October 2005                                                         The Megaphone                                                                  Page 5

Elwood Mayors

 by Estel E. Harney

I read in an article where Elwood, Indiana, was one of only two cities in the whole United States that elected a mayor of the Socialist Party. I then looked into the complete line of mayors of Elwood.

This aforementioned election took place in 1918. The other city was Milwaukee, Wisconsin; I found since that Minneapolis, Minnesota, also had a mayor of this party in later years.

But this party elected in 1918 came about because of the large factory in Elwood called American Sheet & Tin Plate Works Co. It has been stated that the Elwood Public Library had received numerous calls on the story behind this election, but had little to offer other than a few public records. The turmoil stemmed from the large group of workers of this old tin plate factory of various nationalities. At that time, when politics did not go the way the workers thought was in their best interests (as happens today), they turned to support a party that would. Of the 18,000 population in town at that time, only about 3,000 were original townsfolk and business men. The out-numbered businessmen tried to derail the election by not counting votes in some areas and adding a few from the cemetery area (those no longer able to complain), but the governor finally saw to it that the correct count came across in the end.

Towns in the past have had Republican, Democrat, and Reform mayors. There are very few that can say they have had all these plus a Socialist Party mayor. The city of Elwood switched back and forth between parties, even to the extent of collusion by both parties to secretly support the opposition candidates. As you can see, these types of political shenanigans went on as long as we have had politics and still goes on today.

In reference to the elected Socialist mayor, John G. Lewis, I must point out the socialism he professed was quite different from what we know of today as the Socialism of the Communist Party that is on the ballots we see. He went so far to help the townspeople as to try to buy all the coal he could from southern Indiana and sell it dirt cheap so to speak from large coal yards to be located in south Elwood. The governor put a stop to this as starting a monopoly. He did run for the full term of four years and his downfall might have been when he was reported to have attended a protest rally in Washington, D.C., headed by Eugene V. Debs who opposed our country’s getting involved in WWI. This did not set well with the overall view of this country and the city’s patriotism. The Socialist Party of Elwood soon blended into the Democratic Party and it was often said that when these old time Socialist leaders combined with the Democrats, the Democratic Party runner always won.

The first Elwood mayor was also the youngest mayor Elwood has ever had. He was a 22 year old who had just returned home from college. The DeHority name and its ancestors are still well known to the town of Elwood.

William A. DeHority, Democrat Party from 1891–1894, was noted for many things being done in Elwood during his term in office. He started Elwood Water and Lights, the street railroad transit system, and the Police and Fire Departments. The Governor of Indiana was so impressed that he called upon mayor DeHority to organize the State Board of Accounts, rules and regulations in bookkeeping. His public accounting procedures are still used to this day.

The next mayor, winning in what was stated in the Elwood Daily Press as "the fiercest municipal contest in the history of the city," (not hard to see, as it was only the second city election, the first with opponents) was W. A. Finch, Dem. Party 1894-1898.

Francis M. Harbit, 1898-1902, running on the Reform Party ticket, was the third mayor. He was followed by W. C. Smith, Dem. Party, from 1902-1904.

In 1904 the Republican Party stepped forward with John W. Call, 1904-1906. Herein another turn of events took place. Elmer E. Fornshell, the co-editor of the Elwood Call-Leader, was the elected mayor of Elwood. He resigned to accept the appointment of Elwood Postmaster less than one year after being elected. This was when Elwood had a population of over 15,000 and was very industrialized. The appointment was very appealing to Mr. Fornshell. City controller at that time, O. A. Armfield, Rep. 1907-1910, was then placed in office. 

At this time in history, Elwood began to see a switching between the parties in its subsequent elections. Next to take office was Austin Brumbaugh, Dem. 1910-1914. The citizens appealed for a more steady form of city government by switching parties again. Francis M. Harbit was reelected as mayor in 1914 on the Reform ticket, but he died while in office in 1917. Elmer Tunis finished the remaining one year of that term till 1918.

At this time, much turmoil was stirring in politics as to the way mayors were being replaced by the "ring" of politicians. This brought on a very spirited election with John G. Lewis on the Socialist slate winning the election. He held office from 1918 to 1922, being the first mayor to raise the U.S. flag over the new court house copper dome, to show the citizens he was a patriot of the U.S.A. after the Eugene Debs ordeal. When all this calmed down, the citizens still elected W. A. Faust for two terms, 1922-1929, on the Dem. Party ticket. Problems again arose when after seven years in office, Mr. Faust resigned to accept an appointed State Government position. Charles Foster then replaced him to fill in the remainder of this term in 1929 and 1930.

Another political change was in the air as political power was too over-whelming with these long term platforms. In the past, two year terms were commonplace, but then four year terms took precedence. With this format and getting elected for two terms, an elected mayor of eight years was to have too much power for the citizens of Elwood. The voters then switched to the Rep. Party by electing George Bonham, 1930-1935. As you may note, this was a five year term, contrary what was previously stated this longer term in office took place during the depression and the city government stood still for the duration of this slow era. The next party switch took place as Orla A. Wann, Dem. party from 1935-1939, took over the mayor's office. Wann was then defeated by George Bonham in his bid for a second term. G. Bonham, Rep. Party, held office for a second time from 1939-1943. Another oddity in the mayor's office took place when Elmer Tunis ran on the Dem. Party ticket and won office from 1943-1952. This long term in office took effect because of his two term election, including a five year term during the WWII era.

The opposition party took exception to this long term and Elmo Gustin was elected on the Rep. Party ticket, 1952-1956. In 1956 the Dem. Party retook the office for two terms with Robert Fortson, 1956-1961. He cut his mayor’s position short with the acceptance of an appointment by President J. F. Kennedy to a Federal position in the government after one and a half years in his second term. His replacement for the rest of that term was Luther Stockdale, Dem. Party 1961-1968, who finished that term and ran successfully for another. Eugene Smith, Rep. Party, then ran for two fully elected terms 1968-1976. He was followed by a 1962 Elwood graduate running for mayor, Lynn Chase, Dem. Party, 1976-1980. Lynn came up short in his bid for a second term when beaten by Webb Morris, Rep. Party, 1980-1984. Next in line for the mayor seat was Phil Orbaugh, Rep. Party, 1984-1988. The following mayor was Blair Englehart, Dem. Party, 1988-1992.

The next mayor would be known as the "Millionaire Mayor of Elwood." This was Charles "Denny" Robinson, Dem. Party; he held office from 1992-1995. His term was cut short by his early death while in office. One year prior to his death, he won the Indiana Millionaire Lottery. Those close to him say this financial windfall never changed the way he went about his elected position. His remaining term of six months was filled by Jerry Werline. Jerry Werline, Dem. Party, 1995-2000, was then elected for a term on his own. This brings us to our next mayor, Phil Metzger, Rep. Party, 2000-2004. 

At the present time (2005), Elwood’s mayor is W. Merrill Taylor, Dem. Party, elected in 2004.

Estel E. Harney '62

West of Anderson, IN

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