George Washington McCrary was a United States Representative from Iowa, the 33rd United States Secretary of War, and a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Circuit Courts for the Eighth Circuit.
Background
George Washington McCrary was born on August 29, 1835, near Evansville, Indiana, the United States. He was the son of a hard-working farmer, James McCrary, and a religious mother, Matilda (Forest) McCrary. In 1837 the family settled in what is now Van Buren County, Iowa, where the Indians were still roaming and settlers were widely scattered.
Education
In 1837 the family moved to a new home in Van Buren County, Iowa, where George McCrary grew up working on the farm and attending the local rural schools. McCrary obtained good training and at eighteen was teaching a country school. He studied law in Keokuk with John W. Rankin and Samuel F. Miller, the latter of whom became a justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1862.
Career
At the age of 18, George McCrary was sufficiently educated to obtain employment as a schoolteacher, but he showed a strong aptitude for legal studies and soon found a position as a clerk in the Keokuk law offices of John W. Rankin and Samuel F. Miller (the latter would later become an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court). In 1856 George McCrary passed the bar exam without any error, was admitted to the Iowa bar, and established a practice in Keokuk with Rankin as a partner.
In the meantime he was admitted to the bar in 1856, began practice in Keokuk, and then he was elected state representative. From 1861 to 1865 he was state senator, serving as chairman of the committees on Indian affairs and on the judiciary.
At thirty-three, George McCrary began eight years of active congressional services, from 1869 to 1877. His experience as chairman of the committee on elections, which he became in the Forty-second Congress, enabled him to publish in 1875, A Treatise on the American Law of Elections, which went through four editions. He also acted on the committee of investigation for the Crédit Mobilier scandal, where his presence helped "guarantee that the inquiry would not result in a whitewashing report". As chairman of the committee on canals and railroads in the Forty-third Congress, George McCrary reported a bill to regulate commerce among the states that would have created a commission to make a schedule of rates for each road. After a memorable debate, it passed the House but died in the Senate. It became, however, a basis for later legislation.
Upon the inauguration of Hayes, George McCrary became secretary of war and was in full sympathy with Hayes's reform of the civil service and with his more generous attitude toward the South. By the President's orders, he withdrew the support of federal troops from the remaining Carpet-bag governments in South Carolina and Louisiana. In the railway strike of 1877 the new secretary used the federal troops, and, during Mexican disturbances, he ordered the troops to pursue marauding Mexicans across the Mexican border. The latter action resulted in American recognition of the Diaz government. The war department also began in this administration the publication of the War of the Rebellion: Official Records.
In December 1879, George McCrary resigned from the cabinet to become a federal judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit. During his years on the bench, he reported and published the cases tried before his court. After five years he left the bench, moved to Kansas City, Mo. , and acted as general counsel for the Atchison, Topeka & Sante Fé Railroad for the rest of his life. Poor health forced him to retire from active practice in 1889.
An original Frémont Republican George McCrary was always a staunch party supporter, but his opponents conceded that he honestly tried to subordinate partisan to public interests.
Personality
George W. McCrary had a judicial mind and his opinions were clear, sound, and comprehensive. He had an unusually well-balanced nature, singularly devoid of weakness or pretension. While his interests were chiefly intellectual he was an excellent storyteller and an ardent trout-fisher.
Interests
camping, fishing
Connections
In 1877 George McCrary was married to Helen Gelatt, and they had five children.
Father:
James McCrary
Mother:
Matilda Forrest McCrary
Spouse:
Helen Amanda Gelatt McCrary
Brother:
Henry A. McCrary
Brother:
William Forrest McCrary
Brother:
John Memorial McCrary
Brother:
James Cephas McCrary
Daughter:
Helen A McCrary McCune
Daughter:
Kate Hurst McCrary Boteler
Daughter:
Carrie McCrary Walker
Son:
George Hubert McCrary
Son:
Frank E. McCrary
References
Hudson, D., Bergman, M., & Horton, L. (Eds.) The biographical dictionary of Iowa