McCraken Family Honor Roll of Civil War Veterans

Charles McCracken was born 3 February 1842 in Daviess County, Indiana. His parents were William McCracken and Mary Ann Webber. On 28 September 1861 he enlisted as a private in Company "G" 42nd Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry. At the same time his cousins, Richard McGehee, John J., Henry, Thomas and William N. McCracken and his furture brother-in-law William H.H. Gilley also enlisted. Charles McCracken was 19 years old. At Evansville, Indiana, on 10 October 1861 Charles and the others were mustered in to serve three year enlistments.

At the Battle of Stones River, 31 December 1862, Charles McCracken was seriously wounded in both legs. A bullet entered the left leg about mid-way below the knee. It went completely through that leg and then entered the right leg where it lodged between the bones of the right leg. It remained there for nearly twenty-five years. He was treated in a field hospital near the battlefield, transferred to an army hopital in Cincinnati and then transferred again to an army hospital in Evansville, Indiana, where he remained until his discharge 19 June 1864--almost a year and a half after he was wounded. His discharge states that he was unfit for the Veteran Reserve Corps and that he was unable to walk without crutches.

While Charles was in the hospital at Evansville he met Nancy Ann Bastin. Her home was north of Bloomington, Indiana, but she was living in Evansville and helping care for the soldiers in the hopital. on 9 July 1864 Charles McCracken and Nancy Ann Bastin were married in Evansville by a Methodist minister. The young couple went home to Barr Township Daviess County, Indiana, where they purchased land and built a log house. They eventually became quite prosperous.

Mount Olive Baptist Church was very inportant in the lives of Charles and Nancy and their seven children. The land for the first church building had been given by Charles' parents, and many aunts, uncles and cousins were also members of Mount Olive.

The wound in Charles' right leg never healed properly and in 1869 and 1875 it became so infected that surgery was necessary to drain the infection. In 1880 Dr. W.L.Evans of Loogootee stated: "There is no probability of the wound ever healing permanently and he (Charles) would be, in my opinion, in a much safer condition if the limb was amputated just below the knee joint, and I frequently advise him to submit to an amputation." Charles never submitted and lived to be 87 years old. Nancy died 6 December 1917 and Charles died 15 July 1929. Both are buried in Bethany Christian Church Cemetery.

Henry McCracken was bor 5 March 1843 in Daviess County, Indiana. His parents were John McCracken and Sarah Jane Webber. Henry enlisted as a private in Company "G" 42nd Regiment of Indiana Volunteers on 28 September 1861 at the age of 18. His brothers John James, Thomas,and William Nelson McCracken enlisted at the same time. They were mustered in on 10 October 1861 at Evansville.

During December of 1861 the 42nd was ordered to move its camp from Henderson to Calhoun, Knetucky, where there was a concentration of Union troops. The weather was cold and rainy making the roads ankle-deep in mud. Each man was required to carry about seventy-five pounds of equipment in his knapsack in addition to his rifle and haversack. At night the regiment usually had to make camp in the mud and get their water from any availables stream. It was not long until one-third of the regiment was sick with typhoid, measles, pneumonia and dysentery. The result for Henry McCracken was frostbitten feet which caused him to have painful, swollen feet throughout his three years of service.

In the spring of 1863 Henry became ill with fever and was in a regimental hospital near Murfeesboro, Tennessee. His brother "Nelson" went to visit him every day until the 42nd moved on, leaving Henry in the hospital. When Henry rejoined his unit several months later his relatives were shocked to see him because he had lost his hair as a result of his illness.

At the Battle of Resaca, 15 May 1864, the 42nd was being supported by a battery of six pound Napoleon guns. These were muzzle-loading cannons with a maximum effective range of 800 to 1,000 yards. They fired two to three rounds a minute. The cannons were on a hill above a branch of water. Company "G:, 42nd, as below the artillery and some of the men were ordered to lay down in the water to protect henselves. The water was cold and Henry went into the water reluctantly and only after he was ordered to do so by his officers. He laid in the water for several hours with cannons being fired over his head. When he came out of the water after dark he had a fever. As a result of fever, exposure and the concussion of the cannons, his hearing was damaged.

Henry McCracken was discharged as a Corporal, 17 October 1864 at Villanova, Georgia. He returned to his father's farm and worked there for one season before he moved to Patoka, Gibson County, Indiana. There he worked at Coleman's Sawmill as an engineer and fireman, running the stationary engine, but he occasionally worked in the planing mill and sometimes stacked lumber as well.

On 12 September 1867 Henry McCracken married Mary Jane Hanks in Gibson County, Indiana.

After working at the sawmill for a number of years, Henry decided that he was not able to do that kind of work any longer and that he must get on a farm. The McCrackens moved to Kansas, but only stayed for a short time and then returned to Patoks. henry went back to the sawmill and worked there another year. He and mary Jane then moved to Daviess County and Henry went back to farming in Barr Township, having been away for about 10 years.

Mary jane died 13 October 1904, leaving Henry a qidower for over twenty years. henry died 30 December 1924 and was buried in Bethany Christian Church Cemetery with his wife.

THE OBITURARY OF HENRY McCRACKEN:
Henry McCracken, one of Barr township's oldest, most prominent and widely known men, died at 10 o'clock last night at his home south of Montgomery at the age of almost eight-two years after a shockingly brief illness.
Mr. McCracken who had been enjoying robust health for a man of his advanced years had been in Montgomery during the afternoon and was stricken about 4 o'clock, shortly after returning to his farm home. He was chopping wood when the fatal seizure came on and gradually sank, although physicians were called immediately after he became ill. Heart disease is believed to have caused his death.
Perhaps none of the older residents of Barr township had a wider circle of friends or was better liked than the deceased man and his sudden illness and death have cast a note of genuine sadness everywhere among his acquaintances. Mr. McCracken was born on a farm within three quarters of a mile of the place where he died and his entire life excepting two short ingtervals when he was in Kansas were passed in the same community. He had always been a framer.
Mr. McCracken's wife died some years ago but he is survived by the following children: Minnie, of Evansville: Lillie, at home: Oliver of Washington: John, at home: Will and Arthur of Oklahoma: and Byron of Harrison township. Two sisters also are left, they being Eliza Rudolph and Mary Jane McCracken, both of Montgomery.
In every sense of the word, Henry McCracken was one of the patriarchs of southern Barr township, a man who was strictly honest in all his personal and business dealings and who loved his family and home with an intense devotion that was noticeble to everyone."

John James McCracken was born 2 December 1832 in Daviess County, Indiana. His parents were John McCracken and Sarah Jane Webber. he enlisted in Company "G" 42nd Regiment of Volunteers on 28 September 1861 at Washington, Indiana, and on 10 October 1861 he was mustered in at Evansville, Indiana, whith his brothers William Nelson, Thomas and Henry McCracken. John James McCracken was 28 years old and entered the service as a Sergeant.

The 42nd Indiana lost eight killed, fifty-three wounded and thirty-one captured at the Battle of Chickamauga. They fought under General Thomas who became known as "The Rock of Chickamauga" because it was his corps that held the line against the Confederates agter the rest of the Union army retreated in confusion. John James McCracken was one of the 9,756 Union soldiers who were wounded in the battle. His wound required the amputation of the right index finger. After the hand had healed, he was transferred to the Veterans Reserve Corps because he could no longer shoot a rifle. At Cliffburn Barrancks, D.C., on 28 May 1864, John was discharged being unfit for duty and having just five months of his enlistment to serve.

John J. McCracken returned to Daviess County, Indiana, and on 21 December 1867 he married Adaline Ingram. They had five children before Adaline died in 1880 after only 13 years of marriage. John Lived until 2 July 1910, aged 77. He and his wife are both buried in Bethany Christian Church Cemetery.