Grady, Paul Davis

5 Sept. 1890–8 July 1970

Paul Davis Grady, businessman and legislator, was born in Seven Springs, Wayne County, the son of James Calhoun and Ella Smith Outlaw Grady. He attended Tennessee Military Institute and Wake Forest College and was graduated from Washington and Lee University. Admitted to the bar in 1911, he practiced in Smithfield and in Kenly, where he made his home. He represented Johnston County in the General Assembly from 1919 until 1921 and served in the Senate in 1925, 1933, and 1935; in the latter year he was president pro tempore. On 11 Apr. 1935 he introduced a bill to make Easter Monday a legal holiday in the state and it was passed by both houses. He was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for nomination as lieutenant governor in 1936, for utilities commissioner in 1938, and for governor in 1940. Long associated with the insurance industry, Grady was chairman of the boards of Nationwide Life Insurance Company and of Tectum International; he was also a director of National Casualty Company, Northwestern National Life Insurance Company, North American Insurance Company, and others. For long periods he served on the boards of broadcasting, manufacturing, and investment corporations. Although he continued to maintain his home in Kenly, he had offices in Columbus, Ohio, and elsewhere. He owned and operated Grady Farms in Johnston County. In 1969 President Richard M. Nixon appointed him to the advisory board on minority business enterprise.

Grady was married in 1909 to Lelia Grace Swink, and they were the parents of Eloise (Mrs. Albert S. Eskridge), Elsie, Paul D., Jr., James C., and Fred. A Freemason and a Presbyterian, he was buried in the Kenly cemetery.