El Paso-Pueblo-Huerfano County CO Archives Biographies.....McCracken, Samuel D. 1858 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 December 21, 2008, 8:39 pm

Author: Wilbur Fiske Stone (1918)

SAMUEL D. McCRACKEN.

    Samuel D. McCracken, merchant and banker, successfully connected with
business enterprises at Colorado Springs, was born on a farm in Niagara county,
New York, in 1858. His father, Richard McCracken, was a native of the north of
Ireland, born in 1832, and in his boyhood days he crossed the Atlantic to Canada
with his parents. He was a youth of fourteen when he became a resident of the
state of New York and there began working as a farm hand. After reaching adult
age he was married in Niagara county, New York, to Miss Clarissa Putnam and
throughout his remaining days he devoted his attention to general agricultural
pursuits. He died in Niagara county in 1900, while his widow survived him for a
number of years, there passing away in June, 1918.

    Samuel D. McCracken is indebted to the public school system of his native
county for the early educational opportunities which he enjoyed and which were
supplemented by a high school course in Lockport, New York. He left school at
the age of twenty years but remained a resident of Niagara county until the
early nineties, when he sought the opportunities of the growing west, making his
way to Colorado Springs. He believed that he would have better chances for
advancement in this great and growing section of the country and not long after
his arrival he purchased an interest in a dry goods business, although his name
did not appear in the firm style. In 1893 the New York Cash Store had been
organized and Mr. McCracken became one of the partners in the enterprise. Later
the name was changed to the Colorado Dry Goods Company, of which Mr. McCracken
is the president and he and his wife are the sole owners. In this connection an
extensive business is carried on. The firm has a large stock of goods and the
methods of the house are such as will bear the closest investigation and
scrutiny. They have ever recognized the fact that satisfied patrons are the best
advertisement and they put forth every possible effort to please their
customers. In 1907 Mr. McCracken also became one of the organizers of the
Colorado Springs National Bank and was elected to the presidency, in which
position he still continues. His has been the directing voice in shaping the
policy and promoting the interests of the bank and in so doing he has ever most
carefully safeguarded the depositors, while at the same time progressive methods
have led to the growth of the business. Mr. McCracken is also president of The
P. Mayer Leather Company, of Pueblo, Colorado, wholesale dealers in leather,
findings and shoe store supplies. He now devotes a great deal of his time and
attention to his large cattle ranch of six thousand acres, on which he raises
Short Horns and Black Galloways. This ranch is located twelve miles from
Colorado Springs.

    On the 21st of December, 1892, in Buffalo, New York, Mr. McCracken was
married to Miss Ruth N. Corrigan. He is a Master Mason and in religious faith is
a Baptist, while his political views are in accord with the principles of the
republican party. He is regarded as one of the most substantial business men of
Colorado Springs, standing high in the opinion of his fellow townsmen, who
recognize his genuine worth. What he undertakes he accomplishes. His plans are
well formulated and promptly executed. He possesses in large measure that
quality which for want of a better term has been called commercial sense,
enabling him to recognize the value of an opportunity, to purchase wisely and
sell fairly, and by reason of such methods his business is constantly growing.
As merchant and banker he occupies a most creditable position in the commercial
and financial circles of his adopted city.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

HISTORY OF COLORADO

ILLUSTRATED

VOLUME III

CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1918


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