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Warren T. McCray
Warren Terry McCray (February 4, 1865 – December 19, 1938) was the 30th governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1921 to 1924.
He came into conflict with the growing influence of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan after vetoing legislation they supported. His personal estate was threatened with bankruptcy during his term and he solicited loans via the mail in order to help maintain his home and took a questionable loan from the State Department of Agriculture. The Indiana attorney general was a Klan member and used the opportunity to bring a suit against the governor for embezzlement for which he was found not guilty.
Immediately after the embezzlement case failed, a new case was launched in federal court claiming he had solicited private loans in a fraudulent way. He resigned from office after his conviction for mail fraud and served three years in federal prison before being paroled in 1927 and pardoned by President Herbert Hoover in 1930.
Warren Terry McCray was born near Brook, Indiana, on February 4, 1865, to Greenberry Ward and Martha (Galey) McCray. His friends and family called him "Warnie". He had two sisters, Annie Eliza and Fannie. At age five he moved to Kentland, Indiana where he grew up attending a local public school. His father and uncle formed a successful livery business there. From an early age, McCray was encouraged to find a way to make money, and began growing vegetables and selling them door to door as a young boy. As he grew older he began taking care of cattle of townspeople who did not have enough land for them to graze. For a fee, he drove the cattle into a pasture outside of town during the day and returned them in the evening.
In April 1874, his uncle died and his father took on new partners. They soon purchased the Discount and Deposit Bank of Kentland and began to accumulate considerable wealth. As a teenager, McCray took a job in the bank as a bookkeeper. After completing high school in 1882 his father offered to send him to college, but the young McCray choose to instead remain working at the bank. By 1885 he had grown tired of his banking job, and decided to go into business on his own. With a friend, Willis Kirkpatrick, he purchased a town grocery store which was immediately very profitable. He used his income from the store to invest in railroad and mining stock, but mostly to buy land. He also made a significant investment in grain elevators and became President of the National Grain Dealers Association.
McCray soon owned a large tract of quality farmland surrounding a large pond outside of Kentland which he named Orchard Lake. He married Ella Ade, the daughter of one of his father's business partners and sister of writer George Ade, on June 15, 1892. The couple had four children, although one died as an infant. McCray became interested in breeding cattle and began building a herd of specialized breeds. His reputation in the cattle community grew rapidly and he established a show barn and auction house and began selling his quality bred cattle, quickly growing his fortune.
McCray became involved in local civics organizations and served on the country school board for one term in 1890. A devastating fire struck Kentland a few years later, and the county placed him in charge of overseeing several projects to rebuilding the town. He gained a reputation for getting things done quickly and cost effectively, and ran for a seat on the town council the following year. There, he successfully advocated the modernization of the town by paving the roads, building an electric plant, installing street lighting, building safer railroad crossings, and several other projects. The tax increases needed to pay for the projects turned out to be too much, and he was voted out of office after one term.
His activities gained him notice by the state party leaders who helped him to gain a seat on the state committee in the summer of 1896. He traveled to Washington D.C. in 1901 to attend the inauguration of President William McKinley and came back convinced he should pursue politics. The same year he was appointed by Governor Winfield T. Durbin as a trustee of the Northern Hospital for the Insane, serving as treasurer. He remained on the board for twelve years. In 1912, he was appointed to the State Board of Agriculture, and became President of the board in 1915. His success at implementing reforms as a board member helped his popularity in the state.
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Warren T. McCray
Warren Terry McCray (February 4, 1865 – December 19, 1938) was the 30th governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1921 to 1924.
He came into conflict with the growing influence of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan after vetoing legislation they supported. His personal estate was threatened with bankruptcy during his term and he solicited loans via the mail in order to help maintain his home and took a questionable loan from the State Department of Agriculture. The Indiana attorney general was a Klan member and used the opportunity to bring a suit against the governor for embezzlement for which he was found not guilty.
Immediately after the embezzlement case failed, a new case was launched in federal court claiming he had solicited private loans in a fraudulent way. He resigned from office after his conviction for mail fraud and served three years in federal prison before being paroled in 1927 and pardoned by President Herbert Hoover in 1930.
Warren Terry McCray was born near Brook, Indiana, on February 4, 1865, to Greenberry Ward and Martha (Galey) McCray. His friends and family called him "Warnie". He had two sisters, Annie Eliza and Fannie. At age five he moved to Kentland, Indiana where he grew up attending a local public school. His father and uncle formed a successful livery business there. From an early age, McCray was encouraged to find a way to make money, and began growing vegetables and selling them door to door as a young boy. As he grew older he began taking care of cattle of townspeople who did not have enough land for them to graze. For a fee, he drove the cattle into a pasture outside of town during the day and returned them in the evening.
In April 1874, his uncle died and his father took on new partners. They soon purchased the Discount and Deposit Bank of Kentland and began to accumulate considerable wealth. As a teenager, McCray took a job in the bank as a bookkeeper. After completing high school in 1882 his father offered to send him to college, but the young McCray choose to instead remain working at the bank. By 1885 he had grown tired of his banking job, and decided to go into business on his own. With a friend, Willis Kirkpatrick, he purchased a town grocery store which was immediately very profitable. He used his income from the store to invest in railroad and mining stock, but mostly to buy land. He also made a significant investment in grain elevators and became President of the National Grain Dealers Association.
McCray soon owned a large tract of quality farmland surrounding a large pond outside of Kentland which he named Orchard Lake. He married Ella Ade, the daughter of one of his father's business partners and sister of writer George Ade, on June 15, 1892. The couple had four children, although one died as an infant. McCray became interested in breeding cattle and began building a herd of specialized breeds. His reputation in the cattle community grew rapidly and he established a show barn and auction house and began selling his quality bred cattle, quickly growing his fortune.
McCray became involved in local civics organizations and served on the country school board for one term in 1890. A devastating fire struck Kentland a few years later, and the county placed him in charge of overseeing several projects to rebuilding the town. He gained a reputation for getting things done quickly and cost effectively, and ran for a seat on the town council the following year. There, he successfully advocated the modernization of the town by paving the roads, building an electric plant, installing street lighting, building safer railroad crossings, and several other projects. The tax increases needed to pay for the projects turned out to be too much, and he was voted out of office after one term.
His activities gained him notice by the state party leaders who helped him to gain a seat on the state committee in the summer of 1896. He traveled to Washington D.C. in 1901 to attend the inauguration of President William McKinley and came back convinced he should pursue politics. The same year he was appointed by Governor Winfield T. Durbin as a trustee of the Northern Hospital for the Insane, serving as treasurer. He remained on the board for twelve years. In 1912, he was appointed to the State Board of Agriculture, and became President of the board in 1915. His success at implementing reforms as a board member helped his popularity in the state.