Warren Terry McCray | |
---|---|
30th Governor of Indiana | |
In office January 10, 1921 – April 30, 1924 |
|
Lieutenant | Emmett Forrest Branch |
Preceded by | James P. Goodrich |
Succeeded by | Emmett Forrest Branch |
Personal details | |
Born | February 4, 1865 Brook, Indiana |
Died | December 19, 1938 Kentland, Indiana |
(aged 73)
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Ella M. Ade |
Religion | Presbyterian |
Warren Terry McCray (February 4, 1865 near Brook, Indiana – December 19, 1938 in Kentland, Indiana) 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 following 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.