Ira J. Cree Biography


	This biography is from "Memorial and biographical record; an illustrated
 	compendium of biography, containing a compendium of local biography,
	including biographical sketches of prominent old settlers and 
	representative citizens of South Dakota..." Published by G. A. Ogle & 
	Co., Chicago, 1899. Page 451

	Scan, OCR and editing by Maurice Krueger,mkrueger@iw.net, 1998. 

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.

	This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside
	a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at

	http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm


IRA J. CREE. In compiling a list of the pioneer settlers of Hand 
county, who have struggled through many reverses and have had only 
their own energies on which to depend during those many years, it is 
important that the name of this gentleman be included, and a brief 
history of his life will be of interest to the readers of this volume. 
He is one of the younger men of the county, but his stability of 
character, business ability, and honesty have gained him the respect of 
the entire community. His home is on section 1, in Greenleaf township, 
where he is making a success of farming and stock raising. 

Mr. Cree was born in Clearfield county, Pennsylvania, January 7, 1866. 
His grandfather, William Cree, was a native of the same state, and 
passed his life in Pennsylvania. The parents of our subject, William 
and Levina (Johnson) Cree, were natives also of Pennsylvania, and the 
father was engaged in farming in his native state until 1869, when he 
moved to Jasper county, Iowa, and later to Davis county. He went to 
Hand county, South Dakota, in 1882 and settled in Greenleaf township, 
where he resided until his death in 1892. The mother's death occurred 
in 1897, leaving four sons, two of whom reside in Hand county, and one 
in Iowa. The parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

After the completion of the common school branches, and a course in the 
Southern Iowa Normal, our subject engaged in farming in Davis county 
until he removed with his parents to Dakota in 1882. He then purchased 
a relinquishment two miles south of his present farm, which he 
afterward sold. He now has a half-section in Greenleaf township, some 
of which he cultivates, but is engaged principally in stock raising, 
having a herd of over two hundred head. 

Our subject was married October 11, 1893, to Miss Ella Miltonberger, a 
native of Elkhart county, Indiana, and a daughter of George and Lydia 
(Wagoman) Miltonberger. Two sons have been born to bless the home of 
Mr. and Mrs. Cree, and are named: William H. and George E. Mrs. Cree is 
a member of the Presbyterian church, and our subject holds membership 
in the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is one of the central 
figures in Hand county, and has been closely identified with its 
development; and has filled various offices of trust, having been 
called upon to serve as school treasurer, assessor and clerk. In 
political views he is a free silver Republican.