J. H. Hendricks — Sworn in for the State — 169th Witness to Testify

J. H. Hendricks, witness for the State in rebuttal, at the Trial of Leo Frank in the Fulton County Superior Court of Atlanta, Georgia, in 1913 (Testimony Portion From July 28 - August 21, 1913; Closing Arguments August 21-25, 1913)
Motorman J. H. Hendricks of the Georgia Railway & Electric Company testified that on April 26, 1913, he operated the Marietta-to-Stock-Yards line on Decatur Street. He could not recall the exact arrival time in town around noon and had no special reason to remember the day.
Hendricks confirmed that Matthews and Hollis’s English Avenue car had arrived early prior to April 26—typically 2–3 minutes ahead of schedule. On April 26, he estimated their car reached Broad and Marietta Streets at approximately 12:06 p.m. He noted that Hollis usually transferred to Hendricks’s car at that intersection, but he could not swear to the precise time on that date. Hendricks acknowledged that early arrivals happened often and that motormen were sometimes punished for it.
This testimony was offered to support the State’s timeline by showing that the English Avenue car could plausibly arrive by 12:06 p.m. (or earlier), placing Mary Phagan near the factory close to noon—consistent with the prosecution’s claim she was killed shortly after entering.