Lemuel Ertus Slack

Lemuel Ertus Slack (October 8, 1874 – February 24, 1952) often called L. Ert Slack, was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 29th mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Biography Lemuel Ertus Slack was born in Nineveh Township, Johnson County, Indiana, on October 8, 1874, to Elisha O. Slack and Nancy A. Teeters, who were of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He had three sisters: Mary, Maude, and Jessie, and one brother, Henry, who died at the age of twelve years old. He attended school in Hensley Township, and had a reputation as a diligent student. He worked in a blacksmith shop during vacations.

From 1892, at the age of 17, he was employed in the Central Hospital for Insane in Indianapolis, where he remained until 1896. He began studying law on his own, and in October 1896, he entered the Indiana Law School as a senior, graduating after only a year in 1897. He was admitted to the bar in Franklin, Indiana, on September 6, 1897, and was appointed deputy prosecutor on the day of admission. On September 1, 1897, he formed a partnership with William E. Deupree under the firm name of Deupree & Slack, which lasted until November 1906.

In 1927, he became the mayor of Indianapolis after John L. Duvall had been forced to resign when his involvement with the Ku Klux Klan was exposed, a position which Slack held until 1929. He was a Superior Court judge in Indiana from 1936 to 1938.