We Love You, S.J.!

Regardless of any lingering animosity among local farmers toward our man of mystery, County Agent S.J. Craig found himself the object of a grassroots love fest in early 1918.

First of all I must say that I don't fully understand how a county agricultural agent got into office or who paid his salary. I have the vague impression that he somehow represented the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but whether he was appointed by a governmental or academic body, or elected by the people, I don't know. Nor do I intend to research such a tedious subject to find out. As for the county agent's functions, what I've seen of them seem to involve promoting practices that improved agricultural production (crop and animal testing and the use of better feeds and fertilizers), and also, in cooperation with veterinarians and health officers, educating farmers about sanitary practices and overseeing the control of disease among farm animals. (His performance of that last duty during the 1914 foot-and-mouth-disease outbreak was the primary reason for the attempt by John Gruel et al. to oust him.)

Anyway, with S.J.'s four-year term of office ready to expire at the end of January 1918, he was up for possible re-election or reappointment, and he faced considerable difficulties. Lake County Auditor Ed Simon had made the last year of S.J.'s term miserable by holding up the payment of many of his expenses, including the wages of one of S.J.'s employees, for what Simon claimed was a question of legality but what I suspect may have been political motives: S.J. had powerful enemies. Chief among them was Purdue University's Professor Thomas Coleman, who was in charge of county agents. It isn't clear why, but according to the Gazette, the influential university was "greatly at variance" with S.J. and wanted him gone.

All of this resulted in a "spirited meeting" on January 4, 1918, when the Lake County Board of Education and the Lake County Agricultural Society met at Crown Point. S.J. was present, as was Prof. Coleman, who openly backed another candidate for the office. The Board of Education and the Agricultural Society backed S.J. So did the 40 farmers who attended, but even that show of support could not change Purdue's position. By the end of the meeting, however, the Agricultural Society representatives had said that they were determined to have S.J. back, with or without the cooperation of Purdue, and if necessary they would pay his $3,000 salary out of their own funds. "Lake county is satisfied with Mr. Craig," the Gazette reported, "and [will] back him in his splendid work…. Mr. Craig is counted one of the best experts in the country, and Lake county will stand by him."

On January 24, S.J. was one of the speakers at the Hobart Township Farmers' Institute, meeting in the Hobart High School auditorium. He reported on the previous summer's tests of different varieties of corn and oats.

Four days later the News numbered among his supporters some 700 Lake County dairy farmers, who backed the Lake County Agricultural Association's defiance of Purdue University. The Association had passed a resolution in support of S.J. and mailed copies of it to Purdue and to Indiana Governor James Goodrich. Again the Association stated its intention to pay S.J.'s salary from funds raised by those hundreds of farmers supporting him, if only he would consent to continue in office — "Lake county will secede from the University's dictation in agricultural matters," as one newspaper put it.

By mid-February, with S.J.'s term expired, Purdue still adamantly opposing his return to office and Lake County farmers still supporting him, the outcome was uncertain and all anyone could bet on was that there were bad feelings all around.



Sources:
♦ "County Agent Craig Gets Relief." Hobart Gazette 11 Jan. 1918.
♦ "County Agent Craig Re-Elected." Hobart Gazette 11 Jan. 1918.
♦ "Craig's Job Is At Stake." Lake County Times 7 Jan. 1918.
♦ "Hobart Township Farmer's Institute, High School Auditorium, Hobart, Indiana, Jan. 24, 1918." Hobart Gazette 18 Jan. 1918.
♦ "Local and Personal." Hobart News 24 Jan. 1918; 14 Feb. 1918.