Mayhayley Lancaster

Background

Born Amanda Mayhayley Lancaster, she grew up in Heard County, Georgia, where she lived for most of her life.

Career

She was involved in Leo Frank"s defense and in the Wallace case as a witness for the prosecution. She is buried in the cemetery at Caney Head Methodist Church. Mayhayley Lancaster was 39 years old in 1915, during the Leo Frank case.

Thirty-two years later, in 1947, the 71-year-old Mayhayley Lancaster took part in the Wallace trial, later described in the book Murder in Coweta County.

Political campaign

Lancaster ran for the Georgia legislature in 1926, the first woman to do southern She ran on a platform advocating roads and railroads into rural counties, public schools, and the passage of a law that mandated that doctors must deliver babies regardless of the family"s ability to pay fees.

Death and legacy

Mayhayley Lancaster died November 22, 1955, one month after of her 80th birthday. In addition to her legal, political and educational activities, she was also described as a noted fortune teller, numbers runner and self-proclaimed "Oracle of the Ages".

Achievements

• She did not win, but some of her ideas were eventually carried out.

Views

Lancaster was one of the few public voices in Georgia to defend Frank.