Graduates of Cornell Will Aid Leo M. Frank in Fight for Life

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 31st, 1913

Leo Max Frank, recently convicted on the charge of murdering Mary Phagan, is to receive aid in his battle for life and liberty from the alumni of Cornell University of Ithaca, New York, which institution he is a graduate [on June 21, 1906], according to dispatches received in Atlanta Saturday night from New York city lawyers, when the movement was started some days ago.

T. B. Strauss, a prominent Cornell alumnus, is heading the movement, and it is stated that circular letters will be sent out to Cornell graduates throughout the country asking their cooperation in the effort to establish Frank’s innocence. It is further stated in articles recently published in New York that it is possible that a subscription will be taken up to make up a fund to finance his defense.

Frank’s latest method of amusing himself in his prison cell is to solicit the autograph of every visitor. He Is insistent on this point before he will see anyone. It is stated, and it is estimated that he has already accumulated hundreds upon hundreds of signatures. He is keeping a diary of each day’s happenings, and faithfully sets down every detail of each hour. He writes down the time to the very minute at which anyone visits him, what time they arrive, and what time they leave. He is equally consistent in jotting down the time at which he eats, how long It takes him to finish each meal and at what time he arises, and not even the smallest detail of the hours in which he is awake is allowed to escape a place on his record.

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Atlanta Constitution, August 31st, 1913, “Graduates of Cornell Will Aid Leo M. Frank in Fight for Life,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Chronological Table of Frank’s Actions on Day of Murder

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 22nd, 1913

This is the chronological table of Frank’s actions on the date of the murder which was displayed in chart form yesterday afternoon during Attorney Arnold’s speech:

 7:30 a.m.—Minola McKnight.

8:26 a.m.—Frank arrives at factory. Sees Holloway, Alonzo Mann and Roy Irby.

9:00 a.m.–Darley, Wade Campbell, Mr. Lime, Mattie Smith.

9:20 a.m.—Miss Mattie Smith leaves building.

9:40 a.m.—Darley and Frank leave building.

10:00 a.m.—Telephones Schiff to come to office.

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Miss Hattie Hall, Stenographer, Left Pencil Factory at Noon

Miss Hattie Hall Stenographer Left Pencil FactoryAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Thursday, May 8th, 1913

Miss Hattie Hall, a stenographer, was called to the stand after Quinn was excused.

When Miss Hall was excused, shortly before 12:30 o’clock, she was told to return at 2:30 o’clock, as she probably would be recalled then. Miss Hall’s testimony revealed nothing not already known, and was vague upon a number of points already testified to by others. It bore mainly upon the period when she was in the office of the National Pencil company on the morning of Saturday, April 26. According to her, she was there from about 11 o’clock until noon. She saw nothing of Mary Phagan and could throw no light upon the mystery. The coroner questioned her minutely as to hours and minutes and details of her own actions.

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Lemmie Quinn Grilled by Coroner But He Sticks to His Statement

Lemmie Quinn Grilled by Coroner but he Sticks to his Statement

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

Atlanta Journal

Thursday, May 8th, 1913

L. A. Quinn was called to the stand. He lives at 31B Julliam street, he said, and is foreman of the metal department at the National Pencil factory. Mary Phagan worked in his department, he said. The last time he saw her was on the Monday preceding the murder, he said. She left the plant about 2 o’clock that Monday, said he. That was earlier than usual, but she left because the metal with which she worked had run out and she wanted to hurry to the matinee. He didn’t know any of her intimate friends, said he. She worked with Helen Ferguson and Grace Hix and Magnolia Kennedy, said he, and Henry Smith and John Ramey also worked in that department.

He worked on Friday, April 25, until 5:30 o’clock, said Quinn. He got his pay and left with the understanding that he would come to work on Monday.

The next morning, Saturday, he got up about 7 o’clock. Later he went uptown with his wife to get a picture made of their baby. Then they went back home. He came up town again, said he. He was stopped there, and questioned closely about hours and minutes.

He left home about 9:30 o’clock, he said. He and his wife and baby went straight to Kuhn’s photograph studio. They were there about ten minutes, he said. Continue Reading →

Phagan Inquest in Session; Six Witnesses are Examined Before Adjournment to 2:30

Lemmie Quinn, foreman, who testified that he visited the factory and talked to Mr. Frank just after Mary Phagan is supposed to have left with her pay envelope. He was given a searching examination by the coroner Thursday, but stuck to his statement.

Lemmie Quinn, foreman, who testified that he visited the factory and talked to Mr. Frank just after Mary Phagan is supposed to have left with her pay envelope. He was given a searching examination by the coroner Thursday, but stuck to his statement.

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

Atlanta Journal

Thursday, May 8th, 1913

Lemmie Quinn, the Factory Foreman, Was Put Through a Grilling Examination, but He Steadily Maintained That He Visited the Factory Shortly After the Time Mary Phagan is Supposed to Have Left With Her Pay Envelope

FRANK’S TREATMENT OF GIRLS IN FACTORY DESCRIBED AS UNIMPEACHABLE BY ONE YOUNG LADY EMPLOYEE

Mr. Frank’s Manner at the Time He Was Informed of the Tragedy by Officers at His Home on Sunday Morning is Told of by Former Policeman — Both Frank and the Negro Night Watchman Are Expected to Testify During Afternoon, When Inquest Will Be Concluded

The coroner’s inquest into the mysterious murder of Mary Phagan adjourned at 12:55 o’clock Thursday to meet again at 2:30. At the hour of adjournment, six witnesses had testified. They were “Boots” Rogers, former county policeman; Lemmie Quinn, foreman of the pencil factory; Miss Corinthia Hall, an employee of the factory; Miss Hattie Hall, stenographer; J. L. Watkins and Miss Daisy Jones. L. M. Frank and Newt Lee, the negro night watchman, were both present at headquarters during the morning session, but neither had been recalled to the stand when recess was ordered. Both are expected to testify during the afternoon, when an effort will be made to conclude the inquest and return a verdict.

Though put through a searching examination by the coroner in an effort to break down his statement that he had visited the factory on the day of the tragedy shortly after noon just after Mary Phagan is supposed to have received her pay envelope and left, Quinn stuck to his story. He declared that he had recalled his visit to Mr. Frank, and that Mr. Frank told him he was going to communicate the fact to his lawyers. Continue Reading →

Negro Watchman Wrote Note Found Beside Dead Girl, Experts Declare, After Seeing Frank’s Handwriting

Negro Watchman Wrote Note Beside Dead Girl

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

Atlanta Journal

Wednesday, April 30th, 1913

The Journal’s Three Handwriting Experts Still Firm in Their Conviction That Newt Lee Wrote Mysterious Notes When Shown Copies Written by Both Frank and Lee in Comparison With Original Note Found

Having compared exact reproductions of the notes found near the body of Mary Phagan with specimens of the handwriting of Newt Lee, the night watchman, and of Leo M. Frank, the superintendent of the National Pencil company, three handwriting experts Tuesday morning stuck to their first opinion that the negro’s handwriting and that of the notes found near the girl are the same.

They did this after a minute examination of the copy of the note written by Frank under direction of the detectives. Each then declared in effect that although it was within the bounds of possibility for Frank to have written the notes found near the girl, that it was extremely improbable. Continue Reading →

Use of Dictaphone on Frank and Negro is Denied by Police

Leo M. Frank

Leo M. Frank [On early Monday morning (April 28th, 1913), Leo Frank already had his lawyers present to answer questions from the police; the most expensive criminal defense lawyers in Georgia, somehow secured over the weekend, just one day after the murder and before Leo Frank was even seen as a major suspect. On Sunday, Frank told the police he was alone with Mary in his office at 12:03pm, but on Monday, with his lawyers at his side, he changed the time to between 12:05 and 12:10pm, a habit Frank would later fall into during subsequent questioning and trials. — Ed.]

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

Atlanta Journal

Wednesday, April 30th, 1913

They Decline to Say, However, Whether Conversation Between Superintendent and Watchman Was Overheard

WAS MARY PHAGAN SEEN AT 5 P. M.?

J. L. Watkins Says He Saw Her Near Her Home—Chemist’s Tests Shows No Blood Under Negro’s Finger Nails

A report that there was a Dictaphone in the room in which Leo M. Frank talked with Newt Lee, the negro night watchman, at police headquarters Tuesday night in a supposed effort to wring a confession from the negro, was denied Wednesday by both Chief of Detectives Lanford and Chief of Police Beavers.

Neither official, however, would say that the conversation between the factory superintendent and the negro was private. They were asked directly if any member of the police or detective departments heard what was said between Frank and the negro but declined to say.

There is a strong belief that the meeting between the superintendent and the negro was arranged by the detectives in the hope of obtaining evidence without the knowledge of either Mr. Frank or the night watchman. The report spread that sensational evidence was obtained in this manner, but no confirmation could be obtained at headquarters.

WHAT TIME CLOCK SHOWS.

Despite the negro watchman’s statement that he passed every half hour through the machine room, where it is presumed Mary Phagan first battled to save her honor and her life, an examination of the clock’s record which was brought to police headquarters Tuesday afternoon, developed that the clock had not been punched from midnight Saturday until long after the body of the murdered girl was found. Continue Reading →

Where Was Mary Phagan on Saturday Afternoon?

Where Was Mary Phagan on Saturday Afternoon

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

Atlanta Journal

Tuesday, April 29th, 1913

Are there any friends or acquaintances of little Mary Phagan who saw her after she is supposed to have left the offices of the National Pencil company Saturday afternoon, where she went for the little pay that was due her?

Is there any one who knows the girl, who can say she was seen in the city of Atlanta or elsewhere following her departure from home shortly before noon on that day? Continue Reading →

Frank’s Character is Testified to by Long List of Girls

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 19th, 1913

Numbers of girls and women, either now employed or formerly employed at the National Pencil factory, were placed on the stand Monday by the defense to swear to the good character of Superintendent Leo M. Frank.

The following, 21 in all, declared Frank’s character good: Miss M. E. Fleming, Miss Annie Howell, Miss Lillie May Goodman, Miss Cora Cowan, Miss Jimmy Mayfield, Miss B. D. Smith, Miss Lizzie Ward, Miss Ida Holmes, Miss Willie Hatcher, Miss Mary Hatcher, Miss Olive Johns, Mrs. Georgia Denham, Miss Bessie White, Mrs. Lizzie Florence, Miss Jennie Spivey, Mrs. Minnie Smith, Miss Grace Atherton, Miss Martha McCord, Miss Lena McMurtry, and Mrs. W. R. Johnson.

Mrs. Mary Bolton, Miss Velvie Holland and Miss Ethel Barber declared that they did not know anything about Frank’s character.

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Mrs. Wardlaw Denies Ever Seeing Frank on Car With Little Girl

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 19th, 1913

When Mrs. J. G. Wardlaw, a bride of three weeks, who was Miss Lula McDonald, recently worked at the National Pencil factory, was on the stand, Solicitor Hugh Dorsey sought to draw from her the statement that she knew that on the Saturday previous to Mary Phagan’s murder that Leo Frank had carried a little girl out on the Hapeville car line and tried to get her to leave the car with him at various stops.

He also tried to get the witness to say that she knew that on his occasion H. M. Baker and Herndon Stanton, the street car men in charge of the car, had noted the man’s actions.

Mrs. Wardlaw declared she had no knowledge of anything like that and she declared that she had never even heard of any immoral or improper actions on the part of Frank. She was then excused.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, August 19th 1913, “Mrs. Wardlaw Denies Ever Seeing Frank on Car With Little Girl,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Arnold Ridicules Plot Alleged by Prosecution And Attacks the Methods Used by Detective

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 22nd, 1913

When Attorney Frank A. Hooper had made the opening speech of the prosecution, Attorney Reuben R. Arnold prepared for the first speech of the defense. It had been announced that he would review the entire history of the case and when he started at noon the pasteboard model of the pencil factory was brought In.

A large diagram giving a synopsis of the case was also brought in, but was not unwrapped when Mr. Arnold first started, “Gentlemen of the fury, we are all to be congratulated that this case is drawing to a close,” Mr. Arnold began in a quiet voice as though addressing several friends on an everyday subject.

“We have all suffered here from trying a long and complicated case at the heated term of the year. It’s been a case that has taken as much effort and so much concentration and so much time, and the quarters here are so poor.

Particularly hard on you members of the jury who are practically in custody while the case is going on.

“I know it’s hard on a jury to be kept confined this way, but it is necessary that they be segregated and set apart where they will get no impression at home nor on the street.

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Negro Watchman Tells Story of Finding Girl’s Body and Questions Fail to Shake Him

Negro Watchman Tells Story of Finding Girl's Body and Questions Fail to Shake Him

A sketch of pretty Mary Phagan from her latest photograph by Brewerton.

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

Atlanta Journal

Wednesday April 30th, 1913

Newt Lee, Negro Who Notified Police of Mary Phagan Murder, Tells Coroner Girl’s Body Was Lying Face Up With Head Toward West When He Found It — But Officers Declare They Found It Lying Face Down, Head Toward East, Knew She Was White, Said He, by Her Hair

SAYS MR. FRANK DID UNUSUAL THINGS, BUT DOES NOT DIRECTLY IMPLICATE ANYONE

Mr. Frank Met Him Outside Office Saturday Afternoon and Let Him Off for Two Hours, After Having Insisted That He Be There at 4 o’Clock—Mr. Frank Was Scared When He Saw Gantt, Says Negro—Telephoned Him That Night for First Time—Inquest Resumed at 2:15

That he found the body of Mary Phagan face up with its head toward the back of the building, was the startling evidence given at the coroner’s inquest Wednesday morning by Newt Lee, the negro night watchman at the National Pencil factory in which the child was murdered.

This evidence, by which the negro has stuck without wavering is in direct conflict with the evidence of all the police officers and others who answered the negro’s alarm. Continue Reading →

L. M. Frank, Factory Superintendent, Detained By Police

Leo M. Frank. Superintendent of the National Pencil company, snapped by a Journal photographer on the way to police headquarters. Mr. Frank is not under arrest, but will be a witness at the coroner's inquest.

Leo M. Frank. Superintendent of the National Pencil company, snapped by a Journal photographer on the way to police headquarters. Mr. Frank is not under arrest, but will be a witness at the coroner’s inquest.

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

Atlanta Journal

Tuesday, April 29th, 1913

Detectives Building Case on Theory that Frank and Negro Can Clear Mystery

Chief Lanford Believes That Testimony of the Superintendent and Negro Night Watchman May Lead to the Arrest of the Person Guilty of the Atrocious Crime That Has Shocked the Whole City—No Further Arrests Expected Soon

MRS. FRANK IN TEARS AT POLICE STATION WHILE HUSBAND IS UNDER EXAMINATION

Frank Was Confronted by Negro Night Watchman—His Attorney, Luther Z. Rosser, Present at Inquiry, Which Was Conducted by Chief Beavers, Chief Lanford and Detectives Behind Closed Doors—Conference Still in Progress at 2

At 1:35 o’clock Tuesday afternoon Chief of Detectives N. A. Lanford, announced that L. M. Frank, superintendent of the National Pencil company’s factory, where Mary Phagan was found murdered early Sunday morning, would be detained by the police until after the coroner’s inquest. The inquest will be resumed Wednesday morning at 9 o’clock.

Chief Lanford made this statement when he emerged from a conference which had been in progress in his office on the third floor of the police station since shortly after 1 o’clock. Continue Reading →

Sideboard in Leo Frank’s Home Moved, Asserts Husband of Cook

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 20th, 1913

Albert McKnight, husband of Minola McKnight, the negro cook for the family of Emil Selig, with whom Leo Frank and his wife made their home, was introduced to the stand following E. H. Pickett.

Mr. Hooper drew from the negro the statement that since the day he stood in the kitchen door and saw Leo Frank’s reflection in the dining room sideboard glass that the sideboard had been moved.

The negro was made to go over a blue print diagram of the Selig home and show what he claimed was the location of the sideboard on the day of the murder and at the time he claims he saw that Frank ate po dinner and remained only a few minutes at the dinner table.

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Witness Swears He Saw Frank Forcing Unwelcome Attentions Upon the Little Phagan Girl

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 20th, 1913

The most sensational testimony of the entire morning session was produced when Willie Turner, a young farmer of Sandy Springs, Georgia, an ex-employee of the pencil factory, was called by the prosecution.

He testified that Frank knew Mary Phagan, and that on one occasion he had seen the superintendent and the victim in the metal room, when the girl was striving to get away from him and return to her work.

He was questioned directly by the solicitor.

“Where did you work in March, 1913?”

“National Pencil factory.”

“Did you know Leo Frank?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did you know Mary Phagan?”

“Yes, sir.”

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Girls Testify to Seeing Frank Talking to Little Mary Phagan With His Hands on Her Person

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 21st, 1913

The evidence brought out on Tuesday that Frank had frequently been seen talking to Mary Phagan and that while so doing had placed his hands upon her person, was corroborated by several witnesses on Wednesday.

The first of these corroborative statements came when Miss Ruth Robinson was called to the stand by Dorsey.

She testified that she had worked at the National Pencil factory and knew both Frank and Mary Phagan.

“Have you ever seen Frank talking to Mary Phagan?” asked Dorsey.

“Yes.”

“What did he talk to her about?”

“About her work.”

“When did he talk to her?”

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Swears That Frank Prepared Sheets in Less Than Two Hours

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 21st, 1913

J. M. Gantt, who has been an important figure in the state’s case, was called during the afternoon to testify to the length of time in which he has seen Frank make out the financial sheet and to the inaccuracy of the ‘punch-clock on the second floor.

“Did you ever see Frank make out the financial sheet?” Mr. Dorsey put.

“Yes.”

“How long did it take him to make it?”

“With the data at hand, I have seen him make it out in an hour and a half.”

“About this punch-clock-—was it accurate?”

“No.”

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Girls Testify to Seeing Frank Enter Dressing Room With Woman

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 21st, 1913

Following the introduction of the telegram Solicitor Hugh Dorsey began another attack on the character of Leo Frank and after a bitter wrangle secured the right to ask factory girls in regard to Frank’s character in his relations to women.

This was argued with the jury excused from the room and was the subject of a bitter fight, the state saying that when Frank on the stand had claimed himself to have always lived a virtuous life, he had opened up the way for the state to prove he was not of a virtuous character.

Judge Roan had already ruled that the state could not introduce witnesses said by the solicitor to be prepared to swear that Frank had made improper proposals to them and that this was about the same thing. Solicitor Dorsey argued that it was not and finally got the ruling in his favor. The defense entered a formal protest and had it go on record.

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Frank’s Character Bad Declare Many Women and Girls on Stand

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

Atlanta Constitution
August 21st, 1913

Solicitor Dorsey makes a persistent effort Wednesday morning to show that the character of Leo Frank is anything but good. Ha laid particular stress upon his character as to his relations with women and girls, and introduced a large number of women who testified that in this respect his character was in their judgment bad.

Among those who testified merely that his character was bad without going into details were:

Mrs. Marion Dunnigan, who stated that she worked at the pencil factory two or three weeks about two years ago. She testified that Frank’s character was bad, but she did not know about the lascivious part of it.

Continue Reading →

I’m as Innocent as I Was A Year Ago,’ Asserts Frank

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

Atlanta Georgian
August 27th, 1913

Just four months after the murder of Mary Phagan, Leo M. Frank stands convicted of the slaying of the slaying of the 13-year-old girl in the National Pencil factory.

No recommendation for life imprisonment was made by the jurors, this circumstance making it imperative, according to the charge by Judge L. S. Roan, that a sentence of death by hanging be passed upon him. Judge Roan declined to say Tuesday the exact time when he would pass sentence.

Neither the prisoner, his relatives, friends nor any of his counsel appeared in the courtroom when the dread verdict was rendered. The sole representative of the defendant was Stiles Hopkins, a member of the firm of Rosser, Brandon, Sigton & Phillips, who was designated present and waive for Attorneys Rosser and Arnold the presence of the prisoner. A motion for a new trial will be made by Rosser and Arnold.

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