Alembert Winthrop Brayton III (1915-1992)

From the Indianapolis Jewish Post, June 9, 1958.

    A leading, yet curious name in Indianapolis politics for the better part of four decades, Alembert Winthrop Brayton III served four consecutive terms in the Indiana House of Representatives and followed that office with a twenty-five-year tenure as deputy attorney general of his state. Born into a prominent Indianapolis family, Alembert Winthrop "Bert" Brayton III was born on July 6, 1915, the son of Alembert Brayton Jr. (1892-1961) and the former Lucille Scott. The grandson of Alembert W. Brayton (1848-1926), a zoologist, medical professor and a "pioneer" in the field of dermatology, Alembert Brayton III was a student at the Shortridge High School in Indianapolis and following graduation attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. 

  Deciding upon a career in law, Brayton enrolled at the Indiana State University law school. He would later graduate from the Harvard Law School and was also engaged with the Aetna Insurance Co. of New York in the early 1940s. Brayton would enlist in the Army during WWII and for a time was stationed in Elkins, West Virginia. He married in Indianapolis in June 1944 to Charlotte Donnahue (1914-1975), and later had three children, Charlotte Elizabeth, Charles, and William. Following his wife's death in 1975 Brayton remarried to Dorothy Davis Smith (1918-2002), who had two children from a prior marriage, Cheryl and David. 

  Following his service in WWII Brayton practiced law in Indianapolis and began his political career in 1948 when he entered into the Republican primary race for state representative from Marion County. One of over twenty candidates vying for the nod, Brayton polled 8,196 votes but was not one of the eleven candidates to be nominated. 

Brayton campaign notice from the Indianapolis Recorder, May 1, 1948.

  Brayton's political fortunes changed when he was again a candidate for the legislature in 1950. After winning the Republican primary that year, he went on to the general election and in November was elected. Taking his seat at the start of the 1951-53 session, Brayton's first term saw him named to the following committees: Affairs of the City of Indianapolis; Building, Loan and Savings Associations; Natural Resources; Organization of Courts and Criminal Code; and Phraseology, Engrossment, and Enrollment of Bills.

  Brayton would launch his reelection bid in 1952 and in that year won a second term. 1954 saw him coast to his third legislative win, and in 1956 won his fourth and final term in the statehouse. During the 1957-59 term, he sat on three new committees, those being Corporations, Legislative Apportionment, and Public Safety. In his last year in office, Brayton launched his candidacy for judge of the Indiana state superior court in the 1958 Republican primary. One of five candidates for the judgeship, Brayton would place second on election day, polling 9, 562 votes to William T. Sharp's 18,945.

From the Indianapolis Jewish Post, May 1958.

  Despite his defeat for judge, Brayton was afforded a measure of consolation that same year when he was selected as deputy attorney general of Indiana. He would serve in that capacity for twenty-five years before his retirement in 1983. Brayton's final years saw him serving as vice president and secretary of the Pat Day Personnel Inc., a business owned by his second wife Dorothy. Alembert W. Brayton died in Indianapolis on July 24, 1992, shortly after his 77th birthday. He was survived by his wife and children and was interred in the Brayton family plot at the Memorial Park Cemetery in Indianapolis.