James Franklin Hanly (April 4, 1863August 1, 1920) was an American politician who served as a congressman from Indiana from 1895 until 1897, and was the 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 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 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. 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 Danville, 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. 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. Hanly practiced law with Ele Stansbury, a young lawyer who would later serve as Indiana Attorney General. 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