Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County,
Illinois: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of
prominent and representative citizens of the county: together with
portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States,
and governors of the state; Biographical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL; 1890;
page 331-332; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst
Nicholas McCreary lives in honorable retirement in one of the
many substantial homes in Canton, his residence being pleasantly
located on the corner of Oak and Fourth Streets. He was one of the
pioneers of this county, was active in its agricultural developments
and acquired a handsome competence that enables him to pass his
declining years in comfort, and free from the necessity of hard labor
and care which was his portion in earlier life.
Mr. McCreary is a native of Maryland, born in Hartford County,
April 9, 1816. His parents were Archie and Rachel McCreary, the former
of whom was also a native of that State, and there passed his entire
life in pursuit of his calling as a farmer. Nicholas was but three
years old when his father died. His education was obtained in private
schools as there were no public schools in his boyhood. In his
fifteenth year he was sent to learn the trade of manufacturing fine
wire cloth and all kinds of wire goods. He followed that calling in the
city of Wheeling, Va., about a month, then returned to Baltimore and
worked in a wire cloth mill until 1837.
After that Mr. McCreary returned to Maryland and in the city of
Baltimore was married, January 16, 1838, to Miss Frances A. Hughs, of
that city, and a daughter of James Hughs, Esq. The following June Mr.
McCreary packed all his possessions in a one-horse wagon and started
for this part of the country, which was then known as a part of the
Great West, Canton being the objective point of his journey. For nine
weeks he and his wife were on the way, the roads being so bad that some
days they could not travel more than eight miles. Arriving at Canton,
he purchased eighty acres of school land in what is now Buckheart
Township. He settled on it and afterward cleared his title from the
Government by the payment of $1.25 an acre. Three years later he sold
that tract of land and bought in its place one hundred and sixty acres
in Putnam Township. He moved with his family to his new farm February
22, 1842, and actively entered upon its improvement. He developed it
into a choice farm, and for many years was actively engaged in general
farming and was an extensive feeder of hogs and cattle, from the sale
of which he made money rapidly. He continued to live there until 1887,
when he retired to Canton to enjoy more at his leisure the comfortable
property that he had accumulated, and since then he has made his home
here.
The first wife of our subject died November 27, 1846, leaving
four children - J. H. lives in Joshua Township; John L., a resident of
Missouri; Pamelia J., wife of John S. Myers; and William H. March 18,
1847, Mr. McCreary was married to his present wife, who was then Mrs.
Martha Ashworth. She was a widow at the time she was wedded to our
subject and her maiden name was Moran. She was born in the city of
Baltimore, Md., in 1818. Her father was Richard L. Moran, and the
maiden name of her mother was Hannah Hayden. Her marriage with our
subject has brought them nine children: Frances A., deceased; Sarah M.,
wife of Mark Saunders; Susannah, wife of S. L. Gorham; Martha, widow of
John A. Jameson; Elizabeth Ann; Julia E., now Mrs. Lew R. Emory; Kate
L., wife of M. L. Emory; Alice, wife of George Morrow; and George A.,
who died at the age of seven months.
Mr. McCreary served as School Director continuously for a period
of twenty-two years. He and his wife are devoted members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. McCreary holds one of the offices of
the Church Board, and has taken an active part in Sunday-school work,
and was Superintendent of the Sunday-school a number of years. While he
was a resident of his farm he established the Pleasant Grove
Sunday-school. In politics he is a sturdy Republican. He first voted
for William Henry Harrison for president, and the last vote he cast was
in favor of that gentleman's grandson.
