Biography

02/27/1826 - 02/04/1906

Brevet Brigadier General David B. McCreary (R49) Erie 1889-1896

Early Life: 

Brevet Brigadier General David Berkey McCreary, born February 27, 1826, Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania; son of Joseph F. McCreary and Lydia Swan McCreary; Erie Academy; Washington College (now Washington & Jefferson College) 1848-1849; teacher; admitted bar, 1851, attorney-at-law 1851-1906; Civil War, 1862-1865, Brevetted Brigadier General, prisoner of war, Civil War, 1864-1865; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1866- 1867; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1870, Adjutant-General of Pennsylvania National Guard, 1867-1870; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania Senate, 1889-1896; married, Annette Julia Gunnison McCreary, daughter Sophy Gertrude McCreary; died, February 4, 1906 (age 79) Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania. Interment: Erie Cemetery, Erie, Erie County, Pennsylvania  

Early Career:

Enlisted, Wayne Guards, under the command John W. McLane, 1862, promoted Lieutenant, 145th Regiment, then Captain of Company D, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Captured with regiment, Petersburg, June 16, 1864, imprisoned for ten months at Libby, Macon, Charleston, and Columbia, released, mustered out with his regiment, May 31, 1865. Commissioned Colonel and Brevetted Brigadier General, President and Congress. 

Pennsylvania Politics: 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1866-1867. 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1870. 

Adjutant-General of Pennsylvania National Guard under Governor Geary, 1867-1870, 

Trustee, Dixmont State Hospital, 6 years.

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 49th district, Erie County, 1889-1896; committee assignments, Congressional Apportionment, Insurance, Judiciary (General), Judiciary (Special) (Chairman), Library, Military Affairs, Mines and Mining.

Legacy:

Daughter, Sophy Gertrude McCreary, married, Henry Alden Clark, Pennsylvania State Senate, 49th district, Erie County, 1911-1916.

Henry Alden Clark  - Pennsylvania Senate Library (pasen.gov)

Notes from Emory A. Walling, 1927, memoirs and notes of the Erie bar.

General David B. McCreary was an admirer of Henry Clay, got to meet the Great Pacificator and was even invited to his funeral. At Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers, McCreary was one of the first to sign up and was made a Lieutenant Colonel. Half his regiment got wiped out at Fredericksburg. He was captured twice, imprisoned twice, and released twice to rejoin his regiment. Later, he made many friends in Harrisburg during his time in the State Senate. "Probably no member of our bar had a more extended acquaintance among men of distinction than the General.... He never, to my knowledge, spoke unkindly of anyone."

Pennsylvania State House of Representatives Biography:

Official Website - PA House Archives Official Website (state.pa.us) 

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members M". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1896). Cochran, T.B., (Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 1054, 1061-1064, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 1019.

Brev. Brig. Gen. (USA) David Berkey McCreary (1826 - 1906) - Genealogy (geni.com) 

Walling, Judge Emory A, (1928), Memoirs of the Erie County, Pennsylvania Bench and Bar.

List of American Civil War brevet generals (Union) - Wikipedia

David Berkley McCreary (1826-1906) - Find a Grave Memorial