The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-08-19
Lynched Near Marietta.

lynched Near Marietta.
Frank, serving a life term for the
murder of Mary Phagan, an Atlanta
factory girl, was taken from the pris.
on farm at Milledgeville Monday
night, rushed away in an automobile.
and lynched, two miles east of Mar.
ietta early Tuesday. He was hanged
to tree.
Twenty-Five armed men, some of
them masked, formed the party which
overpowered the prison guards,
dragged Frank from his cell and later
lynched him.
Frank was taken 100 miles from the
prison farm to a point almost within
signt Of the former home Of Mary
Phagan. No shots were ired.
Found Hours After.
Franks body, barefooted and clad
only in prison trousers and shirt, was
found at $3.50 o'clock in the morning.
1t Is believed he was lynched about
daylight.
Several automobiles, well loaded,
left Marietta in the direction of Mil
ledgeville Tuesday night. After the
return Of some of the machines to
Marietta the next morning officers
started out on the road which they
believed the automobiles had travelled.
They had gone only two miles when
they saw the body of Frank not more
than 150 yards from the roadside.
News that the body had been found
spread rapidly and within a short
time hundreds Of persons were crowd
Ing to the scene. No immediate eff
fort was made to cut the body down,
as Sheriff Hicks was not in town and
the coroner took no action.
Women in Crowd.
The crowd increased rapidly as the
day wore on. By 10 o'clock many
women and children were mingling
with the gathering in the woods at
the edge of which the body still
hung.
Franks body was cut down at 1o:15
o'clock, but not until one Of the
crowd had advocated mutilation of
the body.
Newton Morris, former superior
court Judge at Marietta, Immediately
pleaded with the throng to allow an
inquest to take It's proper course. A
vote was suggested and taken. 1t was
overwhelmingly in favor of allowing
the coroner to take charge of the
body. It then was cut down and the
two mile trip to Marietta started.
The inquest was set for II o'clock.
When the body was cut down, parts
OF Franks shirt were torn away by
souvenir hunters. The body was
roughly handled before it was put
into the undertaker's wagon.
Later the body was taken from the
undertaker's wagon and put into an
automobile on the outskirts Of Mari
eta.
SIaton Gives Views.
San Francisco, Aug. 1S-Former
Governor John M. Slaton of Georgia
declared that it was better that Leo
Frank was lynched by mob than If
his legal execution had taken place
IN an address before the San Fran
cisco Center of the California Civic
league.
No Blame on Prison Officials.
Milledgeville, Ca, Aug 1s.-Supt.
J. M. Burke and Warden James e.
Smith of the state prison farm are
held blameless by the board of prison
commissioner for the seizure of Leo
M. Frank by the mob. r.. e. Dawson,
T. E. Patterson and L. Rainey con-
stituting the prison board happened
to be at the penitentiary here when
Frank was taken from the building.
All three Of them speak in regretful
terms over the occurrence they wit
messed in part. They were spending
the night at the residence of Super
Burke and had just gone
into their rooms when the alarm was
sounded that mob had come for
Frank. Chairman Dawson was first
informed and he hurriedly impaired
his information to Commissioners
Rainey and Patterson, and they made
hasty efforts to get on the scene. But
before they could get to the prison
grounds the mob was beginning to
move off.
Today they declared no blame at
tached to the prison officials.