Tuesday, May 13th, 1913, Mother Thinks Police Are Doing Their Best
Mrs. J. W. Coleman, mother of fourteen-year-old Mary Phagan, rose from her grief on Tuesday for the first time in sixteen days and returned to her household duties, resigned to the tragedy that has shattered her home and trusting in the law to bring justice for her daughter's death.
"It was such a beautiful morning," she told a Georgian reporter, "And I have been able to rest now for three nights, so I felt like doing my work again. My house has been in such a turmoil since this dreadful tragedy. I feel helpless, and I have resigned myself to the sad lot that has befallen us. All we can do is wait, and waiting is a hard task."
No Complaint of Police
Mrs. Coleman was careful to make clear she holds no grievance against the officers handling the investigation.
"Don't misunderstand me. I am not complaining about what the officers are doing. It is far better to go slow and be sure we are doing right than to hurry and make a mistake. I believe the police and the Solicitor are doing everything they can to find the guilty man. They ought to do it. Such a crime ought to be punished. But I do not want them to make a mistake.
"I heard that feeling was running very strong last week, but I am glad no hasty action was taken. It might have been all wrong, and I think I would have been as grieved as anybody.
"We have made many inquiries among our friends and acquaintances and have not found one who saw Mary after noon on Saturday, when she went to the factory to collect her pay. So much seems to depend on that point, and if anyone did see her after that, he certainly ought to come forward and say so. It does seem that if Mary had been on the streets Saturday afternoon, with as many friends as we have, someone would have seen her. We do not believe she ever left the factory."
Has Read No Reports
Since her nervous collapse in the days following the murder, Mrs. Coleman has not been permitted to read the newspapers, her husband recognizing the seriousness of her condition. Since the previous Wednesday she had kept to absolute rest and quiet, and Tuesday she returned to her domestic duties with the intention, as she put it, of trying "to make home like it used to be, if possible." She said it was only the natural strength and constitution she has always possessed that allowed her to endure the blow at all.
"Mary and I were very much alike," she said, "strong and healthy. Mary would have been fourteen years old on June the first, but she was very large and robust for her age. She often passed for sixteen. Her birthday is nearly here, but it will be so different this year."