View source for Frank Hanly

{{Short description|American politician}}
{{redirect|J. F. Hanley|Arkansas state legislator and lawyer|J. F. Henley}}
{{distinguish|Frank Hanley}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name         = Frank Hanly
|image        = J. Frank Hanly, 1908.jpg
|order        = 26th [[Governor of Indiana]]
|lieutenant   = [[Hugh Thomas Miller]]
|term_start   = January 9, 1905
|term_end     = January 11, 1909
|predecessor  = [[Winfield T. Durbin]]
|successor    = [[Thomas R. Marshall|Thomas Marshall]]
|state1       = [[Indiana]]
|district1    = {{ushr|IN|9|9th}}
|term_start1  = March 4, 1895
|term_end1    = March 3, 1897
|predecessor1 = [[Daniel W. Waugh]]
|successor1   = [[Charles B. Landis]]
|office2      = Member of the [[Indiana Senate]]
|term2        = 1890-1891
|birth_name   = James Franklin Hanly
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1863|4|4}}
|birth_place  = [[St. Joseph, Illinois]], U.S.
|death_date   = {{death date and age|1920|8|1|1863|4|4}}
|death_place  = [[Dennison, Ohio]], U.S.
|party        = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] (before 1909)<br>[[Prohibition Party|Prohibition]] (1909–1920)
|spouse       = Eva Simmer
|restingplace = [[List of cemeteries in Warren County, Indiana#Hillside|Hillside Cemetery]]
|education    = [[Eastern Illinois University]]
|signature    = Signature of James Franklin Hanly (1863–1920).png
}}
'''James Franklin Hanly''' (April 4, 1863{{spaced ndash}}August 1, 1920) was an American politician who served as a [[congressman]] from [[Indiana]] from 1895 until 1897, and was the [[List of governors of Indiana|26th governor of Indiana]] from 1905 to 1909. He was the founder of [[Hanly's Flying Squadron]], which advocated [[prohibition]] 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 the [[US Republican|Republican Party]] and became an active and vocal prohibitionist. He was an unsuccessful [[Prohibition Party]] candidate for [[President of the United States]] in the [[1916 United States presidential election|1916 election]].

==Early life==
Hanly was born in a log cabin near [[St. 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 of [[Homer, Illinois|Homer]]. 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 at [[Charleston, Illinois]], until 1879. He worked odd jobs to pay for his schooling, and often slept in barns. That year he graduated he moved to [[Warren County, Indiana]] where he taught in the state public schools from 1881 to 1889.<ref name = b658>Bodenhamer, p. 658</ref><ref name = g224>Gugin, p. 224</ref>

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 in [[Williamsport, Indiana]].<ref name = g225>Gugin, p. 225</ref> Hanly practiced law with [[Ele Stansbury]], a young lawyer who would later serve as [[Indiana Attorney General]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Clark |first1=Justin |title=The Crusader: J. Frank Hanly and the Election of 1916 |url=https://blog.history.in.gov/the-crusader-j-frank-hanly-and-the-election-of-1916/ |website=Indiana History Blog |date=2 November 2021 |publisher=Indiana State Library}}</ref>

==Political career==

===Early campaigns===
He was elected as a member of the [[Indiana 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.

=== Congress ===
He ran as a [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] and won election to the [[54th United States Congress|Fifty-fourth Congress]], serving from March 4, 1895, to March 3, 1897. During his term  his district was realigned by the Democratic controlled [[Indiana General Assembly]], who created a [[gerrymander]] of his district causing him to lose his re-election in 1896.<ref name = b658/><ref name = g225/>

=== U.S. Senate campaign ===
He launched a campaign for Republican nomination for [[U.S. Senate]] in 1899, but was defeated in the Republican legislature vote by [[Albert 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.<ref name = b658/> Hanly went on a speaking tour around the state to build up support for another run for office. His speeches were fiery and often quoted [[Abraham Lincoln]].<ref name = g226>Gugin, p. 226</ref>

===Governor===

[[File:Gov James Franklin Hanly of Indiana.gif|thumb|right|Frank Hanly's official governor's portrait]]

Hanly reentered politics in 1904, and won the Republican nomination for governor of Indiana. Hanly was elected [[Governor of Indiana]], defeating [[John W. Kern]] by 84,364 votes.<ref>Eseray, p. 306</ref> 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."<ref name = g226/> 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 against [[liquor]], [[horse-racing]] and [[political corruption]], even prosecuting members of his own administration for [[embezzlement]].<ref name = b658/><ref name = g226/>

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 the [[Indiana 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.<ref name = b658/> 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.<ref>Gray, p. 217</ref><ref name="Gugin, p. 227">Gugin, p. 227</ref>

In 1907, he signed the Compulsory Sterilization Law, which mandated the sterilization of certain individuals in state custody, making Indiana the first state to adopt [[eugenics]] legislation. The legislation was part of the progressive agenda and received broad support at the time.<ref>[http://www.indiana.edu/~ocmhp/2007/03-09/story.php?id=1227 Cindy Aisen Fox, ''Hoosier state led with involuntary sterilization laws,'' Indiana University Home Pages, March 9, 2007]</ref> Governor [[Thomas R. Marshall]] later ordered the practice stopped in 1909.<ref>Julius Paul, [http://buckvbell.com/pdf/JPaulmss.pdf ''"Three Generations of Imbeciles Are Enough": State Eugenic Sterilization Laws in American Thought and Practice''], unpublished manuscript. Washington, D.C.: Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, 1965, p. 343.</ref> In 1921, the [[Indiana Supreme Court]] found the law [[constitutionality|unconstitutional]].<ref>''Williams v. Smith'', 131 NE 2 (Ind.), 1921.</ref>

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 the [[French Lick Springs Hotel]], owned by the chairman of the [[Democratic 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.<ref>Gugin, p.&nbsp;228</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star-jury-protects-tagg/183337067/ |title=Jury Protects Taggart Charter |newspaper=[[The Indianapolis Star]] |place=Paoli, Indiana |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star-jury-protects-tagg/183337168/ 4] |date=1910-03-14 |publication-date=1910-03-15 |access-date=2025-10-19 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Hanly was most concerned about [[temperance movement|temperance]] 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 a [[special session]] in 1908 to have the body take up debate of the propose bill, which they passed.<ref name = b658/> Once enacted, 72 of Indiana's 92 counties went dry, banning the sale of all liquors.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia1 of Indianapolis|isbn=0-253-31222-1|year=1994|author1=David J. Bodenhamer |author2=Robert Graham Barrows |author3=David Gordon Vanderstel |page=1327|publisher=Indiana University Press }}</ref> 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.<ref>Gugin, p. 229</ref>

===Prohibition party===

While still governor, Hanly began to make work with the [[Anti-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.<ref>Gray, p. 219</ref>

Hanly was a [[prohibition]] lecturer throughout the United States from 1910 to 1920 and in [[French Third Republic|France]] in 1919. He organized the [[Flying 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.<ref name = b658/><ref name=nga>{{cite web|url=http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=c3cc224971c81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD|title=J. Frank Hanly Biography|publisher=[[National Governors Association]]|access-date=2008-09-24|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927204535/http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=c3cc224971c81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD|archive-date=2008-09-27}}</ref>

Hanly left the Republican party to join the new [[Prohibition 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 the [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912)|Progressive Party]]'s candidate. He was later nominated to be the Prohibition Party's candidate for President of the United States in the [[U.S. presidential election, 1916|1916 election]].<ref name = b658/> Hanly was overwhelmingly defeated; the ticket of Hanly and [[Ira Landrith]] garnered 221,030 votes, or about 1.2% of the total.<ref>{{cite book|title=Scientific Temperance Journal|author=J. Frank Hanly|pages=83&ndash;84|year=1909|publisher=Temperance Education Foundation, Scientific Temperance Federation}}</ref>

In April 1920 Hanly argued the case of ''[[Hawke v. Smith]]'', a challenge to the Eighteenth Amendment, before the [[United States Supreme Court]]. The case was based on the belief that the amendment had been invalidated when [[Ohio]] 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.<ref>Gray, p. 220</ref>

==Death==

While on a trip to [[Ohio]] in 1920 to give anti-liquor lectures, he was involved in an automobile-train accident near [[Dennison, Ohio]] and died from his injuries.<ref name = b658/> He is interred at [[List of cemeteries in Warren County, Indiana#Hillside|Hillside Cemetery]], near Williamsport, Indiana.<ref>Gugin, p. 230</ref>

==Electoral history==

{{Election box begin no change |title=Indiana gubernatorial election, 1904<ref name="Gugin, p. 227"/>}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Republican Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Frank Hanly
  |votes      = 359,362
  |percentage = 53.5
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Democratic Party (United States)
  |candidate  = [[John W. Kern|John Kern]]
  |votes      = 274,998
  |percentage = 41.0
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Prohibition Party
  |candidate  = McWhirter
  |votes      = 22,690
  |percentage = 3.4
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Socialist Party of America
  |candidate  = Hallenberger
  |votes      = 10,991
  |percentage = 1.6
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Populist Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Leroy Templeton
  |votes      = 2,605
  |percentage = 0.4
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change |title=Indiana gubernatorial election, 1916<ref>Gugin, p. 252</ref>}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Republican Party (United States)
  |candidate  = [[James P. Goodrich]]
  |votes      = 337,831
  |percentage = 47.8
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Democratic Party (United States)
  |candidate  = [[John A. M. Adair]]
  |votes      = 325,060
  |percentage = 46.0
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Prohibition Party
  |candidate  = William Hickman
  |votes      = 16,401
  |percentage = 2.3
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| |party      = Progressive Party (United States, 1912)
  |candidate  = Frank Hanly<ref>After accepting the Progressive nomination for governor, Hanly accepted the Prohibition Party nomination for President.</ref>
  |votes      = 7,067
  |percentage = 1.0
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{start U.S. presidential ticket box| pv_footnote=| ev_footnote=}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Woodrow Wilson]]| party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]| state=[[New Jersey]]| pv=9,126,868| pv_pct=49.2%| ev=277| vp_name=[[Thomas R. Marshall|Thomas Riley Marshall]]| vp_state=[[Indiana]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Charles Evans Hughes]]| party=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]| state=[[New York (state)|New York]]| pv=8,548,728| pv_pct=46.1%| ev=254| vp_name=[[Charles W. Fairbanks|Charles Warren Fairbanks]]| vp_state=[[Indiana]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[Allan L. Benson|Allan Louis Benson]]| party=[[Socialist Party of America|Socialist]]| state=[[New York (state)|New York]]| pv=590,524| pv_pct=3.2%| ev=0| vp_name=[[George R. Kirkpatrick|George Ross Kirkpatrick]]| vp_state=[[New Jersey]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box row| name=[[J. Franklin Hanly|James Franklin Hanly]]| party=[[United States Prohibition Party|Prohibition]]| state=[[Indiana]]| pv=221,302| pv_pct=1.2%| ev=0| vp_name=[[Ira Landrith]]| vp_state=[[Tennessee]]}}
{{U.S. presidential ticket box other| footnote=| pv=49,163| pv_pct=0.3%}}
{{end U.S. presidential ticket box| pv=18,536,585| ev=531| to_win=266}}
'''Source (Popular Vote):''' {{Leip PV source 2| year=1916| as of=July 28, 2005}}'''Source (Electoral Vote):''' {{National Archives EV source| year=1916| as of=July 31, 2005}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Indiana}}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 of America|Flying Squadron]] Also known as "Hanly's Flying Squadron."
*[[Temperance movement]]
*[[Temperance organizations]]

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist|30em}}

'''Bibliography'''
*{{cite book|author=Bodenhamer, David J|title=The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis|year=1994|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0-253-31222-1}}
*{{cite book|author=Gray, Ralph D|title=Indiana History: A Book of Readings|year=1994|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0-253-32629-X}}
*{{cite book|editor1=Gugin, Linda C.|editor2=St. Clair, James E|title=The Governors of Indiana|publisher=Indiana Historical Society Press|location=Indianapolis, Indiana|year=2006|isbn=0-87195-196-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780871951960}}

==External links==
*{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516101040/http://www.in.gov/gov/2735.htm|title=Biography from Indiana Historical Bureau|date=May 16, 2008}}
*{{CongBio|H000159|name=Hanly, James Franklin|inline=1}}
*{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613201957/http://www.countyhistory.com/doc.gov/029.htm|title=Indiana County History - Hanly Biography|date=June 13, 2008}}
*{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080927204535/http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=c3cc224971c81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD|title=National Governors Association Biography|date=September 27, 2008}}
*[http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=506 Details of ''Hawke v. Smith'']
*{{Find a Grave|11186}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Daniel W. Waugh]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Indiana|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Indiana's 9th congressional district]]|years=1895–1897}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles B. Landis]]}}
|-
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Winfield T. Durbin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nominee for [[Governor of Indiana]]|years=[[1904 Indiana gubernatorial election|1904]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[James E. Watson]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Eugene W. Chafin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prohibition Party|Prohibition]] nominee for [[President of the United States]]|years=[[1916 United States presidential election|1916]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Aaron S. Watkins]]}}
|-
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Winfield T. Durbin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Governor of Indiana]]|years=1905–1909}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas R. Marshall|Thomas Marshall]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{IndianaUSRepresentatives}}
{{Governors of Indiana}}
{{Prohibition Party presidential nominees}}
{{United States presidential election, 1916}}
{{Authority control}}

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