George W. McCrary

Born on August 29, 1835, near Evansville, Vanderburg County, Indiana, McCrary moved with his parents in 1836 to the Wisconsin Territory (Iowa Territory from July 4, 1838, State of Iowa from December 28, 1846) who settled in Van Buren County. He attended the public schools, taught in the country schools at age 18, again resuming private practice in Keokuk from 1862 to 1869. ==Congressional service==

In 1868, McCrary successfully sought a U.S. House seat from Iowa's 1st congressional district to succeed Radical Republican James F. Wilson. He was elected as a Republican from the district to the United States House of Representatives of the 41st United States Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1869, to March 3, 1877. He was Chairman of the Committee on Elections for the 42nd United States Congress and Chairman of the Committee on Railways and Canals for the 43rd United States Congress. He published A Treatise on the American Law of Elections, in 1875. In the 44th United States Congress, as a member of the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, he was the author of a farsighted (but unsuccessful) bill to reorganize the federal courts to enable reasonable and prompt judicial review. He helped create the Electoral Commission to resolve the outcome of the 1876 Presidential Election, and served on the committee that investigated the Crédit Mobilier scandal. He published A Treatise on the American Law of Elections in 1875, which later underwent four editions. During his House years, McCrary allied with the congressional "Half-Breeds," the loosely organized and more moderate wing of the Republican Party (in comparison to the pro-spoils system Stalwarts) which emphasized industrial interests and protective tariffs in addition to supporting civil service reform. ==Secretary of War==

McCrary was the 33rd United States Secretary of War in the cabinet of President Rutherford B. Hayes from March 12, 1877, to December 11, 1879, when he resigned. As Secretary, McCrary withdrew federal troops from the remaining reconstruction governments in South Carolina and Louisiana, and used federal troops in the 1877 railway strike and in Mexican border disturbances. Memberships McCrary was elected as a 3rd Class (honorary) member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS). This was probably due to President Hayes' influence as a prominent member of MOLLUS. (Hayes would later serve as MOLLUS commander-in-chief.) ==Federal judicial service==

McCrary was nominated by President Rutherford B. Hayes on December 1, 1879, to a seat on the United States Circuit Courts for the Eighth Circuit vacated by Judge John Forrest Dillon. ==Later career and death==

Following his resignation from the federal bench, McCrary resumed private practice in Kansas City, Missouri from 1884 to 1890. He served as general counsel for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Company in Kansas City, Missouri from 1884 to 1890. He died on June 23, 1890, in St. Joseph, Missouri, after suffering from a stomach tumor. He was interred in Oakland Cemetery in Keokuk. ==References==