Canterbury Industry Mystery Murder
(.Specially written for “The Press’* by DERRICK ROONEY.)
Little Mary Phagan went to town one day. She went to the pencil factory to get her little pay She left her home at seven, she kissed her mother ouod-byc. And never did that little girl think she was bound to die.
This song from Georgia recalls a murder which has never been satisfactorily explained and for which a man who was probably innocent paid the ultimate penalty. Mary Phagan, aged 13, dressed in her Sunday best on April 26, 1913, at her home in Atlanta, Georgia, and set out for a day in town. On the way she was to call for her wages at the National Pencil Factory where, for 10 cents an hour, she was employed to put metal tips on pencils. She had 12 hours’ pay coming to her and had been promised she could collect it that morning, although it was a holiday—Georgia Memorial Day. She never arrived home.
The next morning a Negro watchman found her body in the factory basement. She had been raped, killed by a blow on the head, and had a cord drawn tightly around her throat. Police arrested the watch-
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CV, Issue 31042, 23 April 1966, Page 14
Word Count
203Canterbury Industry Mystery Murder Press, Volume CV, Issue 31042, 23 April 1966, Page 14
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