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John M. Slaton (1866-1955) was an Atlanta attorney and politician. He served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1896 to 1909 and served as the Speaker of the House during the last four years of his tenure. He subsequently served in the Georgia State Senate until 1913. In 1911, he was appointed acting governor of Georgia after Hoke Smith was elected to the United States Senate. Slaton was later elected to his own term as governor in 1913. While governor, Slaton famously commuted the death sentence of Leo Frank, who had been convicted of murdering one of his employees Mary Phagan; Frank was later abducted from prison by a mob and lynched.