Weld County, History of Colorado, BIOS: MCCREERY, James W. (published 1918)
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"History of Colorado", edited by Wilbur Fisk Stone, published by The S. J. 
Clarke Publishing Co. (1918)  Vol. II

p. 164, 166
photo p. 165


HON. JAMES W. McCREERY.

	At the bar of Greeley have been found many able men, capable of 
crossing swords in forensic combat with leading lawyers of any section 
of the state. Active in the trial of cases for many years, Hon. James 
W. McCreery has made for himself a creditable position among the strong 
members of the Greeley bar, carefully conducting the interests 
entrusted to his care and at all times proving most loyal to his 
clients.

	James W. McCreery was born in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, July 
13, 1849, a son of William G. and Mary H. McCreery. He was graduated 
from the State Normal School of Indiana, Pennsylvania, and then took up 
the study of law in the office and under the direction of the late 
Silas M. Clark, of Indiana, Pennsylvania, who at the time of his death 
in 1893 was state supreme judge. Justice dark directed his reading 
until Mr. McCreery was admitted to the bar of his native state in the 
year 1880. Feeling that he would have better opportunities for 
professional advancement in the west, he came to Colorado in 1881, 
making his way to Greeley, Weld county, where he was admitted to 
practice. He has since remained an active member of the bar of this 
district and is numbered among the able lawyers who hold to high 
professional standards and ethics. He occupies offices in the First 
National Bank building, utilizing the same suite of rooms for thirty-
two years. He has long made a specialty of irrigation and corporation 
law and few members of the bar are more thoroughly informed concerning 
this branch of Jurisprudence than Mr. McCreery.

	In August, 1883, was celebrated the marriage of Miss Mary M. 
Arbuckle and James W. McCreery and to them were born four children.

	In public affairs Mr. McCreery has figured prominently and his 
aid and influence have been potent forces for progress and for good. He 
served as state senator from 1888 until 1892 and gave most thoughtful 
and earnest consideration to all the vital questions which came up for 
settlement. That his record was a commendable one is indicated in the 
fact that he was recalled to that position in 1896 and continued a 
member of the upper house of the Colorado legislature until 1900. His 
Interest in the cause of education has always been deep and lasting and 
he was the author of the bill, and was instrumental in. carrying it 
through the state legislature, establishing the State Teachers' 
College. This was in 1889 and the Institution at that time was known as 
the State Normal School. He gave evidence of his continued interest by 
becoming a member of the board of trustees and for many succeeding 
years he was president of the board. Mr. McCreery is prominent and well 
known in Masonic circles, having attained the thirty-second degree in 
the Scottish Rite. At the present he is especially active in war work, 
having taken up with great vigor the causes of the Young Men's 
Christian Association and the Red Cross Society. In fact, during the 
past year he has devoted most of his time to these causes and has made 
numerous effective addresses in order to secure the largest possible 
public cooperation with these societies who do such untold good for our 
soldiers. His service as president of the board of the State Teachers' 
College, however, did not exhaust Mr. McCreery's activities along this 
line, for he has also been a member of the board of education of 
Greeley, serving from 1910 until 1915 and doing much to further local 
educational standards. He is a lecturer on irrigation law in the 
University of Colorado and has the distinction of having written the 
article on irrigation and water rights in the "Modern American Law," 
and is a worthy and valued member of the Weld County Bar Association, 
the Colorado State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He 
has been honored with the presidency of the state organization, which 
office he filled in 1907 and 1908.

	Mr. McCreery enjoys a large and lucrative practice and has one of 
the most extensive and complete law libraries in the state. His son, 
Donald C., is associated with him in practice and the firm has a most 
extensive clientele that has connected it with leading interests heard 
in the courts. For the past thirty-three years Mr. McCreery has also 
been extensively engaged in farming, being the owner of six hundred and 
forty acres of highly cultivated and productive land in Morgan county, 
Colorado. Along political lines he has always been a republican and 
throughout his entire life has been a stalwart champion of interests 
and measures which work for public improvement.