to Shield Slayer

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G. C. Febuary Lanford's clerk, who alleges bribery offer; Febuary alleges that Felder offered $1,000 for police records. He is a modest, unassuming young man, in whom Lanford and Beavers have complete confidence.

G. C. Febuary Lanford’s clerk, who alleges bribery offer; Febuary alleges that Felder offered $1,000 for police records. He is a modest, unassuming young man, in whom Lanford and Beavers have complete confidence.

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Colonel Thomas B. Felder entered into an explicit and detailed denial to The Georgian of all the charges of attempted bribery contained in the affidavits signed by G. C. Febuary, secretary to Chief of Detectives Lanford, and A. S. Colyar, a private detective with spectacular career.

Colonel Felder declared the alleged dictograph record of conversation he is alleged to have had with Colyar and Febuary in Williams House No. 2 a “frame-up” and a fabrication.

The report that he had offered $1,000 for the Coleman affidavit in the Phagan case and affidavits said to indicate graft in the Police Department he branded as absolutely false.

The whole plot had been concocted, he said, to discredit himself and W. J. Burns and drive them from the Phagan case so the guilty person might be protected.

“Every move made by the police in the Phagan case has been for the protection of the real criminal,” said Colonel Felder. “The police have kept an innocent negro there in a cell for three weeks in the hope that they can crush a confession out of him and let the real culprit go free.

“Guilty Person Protected.”

“If the desire were not to protect the guilty person, why should they desire to eliminate Burns and myself? Burns has a reputation for landing every criminal he goes after. He has a reputation for being absolutely merciless in the manner he hunts down his man. It is as certain as anything can be in the detection of criminals that he will be successful, once he gets started on a case. He is known to be unpurchasable. Everybody knows that he could have accepted a million dollars at any time during the chase for the McNamara brothers if he had been willing to say that he had not been able to find the dynamiters. Continue Reading →

A. S. Colyar Makes Answer to Charges of Col. Felder

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AS Colyar Makes

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

A. S. Colyar, when seen last night by a representative of The Atlanta Constitution, gave out the following statement:

“I have just read Colonel T. B. Felder’s card in the bedtime edition of The Atlanta Georgian, in which he sees fit to call me, behind my back, a liar and a crook. Knowing the colonel as I do, and as his intimate friends know, he is a past grand master on explanations. The Atlanta Journal, in its Friday afternoon home edition, published every detail of the case, with the sworn statements of Mr. February [sic], Mr. Ozburn, Mr. Gentry, Mr. Suries and myself, and I do not care at the present time to dignify this astute politician with any further controversy.”

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Atlanta Constitution, May 24th 1913, “A. S. Colyar Makes Answer to Charges of Col. Felder,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Miles Says He Had Mayor Go to Room

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Miles SaysAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Wanted Woodward to See Just What Sort of a Crook Colyar Was, He Declares.

Edward O. Miles, a private detective, assumes the responsibility for the presence of Mayor Woodward at the Williams House, resulting in the dictographing of the Chief Executive of Atlanta. He also says it was at his suggestion Colonel Thomas B. Felder discontinued even his acquaintance with A. S. Colyar, the wild-eyed investigator from Tennessee.

Miles’ statement to a Georgian reporter follows:

“Colonel Felder had already been to see Colyar and he asked me to go and see what he had; to examine any papers, etc.

“I went and as soon as I saw Colyar I was disgusted. The Lord doesn’t make mistakes, and the Lord certainly put the brand of a crook on that fellow’s physiognomy if He ever put it anywhere.

“Colyar wanted Mayor Woodward and asked me to get him. I went to the Mayor and said: ‘I want to take you down to see the greatest freak and crook you ever saw in your life. I want you to hear his line of bunk. You don’t have to say anything—just come along and listen to what he hands out.”

Thought Someone Listened.

“That was Wednesday afternoon. I didn’t think anything about a dictograph, but I knew, or at least thought, that he had somebody listening in the next room. I couldn’t help knowing that, because every now and then Colyar raised his voice so they could hear. Anybody on the streets a block could have heard him had they listened.

“After the conversation, practically as reported in the dictograph, Mayor Woodward left.

“Colyar told me not to forget to bring Colonel Felder and the money next morning at 10 o’clock. I asked him what money, and he said the $1,000 for the papers. I told him I didn’t want to buy any papers; that if Colonel Felder or anybody else did, that was their business, but I didn’t believe they did.

“Then I went back and reported to Colonel Felder and advised him to have nothing more to do with Colyar, not to go back to the Williams House and even not answer his telephone calls.

Felder Quit Negotiations.

“They waited all day Thursday, and Colonel Felder didn’t go back and didn’t answer the telephone calls. That’s why it was published in incompleted form. They saw the jig was up, and I believe Colyar then sold the story.

“I know young Gentry, who took down the dictograph report, and I’ll wager $100 he won’t sign an affidavit it has been published in unexpurgated form. Nothing has been added, but some things have been left out. However, I can’t say that the omissions made any material change.

“Yes, I am the one that caused Mayor Woodward to go there. He is all right. I just wanted him to hear the line of bunk that crook had to hand out.”

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Atlanta Georgian, May 24th 1913, “Miles Says He Had Mayor Go to Room,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Graft and Corruption are Charged to City Detectives and Police by Col. T. B. Felder

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Graft and CorruptionAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Attorney Who Was Dictographed by the Detectives Gives Out a Statement, Additional to the One He Made Friday Afternoon, in Which He Goes After Police and Detective Departments, and Intimates That More Is to Come in the Sunday Papers

SAYS DETECTIVES ARE DESTROYING EVIDENCE AGAINST FRANK IN THE PHAGAN MURDER CASE

Attorney Thomas B. Felder, who has been charged by city detectives with attempted bribery of Chief of Detectives Lanford’s secretary, G. C. Febuary, has made statement additional to one he made Friday afternoon before reading the dictograph records in The Journal.

The attorney’s complete and detailed statement, in which he promises sensational exposures of the police, will be given the Sunday press, he says.

Colonel Felder asserts that the police department is corrupt and vile and that Atlanta is fostering a system like that of New York.

“I had information,” said Mr. Felder, “to the effect that the detectives have been destroying evidence against Leo M. Frank in the Phagan case.

“It was to obtain proof of this that I consented to visit A. S. Colyar’s room at the Williams House on Wednesday afternoon. Continue Reading →

Plot on Life of Beavers Told by Colyar

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Plot on LifeAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

But He Fails to Produce Man to Prove Charge, as He Promised.

A. S. Colyar, Jr. failed entirely to produce the “mysterious man” whom he declared had been hired to “shoot to death” Chief of Police J. L. Beavers.

When Colyar gave the sensational information of the conspiracy to kill the police official he declared that he would bring to police headquarters the man who had been secured to commit the deed; that this person would make affidavit to bear out the plot charges, and would swear also that he had been promised immunity from punishment for his act.

Colyar asserted at the time of his charges that he man was at present in Atlanta and intended remaining here until he had killed Beavers. Colyar also declared that the person had intimated that he might also kill Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford. Colyar then stated that he knew of the person’s whereabouts and would bring him before the police to prove the charges.

Disclosures of the amazing conspiracy came to light Saturday morning. Police officials have been quietly investigating it since the astounding information was given them.

This report created an intense sensation in police circles, and produced one of the greatest sensations of the Phagan mystery.

The name of this mysterious man has not been furnished detectives, but Colyar promised to take him Friday night to the office of Chief Lanford, in the police station, where the affidavit was to be made. Up to a late hour to-day, however, neither he nor Colyar had put in an appearance.

According to the story told by Colyar, this man is not a resident of Atlanta, but has been here several days. He is an old friend of Colyar. He said this man would swear positively that the murder plot proposition was made to him shortly after his arrival here, and that he would give the name of the man who engineered the deal.

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Atlanta Georgian, May 24th 1913, “Plot on Life of Beavers Told by Colyar,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

The Journal’s Big Story of Dictograph and Alleged Bribe Has Stirred the Whole City

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G. C. Febuary, Secretary to Chief of Detectives N. A. Lanford.

G. C. Febuary, Secretary to Chief of Detectives N. A. Lanford.

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Chief Lanford Stated Saturday That Mayor Woodward, C. C. Jones and Others Were Also Dictographed on the Same Day That Col. Felder Was—The Complete Dictograph Record of These Conversations Appears in Today’s Journal

“I HAVE DONE MY WORK,” DECLARES CHIEF LANFORD, “IT IS NOW UP TO GRAND JURY FOR FURTHER ACTION”

The exclusive story in The Journal’s home edition Friday afternoon, describing how the city detectives and their representatives dictographed Colonel Thomas B. Felder in an alleged offer of $1,000 for the theft of certain papers in the Phagan case from the safe of Detective Chief Newport A. Lanford, has created a sensation in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama where Colonel Felder is well known.

Atlantians were “put on edge” by this story. Everywhere one turned Friday afternoon and evening he saw persons reading and commenting upon the story in The Journal.

Chief Lanford Saturday morning made it known that Mayor Woodward, Charlie C. Jones, E. O. Miles and others were also dictographed. The record of their conversations are given elsewhere in today’s paper.

Chief Lanford did not discuss the substance of the mayor’s dictographed conversation. He gave it as his opinion that the publication involving Colonel Felder would in no wise hamper or affect the work of the Burns detective in their investigation of the Phagan murder mystery. The chief expressed his confidence in the integrity of the Burns men. Continue Reading →

Mayor Woodward Reported Caught by the Dictograph Seeking Police Evidence

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Mayor Woodward Reported

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

The little dictograph cunningly hidden in Detective Colyar’s room in the Williams House No. 2 is said to have caught a conversation between Mayor James G. Woodward, Secretary G. C. Febuary of the detective department and Edward Miles, Wednesday afternoon, between 3 and 4 o’clock.

Detective Colyar who drew Attorney Thomas B. Felder into the conspiracy was also present at the interview. Colyar sent Miles to the private office of Mayor Woodward in the Empire building, with an invitation that he examine affidavits which Colyar alleged to have in his possession charging police graft.

Mayor Woodward admitted to The Constitution, Friday night, that he went to the room designated by Miles. He charges that Colyar tried to induce him to agree to pay $1,000 for certain information in documentary form which Colyar declared was sufficient to convict the heads of the police department of corruption in receiving money for protections from disorderly houses.

Mayor Had No Money to Give.

They were the only ones who spoke about money, Mayor Woodward said “I told them that if they were looking for money from me I had none to give, but I suggested that if they would make out a list to show just what evidence they had to give there would be no trouble getting up the money to extend the investigation.”

Detective Colyar visited Mayor Woodward’s office in the city hall one day last week, according to Frank Hammond, the mayor’s secretary. He explained that he wanted to see the mayor on important business, and when informed that he would have to wait he became impatient, and declared that there was more red tape in getting to the mayor than to the president of the United States. Continue Reading →

“Dirty Gang” Filled Out Record or Else “Fooled Dictograph” — Mayor Woodward.

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Dirty-Gang

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Big Part of Published Record Absolutely Untrue, Declares Mayor, Though “There’s Nothing In It,” He Says

“WHOLE THING AMOUNTS TO HIRING DETECTIVE”

“It’s all a frame-up of a dirty gang,” declared Mayor James G. Woodward, in commenting Saturday afternoon on the published dictograph record of the conversation alleged to have been held between him, A. S. Colyar, G. C. Febuary and E. O. Miles in Room 31 of the Williams house, No. 2, on Wednesday afternoon.

“The dictograph record has been filled out by some one,” he declared. “I don’t know who. Some one either filled it out or fooled the dictograph after I left.”

Part of the record—almost all the first half of it—was correct, the mayor said. The rest was untrue, he vowed.

“The whole business amounted to employing a detective,” he said. “Certainly I would vote to protect any one who unearthed graft. Certainly I would.

“While there is nothing in this published record, what there is is mostly incorrect. I’m willing to admit anything I said. The record has certainly been filled out after ‘they’ got hold of it.

“I didn’t mention anything about Dozier deserting Beavers. In fact, I didn’t even know he’d ever been with Beavers. I didn’t say anything about any members of the police board. Call it ‘protection’ to Febuary if he unearths graft if you want to. I’d vote to protect any one unearthing graft.

“They told me they could furnish evidence that disorderly houses were protected. I wanted to get it.”

Mayor Woodward declared that the entire portion of the dictograph record from the sub-head “Woodward Says There is Evidence Against Beavers” had been either filled in or spoken by some one after he left “to fool the dictograph.”

Mayor Woodward dictated the following statement to a reporter for The Journal before reading the dictagraph [sic] report: Continue Reading →

Jones Attacks Beavers and Charges Police Crookedness

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A. S. Colyar, who figures in the dictograph sensation. Records show he has been confined in two insane asylums and numerous prisons. His operations are alleged to extend from New York to Mexico. He is a member of a prominent Tennessee family.

A. S. Colyar, who figures in the dictograph sensation. Records show he has been confined in two insane asylums and numerous prisons. His operations are alleged to extend from New York to Mexico. He is a member of a prominent Tennessee family.

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

The following conversation occurred in room No. 31, at Williams House No. 2, 34-36 N. Forsyth Street, Atlanta, Ga., Wednesday evening, between 8 and 9 o’clock, between C. C. Jones, E. O. Miles and A. S. Colyar:

Colyar—It has been very warm to-day, hasn’t it?

Miles—Yes, it has. I asked Mr. Felder if you mentioned Mr. Jones’ name to him and he said no.

Colyar—He told me Monday night that Mr. Jones was a friend of his and he thought it an outrage the way they had done him.

Miles—You know I asked you this afternoon why you wanted to see Mr. Jones.

Colyar—If you don’t want to talk, that’s all right.

Jones—In what way?

Colyar—Tom told me they did you pretty dirty down here at the station house.

Jones—Yes. They closed up the houses I had. I had a lot of property.

Colyar—He told me they framed up on you.

Jones—There is no doubt but what it was a frame-up.

Colyar—Tom told me he would like to see the gang out of business.

Jones—The record now is (voice very indistinct just then). They never grafted me. Wouldn’t be any use for me to give them any money.

Miles—You told me you wanted to see Jones. It is not a question of lack of confidence, as what I told you was true as far as I know, but if he knows anything at all about it, I don’t know just what it is.

Jones—I don’t know anything. I just told them to go ahead and build them houses and move them across the street. Even some of them went and paid for them. Three or four days before they closed the houses, the Chief of the City of Atlanta —— —— —— that it would never do to close this district and I was surprised one morning by a telephone message from someone at No. 18, that the Chief had given five or six days notice to get out, I don’t remember which, and I never even went to the trouble to go out to this man to ask him what he meant, as I could not figure it out to save my life what he meant. That is all that I know of. I found out what he was doing. I understand that Jackson was holding conversation with him anywhere from one to three times a day. Continue Reading →