Author: Historical Librarian

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 16th, 1913 Miss Mary Perk, a forelady in the polishing department of the pencil factory followed Mrs. Carson to the stand. "Do you know Frank and his general character?" she was asked by Mr. Arnold. "Yes, for five years." "Is it good or bad?""Good." "Do you know Jim Conley?" "I saw him Monday. I accused him of the murder and he tucked his head and walked away." "Is his character good or bad?""Bad." Mr. Dorsey on cross-examination. "You reported your suspicion of Conley to Frank on Monday, didn't you?""No." "What made you suspect Jim?""He acted like he was

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 16th, 1913 The more or less listless curiosity of the courtroom spectators was scarcely aroused during the afternoon until the last witness was called who was Mrs. Rae Frank of Brooklyn, N. Y. The mother of Leo M. Frank. Not the slightest intimation had been given that Mrs. Frank would be called to the stand and a whisper of surprise spread over the room as the leaden-eyed mother, weary with the many days through which she has patiently sat and heard every conceivable blight cast at the name of her son slowly ascended the stand. As she held

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 16th, 1913 MOTHER IDENTIFIES LETTER FRANK HAD WRITTEN TO UNCLE ON MEMORIAL DAY Testimony Used by Defense to Show That the Prisoner Could Not Have Written This Letter, Which Was of Considerable Length, Had He Been Laboring Under Stress of Excitement Which Would Have Followed the Murder of Mary Phagan. PENCIL FACTORY GIRLS SWEAR CONLEY CALLED FRANK AN INNOCENT MAN Witness After Witness Declare That They Never Saw Women in Office of Superintendent—The State Brings Girl Back From Home of Good Shepherd in Cincinnati to Give Evidence Against Prisoner—Her Testimony Is Kept a Secret. The defense played one

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 16th, 1913 Walter Pride, a negro employee in the National Pencil factory, who is named in Jim Conley's story, was put on the stand in the middle of the afternoon. "Where do you work on Saturdays?" he was asked by Arnold. "I work every where anything is to be done on the machinery." "Have you missed a single Saturday since May?""No." "What floors do you work on on Saturdays?""From basement to the roof." "What do you do on the office floor?""Work on the toilets." "What time do you generally leave on Saturdays?""4:30 o'clock." "Ever see any women come

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 16th, 1913 Annie Hicks, a maid in the home of Charles Ersenbach, testified to having received a telephone call from Frank to Ersenbach, breaking a ball game engagement for the afternoon of April 26. "Do you recall Memorial day?""Yes, sir." "Did you get a telephone message from Mr. Frank?""Yes, he called at 1 o'clock and said tell Charles Ersenbach that he couldn't go to the ball game that afternoon. He stopped for a minute and said, to somebody beside him, ‘Hush, honey,' and I supposed he was talking to his wife." Dorsey on cross-examination. "How long have you

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 16th, 1913 B. J. Nix, of Marietta, an office boy for Leo Frank from April to October, 1912 was the first witness, outside of those testifying to character, who was put on the stand Friday. The lad who gave his age as 19 swore that he had never seen Frank having women in his office. He stated that he left the office at 1 o'clock every other Saturday during the summer months. "Were you ever an office boy for the National Pencil company?" was Mr. Arnold's first question. "Yes, sir." "When?""From April to October of last year." "Did

Atlanta ConstitutionAugust 16th, 1913 Harry Gottheimer, a traveling salesman for the Montag firm and the pencil factory, took the stand to tell of an engagement he had made with Frank on the afternoon of the murder. "Do you remember seeing Frank on April 26?" he was asked by Arnold. "Yes, I saw him at Montag's about 10 o'clock that morning." "Did you talk with him?""Yes, I was at the desk in the office and he came over to speak to me. I asked him of two important orders which had been forwarded and he said that if I would come

    Atlanta Constitution August 17th, 1913 Mrs. Rae Frank, mother of Leo Frank, resumed the stand at the opening of the morning session Saturday. Under cross-examination by Solicitor Dorsey, she was forced to tell much of her business interests In Brooklyn, her home, and that of many of her relatives. She was questioned first on direct examination by Mr. Rosser. "Has your son, Leo Frank, any rich relatives In Brooklyn?" "No." "When you opened this letter which he wrote to his uncle, where there any other papers in the envelope?" "Yes." "Did you recognize the handwriting of your son?"

  Atlanta Constitution August 17th, 1913 With the introduction of W.D. MacWorth, the Pinkerton detective who discovered the blood spots on the first floor near the trap door and the bloody club and pay envelope nearby, came the verification of a rumor that the prosecution would try to show an attempt on the part of the Pinkertons in the employee of the National Pencil factory to double-cross the police. This came when Dorsey sought to prove that the Pinkertons had tried to conceal from the police the fact of the discovery of the club, piece of buggy whip and the

The Atlanta Constitution August 18th, 1913 (Page 1, Column 7) Defense Intimates This, and Also That Statement Will Vary But Little From One Given at Inquest. FRANK PREPARED FOR ORDEAL OF STATEMENT Impeachment of Conley Being Prepared For, Say Lawyer-Spectators — Defense May Succeed in Ruling Out Part. Interest in the Frank trial is heightened by the announced prospect of the defendant taking the stand sometime today in the battle for his life that has been raging for the past two weeks. Attorneys for the defense intimated strongly Sunday afternoon that Frank would go on the stand either this morning

  The Atlanta Constitution, August 18th, 1913, Monday (Page 1, Column 3, Bottom) Mrs. A. E. Benton, grandmother of Mary Phagan, who had come to Atlanta to be present at the trial of Leo M. Frank charged with the murder of her little granddaughter, died last night at 9:40 o'clock at the home of her daughter and the dead girl's mother Mary, J, W, Coleman, of 704 Ashby Street. On the second day of the trial, grief and incessant worry over the death of her grand daughter carried Mrs. Benton to her bed, from which she was never able to

  Atlanta Constitution August 19th, 1913 Just before the close of the morning session the defense began putting in evidence various books and papers shown from time to time during the trial. The first first thing put up was the pasteboard model of the National Pencil factory. No objection was made lo this by the state, and Attorney Reuben Arnold explained that the model needs slight repairs, as during a "discrepancy" between two gentlemen in the anteroom one of them had been knocked through the elevator shaft. After offering the pasteboard model Mr. Arnold put in evidence without objection from

  Atlanta Constitution August 19th, 1913 The climax of the Frank trial came at the afternoon session Monday, when Leo M. Frank took the stand to tell of his actions on the day of the murder. The accused man's statement was clear, concise and straightforward. He talked in smooth, even tones, punctuating his statement with emphatic gestures of the arms and fingers. He had more the appearance of an at attorney making a fury speech instead of an accused man making a plea for life and liberty. It was a dramatic story, marked by the straightforward delivery of the prisoner.

The Atlanta Constitution,Tuesday, 19th August 1913.Page 1."Silent Man in Tower" Tells His Story to Men Who Will Decide His FateTwo poses of Leo M. Frank on the witness stand on Monday afternoon telling his story to the jury. In one picture he is shown with his notes in, his hand.Frank on the stand was cool, perfectly poised and at all times the master of himself. He showed no trace of nervousness. He looked the jury squarely in the face. He was at times explicit when explaining the details of his business, argumentative when telling of things that had looked dark

The Atlanta Constitution,Tuesday, 19th August 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,

The Atlanta Constitution,Tuesday, 19th August 1913.Page 23Harlee Branch, a newspaper man who was present when James Conley, the negro sweeper of the National Pencil factory, went through for the police a pantomime of what he claims occurred on the day of the murder when he says he aided Leo Frank in hiding the body of Mary Phagan, was the first witness called lo the stand Monday morning.Mr. Branch had been on the stand Saturday, but had not finished his testimony when court adjourned. Through his statements as to the time, Attorney Reuben Arnold drew the conclusion that 49 minutes must

The Atlanta Constitution,Tuesday, 19th August 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

  The Atlanta Constitution, Wednesday, 20th August 1913. Page 2. E. H. Pickett, an employee of the Beck & Gregg Hardware company, and the man mentioned by Roy Craven on the witness stand, was next put up as a witness for the state. To corroborated what Craven said and through him the state made an open fight to impeach Minola McKnight and also to contradict Mrs. Emil Selig, who, on cross-examination, denied the conversation she is said to have had with the cook in urging her to keep quiet about what she had seen at the Frank home. "Were you

The Atlanta Constitution, Wednesday, 20th August 1913. Page 3. George Kendley, a street car motorman, was put on the stand after M. F. McCoy, and on cross examination Attorney Rosser tried to draw from him the statements that he had vilified Leo Frank to such an extent that he had made himself a nuisance to passengers on his car, and that he had repeatedly said he would be willing to head a party to lynch Frank. Kendley was put up by the state and swore that he saw Mary Phagan on Forsyth street near the bridge, and that she was

  The Atlanta Constitution, Wednesday, 20th August 1913. Page 3. Dr. Clarence Johnson, a well-known specialist, who was put up by the prosecution in rebuttal of the testimony offered by the defense in attacking that of Dr. Roy Harris, was the final witness during the afternoon session. His testimony was stopped in the middle of its narration in order to give the solicitor time to investigate authorities on a medical subject on which Mr. Dorsey was questioning the witness at the time a discussion arose between the prosecution and defense. "What is your business?" he was asked by the solicitor.

The Atlanta Constitution,Wednesday, 20th August 1913.Page 2.M. E. McCoy, of Bolton, who stated that he worked part of the time as a painter and part as a farmer, was put on the stand after McEwen, the motorman. He swore that he saw Mary Phagan on Forsyth street going to the National Pencil factory at a very few minutes after the noon hour of the day she was killed.Before he had left the stand the defense had made a bitter but unsuccessful effort to break him down and confuse him and Attorney Rosser had asked him something like a hundred questions

The Atlanta Constitution,Wednesday, 20th August 1913.Page 3.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

Atlanta ConstitutionWednesday, August 20th, 1913 Miss Nellie Wood, a former employee of the National Pencil factory, whom the state claims left there because on the second day she was there when Leo Frank got her into his office and made indecent proposals to her, was put on the stand following the McKnight negro. After bitter wrangles with the jury out of the courtroom, Judge Roan ruled that the woman could not tell that Frank had made these proposals to her, but that all she could tell about was what she had heard others say in regard to his character before

The Atlanta Constitution, Friday, 22nd August 1913. Page 2. 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 jury, we are all to be congratulated that this case is

The Atlanta Constitution,Friday, 22nd August 1913.Page 1.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.10:30 a.m. Alonzo Mann telephones Schiff at his home.11:00 a.m. Frank returns to pencil factory. Holloway and Mann came to office. Frank dictates mail and acknowledges letters.11:30 a.m.