George Washington McCrary (Congressional Biographical Directory)

McCRARY, George Washington, a Representative from Iowa; born near Evansville, Vanderburg County, Ind., August 29, 1835; moved to the Territory of Iowa in 1836 with his parents, who settled in Van Buren County; attended the public schools; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1856 and commenced practice in Keokuk, Iowa; member of the State house of representatives in 1857; served in the State senate in 1861-1865; elected as a Republican to the Forty-first and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1869-March 3, 1877); chairman, Committee on Elections (Forty-second Congress), Committee on Railways and Canals (Forty-third Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1876; Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Hayes from March 12, 1877, to December 11, 1879, when he resigned; served as United States judge of the eighth judicial circuit 1880-1884; moved to Kansas City, Mo.; became general counsel for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Co. in 1884; died in St. Joseph, Mo., June 23, 1890; interment in Oakland Cemetery, Keokuk, Iowa.