Author: Mary Phagan

Monday, 28th April 1913 12-Year-Old Girl Sobs Her Love for Slain Child
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 "I'd help lynch the man that killed poor Mary. If they'd let me, I'd like to hold the rope that choked him to death. That's all he deserves. I was playing with Mary only…

Monday, 28th April 1913 3 Youths Seen Leading Along a Reeling Girl
Edgar L. Sentell, lifelong friend of Mary Phagan, says he saw a man answering this description, walking with the girl after midnight Sunday, a few hours before the body was found. He has identified the man as Arthur Mullinax,…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Arrested as Girl’s Slayer
Photograph of Mary Phagan showing her in street dress. JOHN M. GANTT ACCUSED OF THE CRIME; FORMER BOOKKEEPER TAKEN BY POLICE Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 J. M. Gantt, arrested in Marietta for the murder of Mary Phagan,…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Body Dragged by Deadly Cord After Terrific Fight
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Stretched full length, face downward on the floor of the basement at the rear of the plant, the body was found. A length of heavy cord or wrapping twine, which had been used…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Chief and Sleuths Trace Steps in Slaying of Girl
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 In the room where Mary Phagan was attacked and paid out her young life to the brutality of her assailant, across the floor where her limp form was dragged, down the stairs…

Monday, 28th April 1913 City Chemist Tests Stains For Blood
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Pieces of wood, the stains on which are believed to be those of the blood of murdered Mary Phagan, are undergoing a chemical examination this afternoon by the city chemist. The discovery of…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Gantt Was Infatuated With Girl; at Factory Saturday
At the right is Miss Ruth Phagan, aunt of Mary Phagan, and in her arms is Miss Ollie Phagan, sister of the victim, whom she is trying to comfort. Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Gantt was arrested…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Girl and His Landlady Defend Mullinax
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Declaring her belief in the absolute innocence of her sweetheart, Arthur Mullinax, in the murder of Mary Phagan, pretty 16-year-old Pearl Robinson made a pathetic figure as she appeared before Chief of…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Girl is Assaulted and then Murdered in Heart of Town, The Atlanta Constitution
Atlanta Constitution Monday, April 28th, 1913 (Page 1, Column 6) Chum Identifies Victim as Mary Phagan, of 146 Lindsay Street, Then Swoons. Girl Had Just Resigned From National Pencil Company, in Which Plant Her Body Was Found. MOTHER AND FATHER…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Girl to Be Buried in Marietta To-morrow
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Stepfather and Sister to Accompany Body, But Mother May Not Be Able to Go. The body of murdered Mary Phagan, which has been at the Bloomfield morgue since she was found strangled to…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Girl’s Grandfather Vows Vengeance
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Standing with bared head in the doorway of his Marietta home, with tears falling unheeded down his furrowed cheeks, W. J. Phagan cried to heaven for vengeance for the murder of his…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Horrible Mistake, Pleads Mullinax, Denying Crime
This youth, formerly a street car conductor, is held in connection with the investigation of the slaying of Mary Phagan in the basement of the National Pencil Factory in South Forsyth Street. He stoutly denies any connection with the…

Monday, 28th April 1913 “I Could Trust Mary Anywhere,” Her Weeping Mother Says
Mary Phagan, 14-year-old daughter of Mrs. J. W. Coleman, 146 Lindsay Street, whose slain body was found in the basement of the National Pencil Factory, 37-39 South Forsyth Street. The girl left her home Saturday morning to go to…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Incoherent Notes Add to Mystery in Strangling Case
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Two mysterious notes—incoherent, misspelled and unintelligible—were found in the cellar of death; Were they written by the girl as she lay in delirium just before the end came, or Were they written by…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Lifelong Friend Saw Girl and Man After Midnight
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Edgar L. Sentell, twenty-one years old, a clerk employed in C. J. Kamper's store, and whose home is at 82 Davis Street, was one of the first to give the detectives a hopeful…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Look for Negro to Break Down
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Newt Lee, the negro-night-watchman arrested in connection with the Phagan murder, practically admitted to Detective John Black this afternoon that he knows something of the circumstances surrounding the death of the little girl.…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Mullinax Blundered in Statement, Say Police
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Mullinax was arrested by detectives late in the afternoon in Bellwood Avenue, near the viaduct, as he was on his way to his boarding house. His positive identification by E. L. Sentell,…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Mullinax Held in Phagan Case
National Pencil Co. Building at 37-39 S. Forsyth St. in which the Phagan girl was slain Atlanta Constitution Monday, April 28th, 1913 Page 1 Former Street Car Conductor Arrested as He Leaves the Home of His Sweetheart on…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Negro is Not Guilty, Says Factory Head
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Superintendent Leo M. Frank Is Convinced Newt Morris Was Not Implicated. Owing to a delay in receipt of metal shipment part of the plant of the National Pencil Company had been shut down…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Neighbors of Slain Girl Cry for Vengeance
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Slaying of Mary Phagan Arouses Friends of Family to Threats of Violence. "I wouldn't have liked to be held responsible for the fate of the murderer of little Mary Phagan if the men…

Monday, 28th April 1913, J. M. Gantt is Arrested on His Arrival in Marietta; He Visited Factory Saturday, The Atlanta Journal
Arthur Mullinax, who seems to have established an alibi through statements of friends that he was at home on night of the murder. The Atlanta Journal Monday, April 28th, 1913 (Page 1, Column 1, Row 1) James Milton Gantt Protests…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Police Think Negro Watchman Can Clear Murder Mystery; Four Are Now Under Arrest, The Atlanta Journal
Mary Phagan Atlanta Journal Monday, April 28th, 1913 (Page 1, Column 2) Developments in Case Have Come Thick and Fast Monday but No Evidence Has Yet Been Developed Which Fixes the Atrocious Crime — Mullinax Seems to Have Proved Alibi…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Coroner’s Jury Visits Scene of Murder and Adjourns Without Rendering Verdict, The Atlanta Journal
The Atlanta Journal Monday April 28th, 1913 (Page 2, Column 2) Will Meet Again Wednesday Morning When Witnesses Will Be Examined—Five Hundred People Present When Inquest Was Begun For an hour Monday morning, a jury empaneled by Coroner Paul Donehoo…

Monday, 28th April 1913 “God’s Vengeance Will Strike Brute Who Killed Her,” Says Grandfather of Mary Phagan, The Atlanta Journal
The Atlanta Journal Monday, April 28th, 1913 (Page 2, Column 2) Calling upon God Almighty to visit speedy vengeance upon the murderer or murderers of his fourteen-year-old granddaughter, Mary Phagan, whose mutilated body was discovered Sunday morning in the basement…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Man Held for Girl’s Murder Avows He Was With Another When Witness Saw Him Last, The Atlanta Journal
The Atlanta Journal Monday, April 28th, 1913 (Page 2, Column 4) Arthur Mullinax, Trolley Conductor, Denies That E. L. Sentell Saw Him Saturday Night With Mary Phagan Arthur Mullinax, identified by E. L. Sentell, of 22 Davis street, clerk for…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Strand of Hair in Machine on Second Floor May Be Clew Left by Mary Phagan, The Atlanta Journal
1—Mary Phagan's own handwriting, as shown in her address she wrote for Sunday School teacher. 2—Written by Lee at suggestion of detectives for purpose of comparison. 3—One of notes found in cellar. 4—Also written by Lee at suggestion of detectives.…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Thousands Visit Morgue to View Girl’s Body, The Atlanta Journal
The Atlanta Journal Monday, April 28th, 1913 (Page 2, Column 4) Six thousand people, according to reliable estimates, visited P. J. Bloomfield's undertaking parlors Monday morning to see the body of Mary Phagan. It was the largest crowd, police say,…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Two Maundering Notes Add Mystery to Crime, The Atlanta Journal
1—Mary Phagan's own handwriting, as shown in her address she wrote for Sunday School teacher. 2—Written by Lee at suggestion of detectives for purpose of comparison. 3—One of notes found in cellar. 4—Also written by Lee at suggestion of detectives.…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Pinkertons Take Up Hunt for Slayer
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 Investigate Story of Wife of Employee That She Saw Strange Negro Around Factory. The Pinkerton Detective Agency was brought into the Phagan murder mystery this afternoon when Leo Frank, superintendent of the National…

Monday, 28th April 1913 Playful Girl With Not a Bad Thought
Atlanta Georgian Monday, April 28th, 1913 "She was just a little, playful girl, without a bad thought in her mind, and she has been made the victim of the blackest crime that can be perpetuated," was the bitter denunciation…