HEADER
Paul A McCracken
PAUL A. McCRACKEN, propietor of the Leechburgh Lumber Company, has
demonstrated his business ability in the management of that concern, with
which he has been identified throughout his business career. He was born Dec.
8, 1873, at Leechburg, son of James F. McCracken, and comes of a family which
long ago became settled in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania.John McCracken, his great-grandfather, was born in Scotland. He lived in
Ireland for some time before his emigration to America, in about 1802. He and
his family were thirteen weeks making the voyage, and after landing in New
York City did not remain there long, proceeding to western Pennsylvania. They
settled near the Congruity Presbyterian Church, in Westmoreland county, where
Mr. McCracken had a farm, and there he passed the remainder of his life, dying
April 6, 1826. His wife, Catherine, survived him several years. They were the
parents of twelve children, two sons and ten daughters, some born in Scotland,
some in Ireland and the youngest members of the family in America. Several of
the older children never left the old world. Those that came across the ocean
with the parents were Mary, Elizabeth and John; Margaret was born here, as
also James, the grandfather of Paul A. McCracken.James McCracken, son of John and Catherine McCracken, was born March 10,
1809, in Westmoreland county, where he lived for some time, later settling at
Leechburg, Armstrong county, where he passed the remainder of his life. He
died in March, 1874, at Leechburg, and is buried in the Evergreen cemetery
there. He was a carpenter by calling, and in the pursuit of his trade built
many barns in Westmoreland county. He also followed farming. Mr. McCracken
married Anna Mears, daughter of James and Mary (Steele) Mears, and to them
were born the following children: John, who died young; James, who died young;
Rev. John C., a Presbyterian minister, now residing at Vandergrift, Pa. (He
was educated at Washington and Jefferson College and at the Western
Theological Seminary, where he was graduated in 1878, and is still in the
active ministry); James F.; Samuel; and Catherine, wife of William Welsh, a
business man of Vandergrift, Pennsylvania.James F. McCracken, son of James and Anna (Mears) McCracken, was born Aug.
6, 1848, at Leechburg, where he passed all his life, dying May 10, 1895, when
still in his prime. For several years he followed the carpenter’s trade, and
then engaged in the lumber business, which he followed the rest of his life.
He was a large man physically. Mr. McCracken was a Republican in politics but
not active in his party, but he took a deep interest in the Presbyterian
Church, of which he was a zealous member, serving as treasurer and trustee.
Mr. McCracken married Emma Frances Garver, who was born Sept. 10, 1851, and
survives him, making her home at Leechburg. They had two children, Paul A. and
Mary H., the latter unmarried.Paul A. McCracken received his early education in public school at
Leechburg, later attending high school at Pittsburgh and Duff’s commercial
college in that city, from which latter institution he was graduated in 1891.
He then became bookkeeper for the Leechburg Lumber Company, of which his
father was a one-third owner, and after the death of his father he assumed his
interest in the yard. In 1897 he bought out the other members of the firm, and
is now the sole owner of the company, which has prospered greatly under his
management. He does all kinds of mill work, and has established a trade which
places him among the most substantial business men of the borough. He is also
a director of the Farmers’ National Bank at Leechburg.Mr. McCracken is well known in local Masonic circles, belonging to
Leechburg Lodge, No. 577, F. & A. M., of which he is a past master; to
Orient Chapter, R. A. M., at Kittanning; to Tancred Commandery, No. 48, of
Pittsburgh, and to Pittsburgh Consistory, thirty-second degree, and Syria
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., Pittsburgh. In politics he is a Republican and
active in the local work of the party, having served as judge of elections,
and he has served his borough as councilman. He is also interested in church
work as a member of the Presbyterian Church, which he has served officially as
trustee and treasurer.On May 10, 1898, Mr. McCracken married Mary E. Morgan, daughter of John and
Sarah (Jones) Morgan, and they have one son, James W., who is now in school.William Garver, Mr. McCracken’s maternal grandfather, married Isabella
Wooderson, and they had the following children: Minerva, Elizabeth, Harriet,
Oscar, Emma Frances (Mrs. McCracken), Mary and Willa.Source: Pages 976-977, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and
Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed November 1998 by Joyce Sherry for the Armstrong County Beers
Project
Contributed for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)Armstrong County Genealogy Project Notice:
These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format, for any presentation, without prior written permission.Return to the Beers Project
Â
Return to the
Armstrong County Genealogy ProjectÂ
Return to the
Armstrong County Genealogy Project
Return to the
Armstrong County Genealogy Project
(c) Armstrong County
Genealogy Project
About Author
