Andrew Jackson McCray and Isabelle McCullen

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Husband Andrew Jackson McCray ^{1 2}

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           Born: 24 Apr 1830 - Titusville, Crawford Co, PA 1
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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         Father: George McCray (Abt 1806-1864) 3 4
         Mother: Sarah McCray (1811-1886) 3 4 5

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       Marriage: 1884 6

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Wife Isabelle McCullen ⁶

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           Born: 
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         Buried: 

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   Other Spouse: [Unk] Bryan (      -      ) 6

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Children

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General Notes: Husband - Andrew Jackson McCray

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He remained at home attending school until he attained the age of seventeen years. Then, as was the custom in those early days, he started out to make his own way in life. His first employers were Brewer, Watson & Co., of Titusville, Pennsylvania, with whom he remained for seven years, working most of the time in the mill as a sawyer. During that period he saved considerable money, with which he purchased 400 acres of land around and near East Titusville. After renting a small saw mill, he began cutting and sawing the timber from his land, and shipping his products down the river to the Pittsburgh markets. He was engaged in this line until 1862, and made considerable money in it.
In 1862, oil was discovered on his land and he was enabled to sell the property at a handsome advance on the price paid. After selling, he went to Garland, Warren County, Pennsylvania, purchased 200 acres of timber land and erected two saw mills, one operated by water power and one by steam, the former of which was afterwards destroyed by fire. Here he remained for two years, actively engaged in cutting and sawing his timber, for which he obtained a good price. At the close of that time he sold out. In the meantime he had been dealing to some extent in oil, and after selling his lumbering interests, he was engaged in the oil business for three years. In 1880 he McCray went to Forest County and again busied himself in lumbering. In company with Frank Williams, he owned and operated a saw mill near Marienville for a period of four years, when he again returned to Titusville, a well-to-do man.
This was in 1884, when the oil excitement was sweeping the country. Mr. McCray went into the Exchange, and for two years was a power in the oil market. But in 1886 he "bucked the tiger" once too often, and lost his last dollar. This left him, at the age of fifty-six, without a dollar in the world, but although discouraged, he did not give up. His motto was "Never say die," and during the same year he again returned to Forest County. He soon found employment with W. H. Frost of Pigeon, as lumber inspector, remaining one year. The following spring he was offered the superintendency of the Baker-Hammond Lumber Company, which was later the Hammond-Crosby Lumber Company. In 1861 Mr. McCray built the McCray House at Titusville, and conducted a hotel for five years.

In 1896 Mr. McCray was elected by the Republicans, of which party he was a strong supporter, one of the associate judges of Forest County. This was his first office, as never before could his friends prevail upon him to accept public honors, as he preferred working hard for the success of others.

1 —, Book of Biographies, 37th Judicial District, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899), Pg 592.

2 J. Duane Upton, The Ancestry of J. Duane Upton (Santa Ana, CA: Self-published, 1967), Pg 13.

3 —, Book of Biographies, 37th Judicial District, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899), Pg 593.

4 Charles A. Babcock, Venango County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1919), Pg 468.

5 J. Duane Upton, The Ancestry of J. Duane Upton (Santa Ana, CA: Self-published, 1967), Pg 12.

6 —, Book of Biographies, 37th Judicial District, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899), Pg 594.