THE MC CRACKEN FAMILY. Among the early settlers of Mercer County was Alexander McCracken,
a native of County Antrim, Ireland. He came to America some time
in the last century, and his first settlement was east of the Allegheny
Mountains. He came to Mercer County in 1798, and settled in Sandy
Creek Township. He married Mary Larimer, and his family consisted
of eight children: James, John, Alexander, Thomas, Ann, married
Robert Findley; Jane, married Joseph Williams; Mary, married John
Cooper, and Martha, married John Williams. The children are all
dead except Thomas, of this township. Alexander took up a tract
of 400 acres, which has descended to his posterity. He was a
public spirited man, and filled all of the prominent township offices,
and was a leading member of the Presbyterian Church, of which he was a
ruling elder for many years. The parents are both dead.
Thomas was born on the homestead May 9, 1829, was brought up a farmer,
and educated in the common schools. He subsequently erected a
sawmill on Dawson’s Run, in Sandy Creek Township, and for many years
was engaged in the lumber business. Mr. McCracken has been
married twice. His first wife was Elizabeth, daughter of John
Williams, to whom he married in 1831, and to them were born eight
children, seven of whom are living: Louesa, wife of Wilson Eells; Mary
J., wife of Edward Eells; John, Cyrenus, Thomas A., Sarah C.,
wife of Herman Dingman, and Frank S. His second wife was Miss
Mary, daughter of William Logan, who died in 1866, leaving three
children: William L., Martha F., and Margaret E. Our
subject is a member of the Sheakleyville Presbyterian Church, and is a
Republican and one of Sandy Creek’s oldest and most respected citizens.
Source: History
of Mercer County, 1888, p. 1098 - 99, Chapter 40, Biographies of Sandy
Creek, Deer Creek, New Vernon and Perry - - Sandy Creek Township
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