Hugh Dorsey
Hugh Dorsey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 62nd Governor of Georgia | |
| In office June 30, 1917 – June 25, 1921 | |
| Preceded by | Nathaniel E. Harris |
| Succeeded by | Thomas W. Hardwick |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hugh Manson Dorsey July 10, 1871 Fayetteville, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | June 11, 1948 (aged 76) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Resting place | Westview Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Adair Wilkinson (m. 1911) |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Georgia (AB) University of Virginia |
| Occupation |
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Hugh Manson Dorsey (July 10, 1871 – June 11, 1948) was an American lawyer who was notable as the prosecuting attorney in the Leo Frank prosecution of 1913, that subsequently led to a lynching after Frank's death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. He was also a politician, a member of the Democratic Party, who was twice elected as the Governor of Georgia (1917–1921), and jurist, who served for more than a decade as a superior court judge (1935–1948) in Atlanta.
Early life and education[]
Hugh Manson Dorsey was born in Fayetteville, Georgia on July 10, 1871 to Sarah Matilda (née Bennett) and Rufus T. Dorsey.[1][2] At the age of 8, he moved with his family in 1879 to Atlanta.[3] His father was a judge and after moving to Atlanta formed the firm Wright and Dorsey with Judge William Wright.[2][3] Dorsey attended local Atlanta schools. He attended school for a year in Hartwell, Georgia before returning to Atlanta.[1][3]
Dorsey graduated from the University of Georgia in 1893 with a Bachelor of Arts.[1][2][3] After studying law at the University of Virginia, he was admitted to the bar in Fayetteville.[1]
Personal life[]
Dorsey married Adair Wilkinson of Valdosta, Georgia on June 29, 1911.[3] Together, they had two sons, Hugh Manson Dorsey Jr. and James Wilkinson Dorsey.[1][2][3]
Dorsey's sister, Sarah, married Luther Rosser Jr., son of attorney Luther Rosser, who was chief counsel defending Leo Frank at trial and subsequent appeals.[4]
Career[]
Dorsey joined his father's law firm in Atlanta in 1895.[3][5] He was made a partner along with Arthur Heyman and the firm became Dorsey, Brewster, Howell and Heyman.[3] After his father died in 1909, Dorsey became the head of the firm and remained until he withdrew from the partnership in August 1916.[3]
After working for several years with his father, in 1910, Dorsey was appointed solicitor general of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit by Governor Joseph M. Brown after the death of Charles D. Hill.[2][3] He was a member of the Democratic Party,[6] as were most established Whites in the South after Reconstruction. In 1913, Dorsey was prosecuting attorney (serving as the solicitor general of the Fulton County Superior Court)[7] at the trial of Leo Frank, who was indicted for the murder of young factory worker Mary Phagan. Achieving conviction amid intense media coverage, Dorsey became famous.[2][3] Frank, a Jewish northerner from Brooklyn, was eventually lynched by a mob two months after Governor John Slaton commuted his death sentence to life in prison.
Dorsey's victory in the Frank-Phagan case contributed to his political popularity. He resigned as solicitor general on August 1, 1916.[3] He was elected for two consecutive two-year terms as the Governor of Georgia from 1917 to 1921.[1][6]
Later he ran for the U.S. Senate but was defeated.[2] In 1926, he was appointed judge of the civil division in Atlanta.[1] Dorsey served as a superior court judge in Atlanta from 1935 to March 4, 1948.[1][2]
Death and legacy[]
Dorsey died on June 11, 1948 in a hospital in Atlanta.[1][2] He was buried in Westview Cemetery in Atlanta.[2] His grandson, Jaz Dorsey, was a composer, lyricist and playwright.[8]
Over the decades, the dramatic story of Frank's trial and lynching (after his death sentence was commuted) was adapted into many forms. He is seen in the 1964 fiction Profiles in Courage and 1988 TV-miniseries The Murder of Mary Phagan, where Dorsey was portrayed by the actor Richard Jordan, and in the Broadway musical Parade, where he was portrayed in the original cast by Herndon Lackey.
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i "Ex-Governor Hugh Manson Dorsey, Prominent Fulton Jurist, Succumbs". The Atlanta Constitution. June 12, 1948. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j Stallings, Patricia. "Hugh M. Dorsey (1871-1948)". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l "Georgia's Governor Youngest Man Ever to Hold That Office". Montgomery Advertiser. July 2, 1917. p. 6. Retrieved August 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Oney 2003, p. 616.
- ^ "June 11", This Day in Georgia History, Georgia Info, compiled by Ed Jackson and Charles Pou, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, Digital Library of Georgia, accessed Jul 20, 2010
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Georgia Governor Hugh Manson Dorsey". National Governors Association. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ^ Oney 2003, p. 92.
- ^ "Obituary: James "Jaz" Dorsey". Out & About Nashville. June 16, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
Sources[]
- Oney, Steve (2004). And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 9780679764236. OCLC 1000413679.
External links[]
- Works by or about Hugh Dorsey at Internet Archive
- Arguments of Hugh M. Dorsey in the 1913 Leo Frank Murder Trial Some of Solicitor General Hugh Manson Dorsey's nine hours of closing arguments made on Aug. 22, 23 and 25, 1913 in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit. Held at Internet Archive in Adobe PDF format, 146 pages.
- Georgia State Archives Roster of State Governors
- Georgia Governor's Gravesites Field Guide (1776–2003)
- Hugh M. Dorsey historical marker
- Hugh Manson Dorsey at Find a Grave
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- 1871 births
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- Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers
- Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges
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- Politicians from Atlanta
- University of Georgia alumni
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- Democratic Party state governors of the United States
- People from Fayetteville, Georgia
- Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats