Straton was ordained in 1900 and spent most of his adult life as pastor of several churches in four major cities: Second Baptist in
Chicago (1905–1908), Immanuel-Seventh Baptist in
Baltimore (1908–1913), First Baptist in
Norfolk, Virginia (1914–1917), and most notably of the
Calvary Baptist Church in
New York City 1918–1929, which was the first church to operate its own radio station."Tell It From Calvary" is a radio show that the church still produces weekly; its heard on WMCA AM570. Straton was supportive of the work of Uldine Utley, an immensely popular 14-year-old child preacher in the 1920s, and invited her to preach at Calvary Church. During the
Scopes Trial when the judge was considering letting scientists testify for the defense,
William Jennings Bryan wired Straton to come to
Dayton,
Tennessee, to be a rebuttal witness. However, the judge ruled against the defense and Straton never went to Tennessee. After the trial and Bryan's death, Straton challenged defense attorneys
Clarence Darrow and
Dudley Field Malone to debate, but was rebuffed. During the
1928 presidential campaign, Straton, along with William Bell Riley and
J. Frank Norris, rallied opposition to
Al Smith, the
Roman Catholic nominee of the Democratic Party. In keeping with his strong opposition to the liquor traffic, Straton was one of the first to label Smith "the candidate of rum, Romanism and rebellion", a phrase used unsuccessfully in 1884 against
Grover Cleveland in the race against
James G. Blaine.
Huey Pierce Long, Jr., the
governor of Louisiana in 1928 and a Smith supporter, claimed that Straton was being paid $500 a night for speeches on behalf of the
Republican candidate,
Herbert Hoover. Long accused Straton of waging war against
white supremacy in the
American South. Long said that he respected all clergymen and denominations but not when "political considerations entered therein." Straton's health was broken by his intense schedule during the campaign, and in April 1929 he suffered a slight paralytic
stroke, which led to a nervous breakdown brought on by overwork in the fall and finally a fatal
heart attack on October 29, 1929. Straton married the former Georgia Hillyer of
Atlanta,
Georgia, on November 2, 1903, and they had four sons: Rev. Hillyer Hawthorne Straton, John Charles Straton, Rev. Warren Badenock Straton, and George Douglas Straton. ==References==