Q: Can you fill me in on the Leo Frank case? I’ve heard part of the story, but want to know the details.
A: Leo Frank was a manager at Atlanta's National Pencil Co. who was convicted of murdering 13-year-old Mary Phagan after a sensational, racially charged trial. Phagan was a worker at the plant who was murdered after picking up her paycheck on April 26, 1913. Her body was discovered in the factory's cellar, and evidence quickly piled up against Frank, who was Jewish and had grown up in New York City. He also was fingered by Jim Conley, a black janitor who told police he helped Frank dispose of Phagan's body. Frank was found guilty and received the death penalty, but Georgia Gov. John M. Slaton conducted his own investigation. He found Frank innocent and changed his sentence to life in prison on June 21, 1915, thinking that Frank's innocence would be proven and he would be released. Riots broke out all over the Atlanta area and a group of men drove to the Milledgeville prison where Frank was being held on Aug. 16, 1915. They broke him out of his cell and drove him to Marietta, where they hanged him from a tree the next day, near where I-75 now crosses Roswell Road, just east of the Big Chicken. The Georgia Historical Society, the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation and Marietta's Temple Kol Emeth erected a marker near the spot in 2008.
Q: What is a jonquil and why is Smyrna called the Jonquil City?
A: It's OK if you're a late bloomer when it comes to recognizing the flowers that blossom all over Smyrna every spring. As the story goes, the short-tubed yellow flowers with long narrow leaves have been providing the Cobb County city with bursts of color since the late 19th century. That's when Samuel Taylor and his family moved from Decatur to Smyrna and bought 80 acres on Atlanta Road, south of Collier Road, according to the Smyrna Historical and Genealogical Society's website. The Taylors' son lived in Spokane, Wash., and he mailed a sack of jonquil bulbs to his parents, who gave them to their neighbors and friends. The bulbs were planted, spread and soon were sprouting up all over Smyrna. Even though the Taylors moved to Spokane in 1907, the tradition of sharing and planting jonquil bulbs had taken root. The Jonquil Garden Club was established in 1937, but it's uncertain how Smyrna became known as The Jonquil City of the South. The flower can be seen on the city's official logo and is honored with the Spring Jonquil Festival, which will take place this weekend on the Village Green in downtown Smyrna.
What do you want to know about Georgia?
If you’re new in town or have questions about this special place we call home, ask us! E-mail Andy Johnston at q&a@ajc.com.
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