John Alexander McCracken

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Husband John Alexander McCracken ^{1 2}

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           Born: 19 Jan 1835 - Sandy Creek Twp, Mercer Co, PA 2
     Christened: 
           Died: Aft 1909
         Buried: 

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         Father: Thomas McCracken (1809-1893) 3 4
         Mother: Elizabeth Williams (Abt 1809-1848) 1

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Wife

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           Born: 
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Children

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General Notes: Husband - John Alexander McCracken

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He attended district school until he was eighteen years of age and then devoted himself to assisting his parents on the farm until his enlistment as a Union soldier. This occurred August 19, 1861, at Meadville, PA, where he joined the ranks of Company F, Eighty-third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Upon reporting at Erie, Pennsylvania, the command with which he was identified was sent to Washington, where it was stationed until March 9, 1862, and then transported by boat to Fortress Monroe. From there it was dispatched to Yorktown, one month later to West Point, Virginia, and was first placed under fire at an engagement near Richmond and later at Malvern Hill. He also participated in the engagements at Harrison Landing and at Newport News, and at the fierce battles of Fredericksburg, Bull Run, Antietam and Gettysburg. At the last named he received a scalp wound of such a nature that he was obliged to be sent to a hospital at York, Pennsylvania, where he remained three months and was then sent home on a thirty days' furlough. He afterward returned to Baltimore and Washington, where he remained during the following winter and rejoined his company on the Chickahominy River and was engaged in the pursuit of General Lee's army until his final surrender. Mr. McCracken was mustered out of the service May 29, 1865, and resumed farming pursuits, later locating at Hartsville, where he was engaged as a drug clerk until 1869, and then again returning to the old homestead, where he remained for the succeeding ten years. For some time afterward he lived a retired life, making his home with his brother, Franklin. He was one of the charter members of the G. A. R. Post at Sheakleyville and was always a stalwart Republican, having held many local public offices. [HMC 1909, 1061]

1 —, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Its Past and Present (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 1099.

2 J. G. White, A Twentieth Century History of Mercer County Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909), Pg 1061.

3 —, History of Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Its Past and Present (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk & Co., Publishers, 1888), Pg 1098.

4 J. G. White, A Twentieth Century History of Mercer County Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909), Pg 1060, 1078.