Leo M. Frank
Leo Frank was a Jewish man from Texas who ran the National Pencil Co. factory in Atlanta, and his mother said she had always known he would be vindicated. In August 1915 he was held at the state prison farm near Milledgeville, Georgia, when masked men overpowered the warden and guards, cut the telephone lines and took him from his room. According to one report, none of the armed guards raised a hand to stop the mob, which drove him to Marietta and hanged him from a tree. Governor Harris called the killing a lynching and promised an investigation, and a coroner's jury at Marietta adjourned, while reports differed on who the mob was. The Atlanta Jewish Times says the state posthumously pardoned him in 1986 because it had failed to protect him, though the pardon did not address guilt or innocence.
Cause of death, as reported: Taken from custody and lynched (neglect alleged). The Milledgeville prison farm report says none of the armed guards raised a hand to stop the mob that took Frank from his cell, and reports differ on who the mob was.
Reported by: Milledgeville prison officials (the agency that held him); Atlanta Journal (reporters); coroner's jury at Marietta (medical examiner or coroner); Governor Harris.
Sources (11)
- Evening Journal, August 17, 1915, page 1
- Evening Journal, August 17, 1915, page 8
- The Alaska Daily Empire, August 18, 1915, page 1
- The Garden Island, August 24, 1915, page 5
- Webster City Freeman, August 24, 1915, page 6
- Evening Times-Republican, August 28, 1915, page 4
- Valdez Daily Prospector, February 10, 1916, page 1
- Watauga Democrat, October 18, 1923, page 1
- Evening Star, November 11, 1923, page 60
- Evening Star, January 11, 1935, page 2
- Governor in Leo Frank Case to Be Honored