Mercer County PAGenWeb

Aylett R. Fell


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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