Morgan County Profiles

William G. Bray

     Long time U.S. Congressman William G. Bray is the epitome of a Morgan County native son, through and through, rising to fame beyond the county's borders. Born in 1903 in Mooresville, from deep Pioneer Quaker roots, and graduating from its high school, Bray moved to Martinsville in 1930, and lived there one year shy of half a century - leaving there to go to war and Congress, before passing away in 1979.
     Elected as a very young Prosecutor in 1926, at age 23, Bray put to early use his law degree from Indiana University. He married Esther Debra in 1930, and their only son, Richard, followed his father in both military service and public office holding. After two terms as Prosecutor, Bill Bray practiced law in Martinsville, was active in a variety of civic endeavors and the Indiana National Guard. He was President of the County Welfare Board.
     Called to active duty in the Asiatic-Pacific theater of operations, he rose to the rank of full Colonel and, among other honors, won the coveted Silver Star for gallantry in battle in the Marshall Islands.
     As a Republican candidate in 1950, Bray won a close race to win a seat in Congress and was then reelected to 11 more terms, serving 24 years in Washington. He always ran well ahead of the ticket and his appeal to a wide spectrum of voters, his "common folk" was legendary.
     He rose to become the GOP ranking member of the powerful House Armed Services Committee. Following his unexpected defeat, in the 1974 election, Bray returned to the practice of law. That election, in the aftermath of President Nixon's Watergate related resignation, was influenced totally by those scandals, which ultimately took as a victim even the unbeatable Bill Bray.
     In 1975, President Gerald Ford appointed Bray, his longtime colleague in the House, to the American Battle Monuments Commission, an assignment he felt particularly appropriate for his old friend.
     Mr. Bray died June 4, 1979, shy of his 76th birthday. He was, without question, the most appealing vote getter the County's political landscape ever produced.

By Ken Griffin

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