Frank Hanly
26thGovernor of Indiana
In office January 9, 1905 – January 11, 1909
Lieutenant	Hugh Thomas Miller
Preceded by	Winfield T. Durbin
Succeeded by	Thomas Marshall
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromIndiana's9th district
In office March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1897
Preceded by	Daniel W. Waugh
Succeeded by	Charles B. Landis
Member of theIndiana Senate
In office 1890-1891
Personal details
Born	James Franklin Hanly (1863-04-04)April 4, 1863 St. Joseph, Illinois, U.S.
Died	August 1, 1920(1920-08-01) (aged 57) Dennison, Ohio, U.S.
Resting place	Hillside Cemetery
Political party	Republican (before 1909) Prohibition (1909–1920)
Spouse	Eva Simmer
Education	Eastern Illinois University
Signature

James Franklin Hanly (April 4, 1863 – August 1, 1920) was an American politician who served as acongressman fromIndiana from 1895 until 1897, and was the26th governor of Indiana from 1905 to 1909. He was the founder ofHanly's Flying Squadron, which advocatedprohibition nationally and played an important role in arousing public support for prohibition.

During his term as governor he successfully advocated the passage of a local-option liquor law, which led the majority of Indiana's counties to ban liquor sales. His other achievements included banning gambling, fighting political corruption, and adjusting state agencies to operate on a non-partisan basis. He left office and theRepublican Party and became an active and vocal prohibitionist. He was an unsuccessfulProhibition Party candidate forPresident of the United States in the1916 election.

Hanly was born in a log cabin nearSt. Joseph, Illinois on April 4, 1863, the youngest of the seven children of Elijah and Anna Calton Hanly. His mother taught him to read at home, even though she was blind. As a young man he lived for a while on a farm in the nearby village ofHomer. In Homer he attended the Liberty rural school for one year where he became known as a formidable debater. At age sixteen he left home to attend the common schools and the Eastern Illinois Normal School atCharleston, Illinois, until 1879. He worked odd jobs to pay for his schooling, and often slept in barns. That year he graduated he moved toWarren County, Indiana where he taught in the state public schools from 1881 to 1889.^[1][2]

He met Eva Augusta Rachel Simmer and the couple married in 1881. Together, they had five children, but only one survived childhood. While teaching he became friends with a local judge, Joseph M. Rabb. Rabb encouraged Hanly to take an active part in politics and stump in behalf of Republicans. Hanly studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1889, joining Rabb's law office inWilliamsport, Indiana.^[3] Hanly practiced law withEle Stansbury, a young lawyer who would later serve asIndiana Attorney General.^[4]

He was elected as a member of theIndiana State Senate in an 1889 special election to fill and empty state senate seat, defeating George W. Cronk, and served there from 1890 until 1891. In the senate he gained a reputation for vigorous oration.

He ran as aRepublican and won election to theFifty-fourth Congress, serving from March 4, 1895, to March 3, 1897. During his term his district was realigned by the Democratic controlledIndiana General Assembly, who created agerrymander of his district causing him to lose his re-election in 1896.^[1][3]

He launched a campaign for Republican nomination forU.S. Senate in 1899, but was defeated in the Republican legislature vote byAlbert J. Beveridge. The election caused a major division in the state party, and progressive anti-prohibition candidates supported Beveridge, while the prohibition and conservative wing of the party supported Hanly. After losing the nomination, he briefly retired from politics. The split worsened following the election, leading progressives to split from the Republican party.^[1] Hanly went on a speaking tour around the state to build up support for another run for office. His speeches were fiery and often quotedAbraham Lincoln.^[5]

Hanly reentered politics in 1904, and won the Republican nomination for governor of Indiana. Hanly was electedGovernor of Indiana, defeatingJohn W. Kern by 84,364 votes.^[6] The election was hard-fought by Hanly, who delivered excoriating speeches against the Democratic party which he referred to as "unholy", and "great only its ability to destroy." He called their election campaign "selfish" and said they ran it only so they could "obtain the flesh pot of office."^[5] Hanly was considered a party maverick and he pushed his own agenda, rather than his party's platform, once in office. He pushed for what he considered major state reforms, accomplishing many of them. He crusaded againstliquor,horse-racing andpolitical corruption, even prosecuting members of his own administration forembezzlement.^[1][5]

Using his popularity, he was able to have the Republican-controlled General Assembly pass legislation to ban gambling on horse races in the state and at theIndiana State Fair. He successfully reorganized most of the state government in an attempt to make the government bureaus non-partisan. He was able to successfully achieve his goal among the state's law enforcement, correctional facilities, and state-run charities.^[1] He also brought considerable improvement to the state's accounting methods. He required detailed expense reports to be created by all state employees seeking reimbursements, began regular audits of all spending, and with the support of the state treasurer, he began to establish new accounts by which the government could better monitor where funds were being spent, and by whom.^[7][8]

In 1907, he signed the Compulsory Sterilization Law, which mandated the sterilization of certain individuals in state custody, making Indiana the first state to adopteugenics legislation. The legislation was part of the progressive agenda and received broad support at the time.^[9] GovernorThomas R. Marshall later ordered the practice stopped in 1909.^[10] In 1921, theIndiana Supreme Court found the lawunconstitutional.^[11]

A major scandal broke shortly after he entered office, when it was found the public officials had been using their expense accounts to pay for gambling debts at theFrench Lick Springs Hotel, owned by the chairman of theDemocratic National Committee,Thomas Taggart. Hanly harangued Taggart for breaking the law by establishing a "Monte Carlo." In July 1906 he ordered the state police to raid French Lick and West Baden, and seized several slot machines, roulette wheels, poker sets, playing cards, Klondike tables, gambling records, dice, and a whole host of other gambling implements. He brought suit against the corporations operating the French Lick Springs Hotel and the West Baden Springs Hotel seeking to seize their properties for profiting from illegal activities. John Kerns, who Hanly defeated for governor in 1904, represented the hotels. The case dragged on until after Hanly left office. In 1910 an Orange County jury ruled in favor of the hotels.^[12][13]

Hanly was most concerned abouttemperance and was known to support a ban on liquor. His stated reason for supporting prohibition was the effect that alcoholics had on their children. He championed a bill that would allow counties to ban the sale of alcohol. The General Assembly had failed to pass the bill during their two normal sessions during his terms, so he called aspecial session in 1908 to have the body take up debate of the propose bill, which they passed.^[1] Once enacted, 72 of Indiana's 92 counties went dry, banning the sale of all liquors.^[14] The timing of the passage of the bill caused it to become a major election issue, and Hanly had robbed the Republicans of one of the primary plank of their platform and alienated progressives, costing Republicans the election.^[15]

While still governor, Hanly began to make work with theAnti-Saloon League. Early on he discovered the divisions within the prohibitionist movement and was instrumental in unifying the groups and their goal. He was among the first to advocate a constitutional amendment to ban the sale of liquor, and the prohibitionists rallied to that goal.^[16]

Hanly was aprohibition lecturer throughout the United States from 1910 to 1920 and inFrance in 1919. He organized theFlying Squadron of America (sometimes called Hanly's Flying Squadron), a temperance organization that staged a nationwide campaign to promote temperance. It consisted of three groups of revivalist-like speakers who toured cities across the country between September 30, 1914, and June 6, 1915.^[1][17]

Hanly left the Republican party to join the newProhibition Party following his term as governor. In 1915 he was nominated to be the party's candidate for governor, but he declined, and instead became theProgressive Party's candidate. He was later nominated to be the Prohibition Party's candidate for President of the United States in the1916 election.^[1] Hanly was overwhelmingly defeated; the ticket of Hanly andIra Landrith garnered 221,030 votes, or about 1.2% of the total.^[18]

In April 1920 Hanly argued the case ofHawke v. Smith, a challenge to the Eighteenth Amendment, before theUnited States Supreme Court. The case was based on the belief that the amendment had been invalidated whenOhio overturned their previous ratification of the amendment after a public referendum. Hanly won a unanimous decision issued on June 1, 1920, upholding prohibition and determining that Ohio could not change their vote after the tally had already been taken among the states.^[19]

While on a trip toOhio in 1920 to give anti-liquor lectures, he was involved in an automobile-train accident nearDennison, Ohio and died from his injuries.^[1] He is interred atHillside Cemetery, near Williamsport, Indiana.^[20]

Source (Popular Vote):Leip, David."1916 Presidential Election Results".Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. RetrievedJuly 28, 2005.Source (Electoral Vote):"Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996".National Archives and Records Administration. RetrievedJuly 31, 2005.

Author of A Day in the Siskiyous An Oregon Extravaganza (https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.dayinsiskiyous00hanl/?st=gallery)

• List of governors of Indiana
• Flying Squadron Also known as "Hanly's Flying Squadron."
• Temperance movement
• Temperance organizations

Notes

Bibliography

• Bodenhamer, David J (1994).The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press.ISBN 0-253-31222-1.
• Gray, Ralph D (1994).Indiana History: A Book of Readings. Indiana University Press.ISBN 0-253-32629-X.
• Gugin, Linda C.; St. Clair, James E, eds. (2006).The Governors of Indiana. Indianapolis, Indiana: Indiana Historical Society Press.ISBN 0-87195-196-7.

• Biography from Indiana Historical Bureau at theWayback Machine (archived May 16, 2008)
• United States Congress."Hanly, James Franklin (id: H000159)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Indiana County History - Hanly Biography at theWayback Machine (archived June 13, 2008)
• National Governors Association Biography at theWayback Machine (archived September 27, 2008)
• Details ofHawke v. Smith
• Frank Hanly atFind a Grave

• 1863 births
• 1920 deaths
• Accidental deaths in Ohio
• Methodists from Indiana
• Republican Party governors of Indiana
• Governors of Indiana
• Indiana Republicans
• Indiana Prohibitionists
• Indiana Progressives (1912)
• Republican Party Indiana state senators
• People from Champaign County, Illinois
• People from Warren County, Indiana
• People from Williamsport, Indiana
• Prohibition Party (United States) presidential nominees
• Railway accident deaths in the United States
• Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana
• 19th-century United States representatives
• 19th-century members of the Indiana General Assembly

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