- 3 months ago
This original article from the day of discovery describes 14-year-old Mary Phagan’s murder in the National Pencil factory: her battered body, the ladder to the basement, Newt Lee’s trembling account, the notes claiming a negro did it, and detectives’ theory of multiple assailants. It includes emotional details of her parents’ wait, her fresh pink dress, and the chum’s emotional identification.
The Atlanta Constitution – Monday, April 28, 1913
Support the truth: Get the second revised edition of Mary Phagan-Kean’s book, The Murder of Little Mary Phagan (2025 edition). Available on Amazon or directly at www.littlemaryphagan.com. Proceeds fund a documentary honoring Little Mary. First edition free download on the site.
The Atlanta Constitution – Monday, April 28, 1913
Support the truth: Get the second revised edition of Mary Phagan-Kean’s book, The Murder of Little Mary Phagan (2025 edition). Available on Amazon or directly at www.littlemaryphagan.com. Proceeds fund a documentary honoring Little Mary. First edition free download on the site.
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LearningTranscript
00:00Girl is assaulted and then murdered in Heart of Town, Atlanta Constitution, Monday, April 28, 1913.
00:06Page 1, Chum identifies victim as Mary Fagan of 146 Lindsay Street, then Swoons. Girl had just
00:12resigned from National Pencil Company, in which plant her body was found. Mother and father stay
00:17up all night waiting her return. Negro watchman is under arrest on suspicion police believe that
00:22she was lured to building by three young companions, assaulted despite her vigorous
00:27struggles, and then killed to shut her lips. While mother and father anxiously waited her return home
00:33Saturday night, pretty 14-year-old Mary Fagan lay dead in a corner of the dark basement of the National
00:38Pencil Factory at 3739 South Forsyth Street, the victim of an atrocious murder following a brutal
00:46criminal assault. Her skull crushed and her neck horribly bruised where she had been choked to
00:51death. The body was found at four o'clock Sunday morning, several hours after the crime had been
00:55committed and was unidentified until the arrival of a girl chum. Two suspects are under arrest.
01:02One is Arthur Mullinax, formerly a streetcar conductor. The other is Newt Lee, Negro night
01:07watchman of the factory building who found the body and notified police headquarters. He deeply
01:12maintains innocence. Detectives believe he was implicated in the crime. A confession from him is
01:18expected to lead to the girl's slayer or slayers. Mother prostrated with grief. She was an employee in the
01:24pencil factory but had resigned last Thursday. She was the daughter of Mrs. J. W. Coleman of 146
01:30Lindsay Street. Her mother was prostrated with grief Sunday morning, and although physicians worked over
01:36her throughout the day, her condition was precarious last night. Two notes were found near the body.
01:42Although they purport to have been written by the dead girl, the handwriting has not been recognized as
01:47hers. It resembles, however, that of the imprisoned night watchman. The theory of detectives is that both
01:53were written to mislead the police. One note was penciled on order blank of the factory read,
01:58That Negro hired down here did this. He pushed me down that hole. A long, tall Negro, black that had
02:04it woke. Long, lean, tall Negro. It is incoherent and hardly legible. The second was written on ordinary
02:10tablet paper. He said he would love me. The rest of the note fails to make sense. Neither note was
02:16signed.
02:17The pretty victim was first choked into insensibility, then beaten upon the head with a blunt instrument,
02:23presumably a one-words illegible. Page two. Victim of tragedy, terribly bruised. She was horribly bruised and
02:30lacerated upon the face. Both eyes were blackened and swollen. The hands and fingers were distorted,
02:36showing the agony in which she had died. She was attired in a fresh summer frock of pink,
02:41trimmed in lace, and wore silk stockings. A big bow of baby ribbon was caught in the single strand of
02:47hair
02:47arranged girlish fashion down the back. The clothing was torn and bloody. Her pink parasol was found near
02:53the trap door through which the body had been lowered. A missing shoe and bloody handkerchief
02:58were found in a trash pile near the boiler in the basement. Following an investigation by members of
03:04Coroner Don Who's staff, the body was removed to the Bloomfield Undertaking Establishment on South
03:09Prior Street. An inquest will be held today. Detectives are searching for a trio of men said to have been
03:15seen with Miss Fagan Saturday night about 10 o'clock. E.S. Skipper, of 2241 2 Peter Street,
03:22told a reporter for the Constitution that he had seen a girl answering the exact description of the
03:27victim walking up Prior Street with three men, apparently youths. She was reeling slightly,
03:33as though affected by drugs or narcotics, and was weeping. At the intersection of Trinity Avenue,
03:39she attempted to continue up Prior Street in the direction of Garnett, but was caught by one of her
03:43companions who turned her steps toward Whitehall Street on Trinity Avenue. Skipper's attention was
03:49attracted by the girl's tears and unwillingness to accompany the men. She strove to resist them,
03:54he said, but appeared feeble. She did not seem intoxicated, he said, but sick and weak.
03:59Detectives rely on his story. At Forsyth Street, the men and girl turned down toward Garnett and
04:04Mitchell Streets. Skipper continued in the direction of the terminal station for which he was bound.
04:09The reporter referred him to Detectives Black and Starner, who are in charge of the squad
04:14investigating the mystery, and he told his story to them. He is positive of his ability to identify
04:19either of the men, and gave the detectives accurate descriptions. Adam, several words illegible,
04:25night watchman, in the several words illegible livery stables at 35 Forsyth. Several words illegible,
04:32three doors distant from several words illegible building, told the detectives several words
04:37illegible o'clock. Or later, he had heard one word illegible screaming in the vicinity of the
04:43one word illegible plant. The sounds lasted for several minutes. Suspecting the cries were from
04:49carousing girls on the street, he paid little or not attention to them. That was within less than an
04:54hour after Skipper had left the mysterious quartet at Forsyth Street and Trinity Avenue.
04:59If they were the slain girl and her murderers, they walked directly from Trinity to the factory,
05:04into which she was lured to death. Detectives placed strong faith in Skipper's story.
05:10Miss Fagan left home Saturday at noon. She came uptown to see the Memorial Day parade and to draw
05:15her two days' salary due from the factory when she resigned. Telling her parents to expect her back
05:20for supper, she assured them she would return before nightfall. When she failed to appear at a
05:25late hour, Mr. and Mrs. Coleman grew uneasy and began searching. Police headquarters were notified,
05:31and a lookout placed upon the bulletin board. No love affairs, say her parents. She had never been
05:38known to stay away at night. Her father and mother declared Sunday that until Saturday night,
05:43they had always known where to find her. She was a model girl, bright, eager, and cheerful. Her parents
05:49had never allowed her to have sweethearts or to receive callers. She was not in love, so far as her
05:53parents know. One word illegible, anxious father and mother were awake all night, awaiting news on the
05:59missing daughter. A daybreak, a messenger came with word that she had been murdered in the pencil
06:04factory. Mrs. Coleman fell into a faint, from which she did not recover for an hour. She was
06:09prostrated, and her condition necessitated the constant attention of a physician. News of the
06:14gruesome discovery reached the police station about four o'clock Sunday morning, when the Negro watchman
06:19called over telephone. Send the police to the National Pencil Factory right away, he said. There's a dead
06:25girl down in the basement, and she's been murdered. Two policemen and a Constitution reporter jumped into
06:31the automobile of Boots Rogers, which stood at the front of headquarters and were rushed to the
06:35factory. The watchman stood at the Forsyth Street entrance holding a lantern. He was trembling, his
06:41teeth chattered, and he was visibly excited. She's down in the basement. I'm scared to go. You all go
06:46first. I'll show you the way, he stuttered. The building was one word illegible and deserted.
06:51The footsteps of the policemen echoed from floor to floor, creating an uncanny sound that sent chills
06:57down the spine. The Negro led the way to a small cubbyhole near the entrance, just wide enough to
07:03admit a human body, and through which a ladder projected. As the policemen pushed their way through
07:08the inky blackness, the Negro chattered fearfully. Look out, white folks. You'll step on her.
07:15Negro's manner arouses suspicion. He was unable to readily locate the position of the body,
07:21His wild and excited manner instantly roused suspicion when the body was found. The limbs had
07:27not grown rigid, and the crimson mass over the wound in the head was still moist. She had been
07:33placed in a corner of the basement, evidently with the intention of concealment. Face downward,
07:39the form partly covered by sawdust and shavings was barely discernible from a distance. In the meager
07:45light shed by the lantern, the body was hidden completely from view. The Negro, in custody of a
07:50uniformed policeman and under arrest, was carried to the office on the third floor. A thorough search
07:56was made of the basement. The two notes were first found. One lay within three feet of the corpse,
08:02the other some distance further. Both were plainly in view and lay upon the sawdust flooring.
08:07A man's handkerchief, crimson with blood, but with no identifying marks, was discovered near the first
08:13note. The victim's handkerchief was found in the trash pile, forty feet away from the spot where lay the
08:19body. The hat and parasol were hidden in the pit of the elevator shaft. No marks of identification
08:25were found upon the dead girl. Her mesh bag, containing a few dollars and change, was missing
08:30and has not yet been found. A plain gold bracelet adorned her left wrist. It was splotched with blood
08:36and was bent and battered. A girl's signet ring, engraved with the loan letter W, was upon the little
08:43finger of the right hand. The problem identifying the slain girl confronted the police. Rogers, in whose
08:49car they were rushed to the scene, volunteered to go for Miss Grace Hicks, an employee of the pencil
08:54factory, with whom he was acquainted, and to bring her to the place in the hope that she might recognize
08:59the body. Miss Hicks was found at her home, 100 McDonough Road. She got out of bed at five o
09:05'clock, dressed and
09:06came with Rogers to town, identifies corpse and swoons. Instantly she viewed the corpse, she swooned.
09:13Upon being revived, she revealed the dead girl's identity. She is Mary Fagan, and she lives at 146
09:19Lindsay Street, she said. She and I have been working together at the same machine. She was the best girl
09:24I knew, and a purer child never lived. The negro watchman was brought to the basement. His story was
09:31to the effect that he had entered through the cubby hole at 3.15 o'clock on his hourly round.
09:36Usually,
09:37he said, he went into the basement, but seldom. At the time the body was discovered, according to his
09:42story, he did not intend to go through the place, but only halfway. Going into a toilet, which is
09:48situated some 20 feet from the recess in which the body was discovered, he says he remained therein for
09:53several minutes, leaving his lantern sitting outside. Upon emerging, he declares the light fell upon the
09:59partly hidden form of the dead girl. Elevating his lantern, the negro peered more closely at the
10:05object. Gradually, he discerned in the dim, weird light the outlines of a human form. Thinking someone
10:12was trying to play a prank on him, he advanced upon the body. Still suspecting a joke, he reached down
10:17and caught an arm in his hand. It was limp and human. The negro screamed and fled for the ladder
10:23leading
10:23to the first floor. He declared he had heard no screams at any time of the night, and that no
10:29one of his
10:29knowledge had entered the building since the closing hour. He stated further that he had made hourly
10:34inspection of the building, accused negro irritable. Lee is a middle-aged negro, black, thick-lipped, and hazy-eyed.
10:42All during the day he was nervous and irritable. He is married and had been at work with the pencil
10:47factory
10:47for only three weeks. The charge against him at police headquarters is suspicion, under which he will be detained
10:53until the mystery is cleared. He was forced to show his discovery in pantomime. All lights were cut out of
10:59the
10:59basement, the single entrance to the rear was shut tight, and the only illumination was the lantern
11:04he carried at the time. A detective was stretched upon the spot where the body was found. While a
11:10small assemblage of detectives, police officials, and reporters stood about the basement in hushed
11:15groups, the negro, alone, descended the ladder from the cubbyhole, swinging his lantern. His step was
11:21faulty and he missed the lower rung. Slowly and deliberately he walked to the closet. Sitting the
11:27lantern outside the small enclosure, he entered, emerging quickly. The rays of light barely fell
11:32upon the form of the detective lying in the sawdust. It was barely distinguishable. The watchman picked
11:38up the light, held it aloft, and peered at the prostrate sleuth in exactly the manner he had
11:42previously described. With wavering step, he advanced upon the spot, caught the detective's right wrist in a
11:49tremulous hand, and said, There now, white folks. That's exactly how it happened. The belief of detectives is that
11:56the girl was drugged before being carried into the factory. Before returning home as she intended,
12:01they believe, she met with one or more acquaintances, presumably men acquainted with the pencil plant.
12:06She was enticed away. It is advanced, drugged, as is shown by Skipper's story, and led in the direction
12:12of Forsyth Street. It is suggested that she was lured into the building from the Forsyth Street entrance.
12:18The deed, apparently, was committed upon either the first or second floor. No blood or marks of scuffle can
12:24be found, however, on either. When the girl resisted the efforts of her captors, she was
12:29choked into submission, choked with undergarments. The detectives believed that it was at this point
12:35where the girl's screams were heard by the Woodward Negro. The garrote with which she was choked were
12:40two strips torn from her underclothing and knotted together. She was a strong girl and undoubtedly
12:45fought tigerishly. Dr. John W. Hurt, who performed the examination upon her body, asserted his opinion that
12:51it was a task for more than one man to overpower her, which to a degree substantiates the theory
12:56that there were more than one connected with the crime. Criminal assault was committed upon the
13:01victim, such is the opinion of detectives and medical experts. The deed committed, according to
13:07the theory of the police. The fiends, anxious to seal their victim's lips forever, choked her to death,
13:13made sure she was dead by the blow in the head, then secreted her corpse in the cellar.
13:17The body was lowered through the hole by the rope found looped around the girl's neck.
13:22This also was a task for more than one man. Her weight was estimated at one hundred fifty pounds
13:28or more. The form was dragged the distance of one hundred feet from the ladder to the recess upon
13:33the face. A trail was in the sawdust showing the path made by the body. The rear door, leading to
13:39an
13:40alleyway to which entrance is gained from West Hunter Street, was forced open. The staple holding the
13:45lock was prized off. The murderers, upon ridding themselves of the body, were too frightened to
13:51return upstairs and to emerge from the factory through the Forsyth Street entrance. Instead,
13:56they fled through the safer exit in rear of the building. The mystery is baffling. Chief Beavers,
14:02in a talk to each of the three police watches, instructed every man of the uniform department to
14:08lend his every effort in running down Miss Fagan's slayers. A small army of detectives have been
14:13assigned to the case. Never before has such a dastardly crime stirred the city. All day Sunday,
14:19thousands flocked to the undertaking establishment to view the dead girl. The Constitution's exclusive
14:25story on the tragedy, told in an extra that was issued at daybreak, spread the news like wildfire.
14:31In every respect, it is one of the most horrible crimes of local police records. Atlanta Constitution,
14:37the jailer, the two of us. In every single police officers who believe the people who are
14:37being arrested for the Holocaust and other drivers, the children of the people of the
14:37people of the U.S. in public to honor the people of the substitute and country. And
14:37this is a powerful thing. This is an amazing story that John
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