Maj. Israel McCreight and Alice B. Humphrey

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Husband Maj. Israel McCreight ^{1 2}

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           Born: 22 Apr 1865 - near Reynoldsville, Jefferson Co, PA 1
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         Father: John McCreight (1821-1900) 1 3 4
         Mother: Eliza C. Uncapher (Abt 1830-Aft 1916) 1 2

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       Marriage: Jul 1887 5

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Wife Alice B. Humphrey ⁵

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         Father: Richard Humphrey (      -      ) 5
         Mother: Mary Slack (      -      ) 5

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Children

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1 M Donald McCreight ⁵

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           Born: Abt 1889
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2 F Catherine McCreight ⁵

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           Born: Abt 1892
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3 M [Unk] McCreight ⁵

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           Born: Abt 1897
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         Status: Twin

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4 M [Unk] McCreight ⁵

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           Born: Abt 1897
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         Status: Twin

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General Notes: Husband - Maj. Israel McCreight

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Mr. McCreight received his limited education in the country schools, beginning at the age of five. At the age of sixteen he was, after continued persuasion of his parents, permitted to go to Poughkeepsie, New York, where he entered Eastman Business College for a course in practical business training, graduating in four months, the youngest in a class of twenty, and one of the youngest of about three hundred in the school. In the following year he entered the employ of G. W. Fuller & Bro., in a large general store at Reynoldsville, helping at times in their bank, which was adjoining, and in which he became regularly engaged thereafter. It was there he received his first lesson in handling matters of great responsibility, one that served him well in later years; he was left during an emergency for several days with the entire management of the bank, without assistance. Having served in the bank about a year, a change in the ownership took place, and in May, 1885, he joined a party of friends in Reynoldsville, who were going to Dakota territory to seek fortunes in the new West, landing at Devil's Lake. Here he soon found congenial employment with Moore & Dodd, large cattle dealers and contractors, he had charge of the accounts, collections and finances. The business of the house was of varied branches, such as the supplying of fresh beef to the Indian Mission Schools, to the post traders, and to the officers and garrison at Fort Totten; the furnishing also of the contractors then building the Great Northern railway; the shipping of horses from Oregon; the shipping of large quantities of game and fish to Eastern markets, as well as wheat; and no small part of his duty was the purchasing of buffalo bones, which were brought in by the Indians and half-breeds in great quantities, a single caravan sometimes consisting of forty or fifty loads, each of which were driven on the scales and weighed, and a numbered ticket given to the driver, after which the bones were unloaded, at the shipping station, the empty train of carts re-weighed, and the net sum determined and paid to each in order. This led him to an acquaintance with the Indian customs, and their language to a degree that proved useful later on. A band of Indians in war trappings came into the village determined on satisfaction of a grievance against the horde of hungry settlers who were fast filling up the new country, and encroaching somewhat on their freedom and their heretofore undisputed title to the virgin prairie, when he promptly engaged the chief for a round of entertainment and sight-seeing about town, visiting among other places, the photographer's, where a sitting was had for a picture, a copy of which he presented to the chief. So delighted was he with the treatment, that no difficulty was had in inducing him to lead his band back to his reservation. Mr. McCreight had among his collection of souvenirs one especially prized, consisting of the peace-pipe and beaded pouch of ex-Chief Wah-Neh-Tah, of the Sioux, who, upon taking final leave on his return east, unbuckled his belt and handed them to him with assurance of faithful friendship and good wishes. On his return home in the fall of 1886 for a short visit, Mr. McCreight was induced to become interested in the First National Bank of Du Bois, with F. K. Arnold, who was then its president, and after arranging his plans entered the bank in the beginning of 1887 as assistant cashier, Mr. Arnold retiring shortly after, and succeeded by Hon. J. E. Long. During the month of June following a number of the shareholders of the bank purchased the Du Bois Deposit Bank, and Mr. McCreight was put in charge of its management, receiving deposits of nearly fifty thousand dollars and its established patronage, etc.; but on the 18th, within two weeks thereafter, came the great fire that swept away the building, leaving the vault as the only visible landmark where stood a flourishing town. It was several days of anxiety before access could be had to discover that no valuables were destroyed. Next came a search for somewhere to do business, and after a canvass of the remaining few houses, the opera house ticket office was secured, with a carpenter's work bench for a counter. Here the new outfit was set up and continued for about six months until a suitable building was erected and occupied in November, the funds and books being carried to and from the improvised and somewhat novel quarters to the vault in a large clothing basket each day, accompanied by armed guards, who watched the vault at night. The business of the bank rapidly increased, and in 1892 the capital was increased to $75,000, and the institution converted into a State bank, under a new provision of State law, and the corner at Long avenue and Brady street purchased and a magnificent block erected. In 1895, following the failure of the private "Bank of Du Bois," a further increase of the capital was made, a national charter obtained, and the bank became the Deposit National Bank, with a capital of $100,000, and credit second to none.

1 Editor, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 600.

2 Editor, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People, Vol. II (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Company, 1917), Pg 495.

3 Editor, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 475.

4 Editor, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People, Vol. II (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Company, 1917), Pg 44, 495.

5 Editor, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 602.