Author Archives: Curator

No New Indictment Says Jury Foreman

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

The Atlanta Constitution

Wednesday, July 16, 1913

State Has No Intention of Changing Plan of Action in Phagan Case.

The declaration of W.D. Beattie, foreman of the grand jury, that the grand jury had no intention of taking steps to indict James Conley, and a statement from Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey that as far as he was concerned the state would continue its present plan of action in regard to the Mary Phagan murder, apparently put a block to the rumor that the grand jury would go over the solicitor’s head and indict the negro sweeper for murder.

The same rumor was put into circulation in regard to the former grand jury which served during the May term, but nothing ever came of the reporta [sic].

Solicitor Dorsey stated positively that he had no intention of shifting the present plan and would continue to prosecute on the indictment returned against Leo M. Frank by the previous grand jury. Newport Lanford, chief of detectives, also declared that as far as the detective department was concerned that there would be no shift.

It apparently means that the state will continue an even course in the matter with the intention of threshing out the matter of the guilt of Superintendent Frank before taking up the question of the guilt of the negro.

It was rumored Wednesday that the solicitor had given Conley another grilling with a view to extracting further statements from him in regard to the case. He declined to discuss this feature of the case and also refused to state anything further in regard to the Mincey affidavit.

Should the solicitor in the week and a half left before the Frank trial obtain a confession from Conley or secure evidence from another source that would brand him as the guilty party that would, of course, change the entire affair.

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The Atlanta Constitution, July 16th 1913, “No New Indictment Says Jury Foreman,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Mincey Affidavit Not New to the Solicitor

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

The Atlanta Journal

Tuesday, July 15, 1913

State Officials Refuse to Consider Seriously Statement of Insurance Agent

Despite the claim that many witnesses to corroborate the assertions of W.H. Mincey, the insurance agent and school teacher who claims that Conley confessed to him can be produced by the defense of Leo M. Frank, state officials refuse to consider seriously Mincey’s testimony as an important element in the case.

Details of the Mincey affidavit are corroborated by E.F. Holloway, an employe of the National Pencil factory, who states that he remembers Mincey’s visit to the scene of Mary Phagan’s murder on the Tuesday following the crime.

Mincey states that he was told that 20 negroes were on duty at the factory on the day of the murder, although about eight of them were employed by the concern. He further detailed a conversation with a factory employe, who allowed him to look about the place that day.

Holloway says that he remembers the visit of a man who asked particularly about the negroes employed at the factory, and otherwise fully corroborates the details of the visit to the factory as given by Mincey.

Solicitor Dorsey, it was learned Tuesday, has known for some weeks that the Frank defense possessed the Mincey affidavit and as a result he has made a vigorous probe of the affiant’s past career, and of his movements on the day that Mary Phagan was murdered, the day that the negro Conley is supposed to have told him that he had killed a girl.

Solicitor Dorsey will not discuss his investigation of the man, but it is known that he does not consider the man’s probable testimony as important.

The solicitor spent Tuesday morning examining a number of the state’s witnesses, and he is spending practically his entire time in preparing the Frank case. He expects to be ready when the case is called on July 28, a week from next Monday.

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The Atlanta Journal, July 15th 1913, “Mincey Affidavit Not New to the Solicitor,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Woodward Aids Chief in Vice Crusade

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

The Atlanta Georgian

Tuesday, July 15, 1913

Mayor Woodward entered the fight which Chief Beavers is waging against vice in Atlanta Tuesday when he told of a negro dive and blind tiger which he said had been reported to him Tuesday morning by a man whose name he refuses to make public.

This man, Mayor Woodward declared, had told him he had seen policemen passing through an alley in the direction of the blind tiger, though none of them had actually been seen to enter the place.

Chief Beavers ordered an investigation.

Captain Poole has been given particular instructions to probe the report that policemen visit the place.

Declaring that 50 per cent of the women arrested during the months of June and July were young girls, Mrs. Mary Bohnefeld, police matron, Tuesday afternoon placed the blame for present conditions on the immodest dress now worn by women, and also on the paint and powder demanded by the dictates of fashion.

“The dress that women are wearing nowadays,” she declared, “is a crime, and is the cause of the downfall of so many young girls. Men are encouraged to make advances when they see a girl on the streets, wearing immodest and indecent clothing and with her face painted and powdered.”

Orders closing two boarding houses were issued from headquarters this morning. Mrs. Lulu Bell, whose hotel at Fair and Peters streets was raided last week, resulting in the arrest of half a dozen persons and the telling of a white slave story by Effie Drummond, was ordered to vacate the place and close it up.

The negro joint at 76 Chestnut street, which was raided by the police Sunday morning, was also ordered closed by Chief Beavers Tuesday. Several white men were arrested when this raid was made and evidence has been obtained that the place was one of the most vicious in the city.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 15th 1913, “Woodward Aids Chief in Vice Crusade,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

White Men Fined in War on Negro Dives

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The Atlanta Georgian

Tuesday, July 15, 1913

A crusade against white men frequenting negro dives has been started by Recorder Nash Broyles. He fined three men, who gave their names as Kirk, Smith and Little and A.B. Arnold, of Macon, who forfeited $50.75.

The five white men were arrested in a raid on a place at 76 Chestnut street, early Sunday morning. Helen Lester, who runs the dive, was held for the higher courts in bonds of $500.

“The mingling of whites and blacks does more to stir up race trouble than anything else,” declared the Recorder.

* * *

The Atlanta Georgian, July 15th 1913, “White Men Fined in War on Negro Dives,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Holloway Corroborates Mincey’s Affidavit

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

The Atlanta Georgian

Tuesday, July 15, 1913

RECALLS HE WAS TOLD STORY OF CONLEY

Watchman Remembers of Visit of Witness to Factory on Day of Crime.

Further corroboration of several of the important details in the remarkable affidavit of W.H. Mincey, insurance agent and teacher, who swore he heard Jim Conley confess killing a girl, came Tuesday in a statement by E.F. Holloway, day watchman at the National Pencil Factory.

Holloway substantiated in every particular the story of Mincey’s visit to the factory the Tuesday following the crime and recalled the general trend of the conversation, which was practically as Mincey related it in his signed statement published exclusively in The Georgian Monday. The defense has obtained an affidavit from Holloway as to the circumstances of the day.

“I remember Mincey coming here Tuesday,” said Holloway. “He was a quiet, retiring fellow, and I guess we scared him out. There were a lot of people in the factory, and the excitement after the murder was at its height. Several detectives were there and there were a score of people bothering the detectives and the factory authorities with their theories on the killing.

Wanted Negroes Arrested.

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Police Close 2 Rooming Houses

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

The Atlanta Georgian

Tuesday, July 15, 1913

Chief Beavers Opens Real Fight on Doubtful Places—Several Under Watch.

Active steps against doubtful rooming and boarding houses were taken by Chief of Police Beavers Tuesday morning. He declared that he intends to close every “shady” rooming house in the city against which he can obtain evidence.

He intimated that he has the addresses of a number of boarding houses where, it is alleged, young girls and men visit and where the roomers are in reality inmates of the place, and his campaign is to be directed especially against these.

They will be thoroughly investigated, and if evidence is found to sustain the action, will be closed and the Council asked to revoke the licenses of the persons who operate the places.

Orders closing two boarding houses were issued from headquarters this morning. Mrs. Lulu Bell, whose hotel at Fair and Peters streets was raided last week, resulting in the arrest of half a dozen persons and the telling of a white slave story by Effie Drummond, was ordered to vacate the place and close it up.

The Bell place, Chief Beavers firmly believes, is one of those under the control of the “higher-ups” in the vice ring, against whom he is now obtaining evidence, and he regards the arrest of the Bell woman and the closing of the place as one of the significant steps of the campaign he is waging against vice.

The negro joint at 76 Chestnut street, which was raided by the police Sunday morning, was also ordered closed by Chief Beavers Tuesday. Sev-eral [sic] white men were arrested when this raid was made, and evidence has been obtained that the place was one of the most vicious in the city.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 15th 1913, “Police Close 2 Rooming Houses,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Mincey’s Own Story

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The Atlanta Georgian

Monday, July 14, 1913

*Editor’s Note: This article also appeared in the Night Edition under the headline “Mincey Tells of Confession.”

Tells How Conley Confessed Killing Girl

‘I AM SEEKING ONLY TO DO MY DUTY FOR TRUTH AND JUSTICE’

The Georgian Secures Remarkable Statement From Chief Witness for Defense in the Trial of Frank. Declares Belief in Conley’s Guilt.

On Thursday, July 10, The Georgian published the exclusive story of an affidavit in the possession of the lawyers for Leo M. Frank, accused of the murder of Mary Phagan, made by W.H. Mincey, an insurance agent, the substance of which was to the effect that Jim Conley, the negro sweeper at the pencil factory, had confessed that he killed the little girl.

In his affidavit, Mincey declared that he met the negro Conley at Electric avenue and Carter street on the afternoon of the murder; that Conley was intoxicated and when approached by Mincey for insurance became angry and exclaimed, threateningly: “I have killed a girl to-day; I don’t want to kill nobody else.”

The Georgian has now secured from Mincey a complete statement of his connection with the Phagan case. It is as follows:

By W.H. MINCEY

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Girl Bares New Vice System

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

The Atlanta Georgian

Monday, July 14, 1913

Young Woman From the Country Says She Was Lured to Resort on Peters Street.

Raid Frees Victim of Alleged Gang From a Resort on Peters Street.

Five White Men and Dozen Negroes Arrested in Raid Are Convicted in Court.

*Editor’s Note: This article was also published under the headlines “Police Hunt Vice Band’s Leader” and “17 Caught in Vice Drag Fined,” the latter article containing the following six paragraphs in brackets. The sub-headlines for each article are listed above in the same order. There is also a continuation of the article on a second page, which does not show on the scanned source text.

[The police crusade against vice resulted Monday afternoon in the conviction and fining of five white men and twelve negroes who were caught in a raid on a negro dive at 76 Chestnut avenue early Sunday morning.

Judge Broyles sharply scored the existence of such alleged dives, and declared every effort must be put forth to close them. Chief Beavers has ordered the house closed immediately.

The trial created a stir in police court, as eight of the negroes were chauffeurs for some of the most prominent men in Atlanta, who were on hand to make bond for them.

The white men, who were fined $15.75 each, are C.F. Smith, clerk, of 54 Angler avenue; S.B. Moore, clerk, of 131 South Pryor street; A.B. Arnold, of Macon; J.W. Little, of Macon, and C.D. Kirk, of 348 North Jackson street.

Eight of the negro men were fined $10.75 each.

Eilene Lester, who, it is alleged, runs the place; Henry Lester, her husband, and Theresa Gilbert and Minnie Jones, two other negro women implicated, were bound over to the Superior Court under $500 bond each.]

General Order Issued.

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Vice Pickets Posted at Hotels

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

The Atlanta Georgian

Monday, July 14, 1913

Revocation of License Will Be Asked if Law Is Violated. Girl Sentenced.

The vice inquiry Monday morning resulted in a close surveillance of hotels which, it is alleged, harbor young girls for immoral purposes. If the law is violated, the police authorities say, the police committee of Council will be requested to revoke the license of the hotel involved.

Chief Beavers has detailed men to watch for violations of the law following information given by Corinne Wilson and Dora Rosthstein [sic], sentenced to the Reform School Saturday afternoon.

The new information, it is understood, involves one more well-known downtown hotel and several other parties, one of whom is said to be prominent. Developments are expected to-day as a result of work along this line.

In the meantime five cases, made out against four women and one man following a raid Saturday on the home of Mrs. Lula Bell on Peters Street have been set on the Recorder’s docket for trial Monday morning.

One of Saturday’s victims, Corinne Wilson, has called upon her husband, who resides in Marietta, to come to her.

“I love him,” said the girl, “and I believe he loves me. If he only will come to me and keep me out of the Reform School, I will be straight.”

Dora Rothstein probably will be sent to the Reform School the latter part of the week.

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The Atlanta Georgian, July 14th 1913, “Vice Pickets Posted at Hotels,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Prosecution Attacks Mincey’s Affidavit

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

The Atlanta Georgian

Monday, July 14, 1913

MRS. CRAWFORD BEGINS FIGHT FOR HER FREEDOM

STATE STILL CONFIDENT OF CASE

Story of Negro Who Says He Was Eyewitness of Slaying Disbelieved by Solicitor.

Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey and Attorney Frank A. Hooper, engaged in the prosecution of Leo M. Frank, were induced Monday to break the silence they have maintained grilling the negro Jim Conley last week. They made their first public comments on the sensational developments of the last few days in the Phagan murder mystery.

Both declared emphatically that neither the affidavit of W. H. Mincey, insurance solicitor, nor the reported confession of the negro Will Green, who is said to have been an eyewitness of the attack upon Mary Phagan, gave evidence sufficient to shake their conviction of Leo Frank’s guilt.

Rumors that the State was preparing to change its theory and to ask for the indictment of Jim Conley were laughed at.

Mincey Affidavit Discounted.

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Indictment of Conley Puzzle for Grand Jury

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

The Atlanta Georgian

Sunday, July 13, 1913

*Editor’s Note: Some text is blurred in the original document, and illegible text is marked by “[…]”. The text box insert is transcribed at the bottom of this post.

Old Police Reporter Declares True Bill Against Negro Might Alter Entire Frank Prosecution.

RULES OF EVIDENCE CITED

Mincey Affidavit May Have Important Bearing on Defense of Pencil Factory Manager.

By An Old Police Reporter.

Persistent rumors have been abroad of late that the present Grand Jury may indict James Conley for the murder of Mary Phagan.

This is interesting, for if the Grand Jury should indict Conley it would set up a situation immediately possible of most decided results.

Frank already has been indicted, for reasons presumably sufficient to the Grand Jury then acting upon his case.

Would the present Grand Jury be justified in proceeding to the indictment of Conley, notwithstanding the former Frank indictment?

Unquestionably it would, if the circumstances of the case warranted it—indeed, there are many who will think it should proceed to that, if in that way justice seemed more likely to be established.

In getting a point of view in this matter, I have found it necessary to go back to the beginning, and to ask myself this:

Would the Grand Jury, in possession of all the present facts and circumstances pointing toward either Conley or Frank as the guilty man, have indicted Frank or Conley, as a primary proposition?

Much Room for Speculation.

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Seek Negro Who Says He Was Eye-Witness to Phagan Murder

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

The Atlanta Georgian

Sunday, July 13, 1913

Fugitive, Reported to Have Been Traced to Birmingham, Declares That He Witnessed the Attack on the Girl Slain in the Pencil Plant.

LAYS CRIME TO BLACK WITH WHOM HE HAD GAMBLED

Loser at Dice, He Declares, Planned to Rob Victim as She Came From Getting Pay—Tried to Prevent the Crime and, Failing, Fled.

Report that a negro who has declared that he witnessed the attack by another negro upon Mary Phagan, which resulted in her death in the National Pencil Factory on the afternoon of April 26, has been apprehended in Birmingham, became known Saturday night.

If this information is substantiated, its substance is of such startling character as to revolutionize the present status of the Phagan case, casting down practically every bulwark which has been erected in the prosecution of Leo M. Frank for the murder.

In its present form, however, The Sunday American does not vouch for the correctness of the report. Only the fact that it comes from a source which is so near the defense of the pencil factory head as to make it authoritative and the admission by those connected with the actual legal defense of Frank, prompts this newspaper to present the sensational story, asking that it be taken for what, on its face, it is shown to be worth.

Negro Hunted Since May.

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Detective Harry Scott’s Hunch — Thrilling Story of How it Secured James Conley’s Confession

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Caption reads: Detective Harry Scott (in Panama hat), of the Pinkertons, who played the hunch that Jim Conley, the negro, knew something of the girl’s murder. The accompanying figure is Detective John Black, of police headquarters, whose work in co-operation with the Pinkerton man did much to solve the crime. Great dependence will be put in their testimony at the coming trial of Leo Frank, charged with the murder of Mary Phagan.

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

The Atlanta Constitution

Sunday, July 13, 1913

By Britt Craig.

Have you ever had a hunch that there wasn’t anybody around the table that held a higher hand than your Jacks over tens and consequently you shoved a ‘blue’ to the mahogany with the result that every hostile hand went to the discard?

Have you ever had a hunch that it was going to rain and you pulled in the rugs and took the clothes off the line and let down the windows just in time to see the elements express themselves in a downpour?

Have you ever had a hunch of any kind—one of those real, undeniable inner promptings that chases round and round in your bonnet and worries the life out of you and invariably forces you to do something that you really intended doing but about which you were sorely undecided?

If you’re human, you have.

Detective Harry Scott had one about Jim Conley, the negro sweeper in the Phagan mystery. It was one of those irresistible hunches that buzzes about like a June bug. He took it for its word with the result that he found the key that is predicted to unlock the secret of Atlanta’s most hideous murder.

Detectives are very normal beings. They have hunches like the weakest of us. They’re superstitious, too. You can’t find a single one that will walk under a ladder or fail to knock wood when he brags about himself.

A hunch is one of the most common of human afflictions. It is the very essence of a frailty that affects every normal somebody. The very fact that it is a weakness requires a nerve of steel and backbone of similar fortitude to play one to the limit like Detective Scott played his.

Good detectives, like genius, are utterly human. Genius frequently stalks about in its shirt sleeves without a shave and wearing suspenders. It has been known to chew tobacco and cuss volubly. Sometimes, it has a red nose and a thirst. It can sleep as contentedly on Decatur street as on Peachtree.

Detectives Very Human.

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Affidavits to Back Mincey Story Found

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

The Atlanta Georgian

Sunday, July 13, 1913

Attorney Leavitt Declares Tale That Conley Admitted Killing Girl Will Stand Test.

NEWT LEE STILL HELD IN JAIL

Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey Promises to Present a Bill Against Him as Suspect.

That several negro women overheard Jim Conley when he ran the insurance agent, Mincey, away with the alleged statement that he had just killed a girl and didn’t want to kill anyone else, and that the affidavits from the women are in the hands of the attorneys for the defense, was stated Saturday by Attorney J.H. Leavitt, who aided in obtaining the sensational affidavit from Mincey.

Attorney Leavitt defended the character of the man who made the affidavit and denied emphatically that Mincey even asked about the money he would receive as a witness, except whether his railroad fare would be paid if he were out of the city.

Explains Dukes’ Doubts.

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Parents Are Blamed for Daughters’ Fall

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

The Atlanta Constitution

Sunday, July 13, 1913

Girls of Fourteen and Sixteen Tell Recorder Revolting Stories of Vice.

After relating a revolting tale of a career of vice on the streets and in the suburbs of Atlanta, Dora Rothstein and Corinne Wilson, two girls aged 14 and 16 years, stood unabashed in the recorder’s court Saturday afternoon.

Recorder Pro Tem Preston, shocked by their testimony, called for the parents of the prisoners.

Two aged men and a woman stepped forward and stood before the judge. They were Mr. and Mrs. A. Rothstein, parents of the younger girl, and W.B. Engesser, father of the Wilson girl.

Parents Asked to Explain.

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Lee Must Remain Behind the Bars

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

The Atlanta Constitution

Sunday, July 13, 1913

Solicitor Dorsey Does Not Believe the Negro Guilty of Any Part in Crime.

That Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey does not believe that Newt Lee, negro night watchman at the National Pencil factory, who was bound over by the grand jury with Superintendent Leo M. Frank for the murder of Mary Phagan, is guilty, was the only matter of importance brought out yesterday at the hearing of the habeas corpus before Judge W.D. Ellis by which Lee’s attorneys, Graham & Chappell, sought to free him.

Judge Ellis denied the motion for habeas corpus and remanded Lee back to the custody of the sheriff to await the outcome of Frank’s trial. Attorneys L.Z. Rosser and Reuben Arnold were also successful in their fight to prevent Frank being brought into court to testify.

Solicitor Dorsey declared that he had not brought a bill against Lee before the grand jury because he believed he had no evidence which would indict Lee.

The negro’s attorneys secured from the sheriff a statement that Lee would be given more eexrcise [sic], as the darkey declared that this was all that was troubling him. He said he was getting stiff from staying in his cell.

“Frank has the entire freedom of the jail whenever he wants it,” declared Attorney Chappell, “and Lee ought to be allowed some chance to take exercise.”

The character of the darkey and his love for the juicy fruit of a Georgia watermelon came out when Lee was being taken back to jail in charge of Deputy Plennie Miner.

“Why don’t you get Mr. Miner to buy you a nigh beer, Newt?” said a bystander.

“Ah don’t want no beer; all Ah wants is er watermelon,” replied the negro, and his large eyes rolled hopefully in his head.

“Ah ain’t had er melon this summer, and it’s the fust time that July ever come ’round without me having er melon.”

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The Atlanta Constitution, July 13th 1913, “Lee Must Remain Behind the Bars,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Conley Again Quizzed by Prosecutor Dorsey

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The Atlanta Journal

Saturday, July 12, 1913

[*Editor’s Note: The first sentence in this article contains two sentence fragments due to a publishing error by the original newspaper.]

Solicitor and Hooper Grill Negro at Police Headquarters for Three Hours

For two hours and a half Solicitor Dorsey did practically all of the ques- […] Phagan case, Frank A. Hooper, quizzed Conley at police headquarters Friday afternoon. Two detectives stood guard on the outside of the door of the police commissioner’s room in which the questioning was done, but no one except the officials and the negro were inside the room.

Conley was grinning when he emerged from the room. The questioning ended shortly before 7 o’clock, and Solicitor Dorsey and Mr. Hooper left the station immediately. They would not discuss the quiz.

While the three were in the room Solicitor Dorsey made frequent reference to various papers which he drew from a leather case that he had brought with him to headquarters. Solicitor Dorsey did practically al [sic] of the questioning, with an occasional suggestion from Mr. Hooper.

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The Atlanta Journal, July 12th 1913, “Conley Again Quizzed by Prosecutor Dorsey,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Former Story True, Says Negro Sweeper

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The Atlanta Constitution

Sunday, July 13, 1913

Jim Conley Declares Positively That He Has Made No New Admissions.

Jim Conley, the negro sweeper, who was reached for a moment by newspaper reporters last night, reiterated his former story and declared positively that he had made no new statement of admission.

The police have taken special pains to keep Jim secluded from reporters. Early Saturday night they managed to find him in a cell in “Drunkard’s Row.” He answered a few questions put to him, and seemed very willing to talk.

An early arrival of the turnkey, however, prevented the newspaper men from further questions.

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The Atlanta Constitution, July 13th 1913, “Former Story True, Says Negro Sweeper,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

More Affidavits to Support Mincey Claimed

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The Atlanta Journal

Saturday, July 12, 1913

Frank’s Attorneys Said to Have Corroborating Evidence, Newt Lee Denied Freedom

Joseph H. Leavitt, an attorney, with offices at 422 Grant building, the man who secured the affidavit of W.H. Mincey, who alleges that James Conley confessed to the killing of a girl on April 26, the day Mary Phagan was murdered, declares that a number of affidavits fully corroborating every word that Mincey has said, are in the hands of counsel for the defense of Leo M. Frank.

Mr. Leavitt states that the Mincey affidavit is really much stronger than the published reports, which have purported to give its substance.

The reports are correct as far as they go, Mr. Leavitt admitted to a Journal reporter, but the affidavit dictated and signed by Mincey contains still more testimony, damaging to Conley.

“Mincey is a good citizen,” Mr. Leavitt told a Journal reporter, “a man of education and of character. However, every assertion which he made in the affidavit has been corroborated.”

“Then you must mean that some one else heard the confession Mincey claims that Conley made?” the reporter asked.

“Yes, others head [sic] it,” was the answer of Attorney Leavitt.

While he states that he doesn’t know his address, Mr. Leavitt says that he is confidence [sic] that Mincey will be here when Leo M. Frank faces a jury on the charge of murdering Mary Phagan.

Mincey in his affidavit claims that he went to see Conley on the afternoon of April 26, the day Mary Phagan was murdered to solicit insurance from him, and that Conley became angered and told him that he had killed a little girl that day and did not want to have to kill another person.

The police make light of the Mincey affidavit, and say that Mincey once came to headquarters to identify a man he had seen drunk in the negro quarter. He saw Conley, they say, and then admitted that he had never seen the engro [sic] before.

Attorney Leavitt says that the affidavit will give a good reason for Mincey’s failure to make known at once the information, which he claims to have on the sensational murder case.

Solicitor General Dorsey and Attorney Frank A. Hooper, who will assist him in the prosecution of Frank, grilled James Conley at headquarters for more than an hour Friday afternoon. While Mr. Dorsey would not discuss the matter, it is understood that he questioned Conley closely about the statements alleged to have been to Mincey, and the negro claims that he never saw [the] insurance agent except at police headquarters.

LEE DENIED FREEDOM.

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Chief Beavers Orders Sleuths to Find Vice

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The Atlanta Journal

Saturday, July 12, 1913

Hattie Smith Reluctant Before Judge—Says She Was Just Talking Friday

For the first time since he has been at the head of the police force, Chief James L. Beavers addressed the assembled members of the detective department behind closed doors at hadquarters [sic] Friday afternoon, instructing them to unearth vice conditions.

Heretofore the vice squad under Chief Beavers’ immediate direction has been almost alone in its activity along that line. Not previously had the chief addressed the detectives on any subject.

In regard to the detectives’ participation in the crusade against vice, he told them that if any indication of vice or any suspicious circumstance of that nature comes to their attention, they must “work” it to a solution, or make a clear report of it at headquarters.

Two women and two men caught in the vice net were tried in police court Saturday morning upon revelations growing out of the recent arrest of Hattie Smith. That arrest previously had led to other arrests and the holding of “Mrs.” Lena Barnhart and others for the superior courts of Fulton county.

Paul Estes and Hoyt Monroe, employees of a local garage, and “Mrs.” Lola White and Hattie Smith were the four who were tried before Recorder Broyles. All four were bound over to the superior court of DeKalb county, the alleged offense having been committed in that county.

Lawyers for the accused parties endeavered to waive the preliminary trial before Judge Broyles, but the recorder swore Paul Estes and secured his testimony. Also he heard Hattie Smith, but she had become reluctant about testifying. Detectives asserted that she had told them certain details. Asked about that by the recorder, she declared, “Oh, I was just talking yesterday. I’m swearing now.”

Lula Bell, Maud Wilson, Mrs. Lee Berkstein, her husband, L. W. Berkstein, and effie [sic] Drummond, a young girl, said to have come to the city from Rockmart a few days ago, were arrested by the city police Saturday at 164 1-2 Peters street.

The Bell woman is said to have been conducting a rooming house there, and the Drummond girl is said to have been stopping with her.

Disorderly conduct charges were lodged against the four women and the man. Effie Drummond was confined in a room by herself at headquarters, away from the other women.

* * *

The Atlanta Journal, July 12th 1913, “Chief Beavers Orders Sleuths to Find Vice,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)