James B. McCreary

Infobox Governor
name = James B. McCreary


order = 37^th
office = Governor of Kentucky
term_start = December 12, 1911cite web |url=http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=cd1737a59b066010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD |title=Kentucky Governor James Bennett McCreary |publisher=National Governors Association |accessdate=2007-05-17]
term_end = December 7, 1915
lieutenant = Edward J. McDermott
predecessor = Augustus E. Willson
successor = Augustus O. Stanley
order2 = Class 3
office2 = United States Senator
term_start2 = March 4, 1903cite web |url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000382 |title=McCreary, James Bennett (1838ndash 1918) |publisher=United States Congress |accessdate=2007-05-17]
term_end2 = March 3, 1909
predecessor2 = William J. Deboe
successor2 = William O. Bradley
order3 = United States Representative
term_start3 = March 4, 1885
term_end3 = March 3, 1897
predecessor3 = Philip B. Thompson, Jr.
successor3 = George M. Davison
order4 = 27^th Governor of Kentucky
term_start4 = August 31, 1875
term_end4 = September 2, 1879
predecessor4 = Preston H. Leslie
successor4 = Luke P. Blackburn
birth_date = birth date|1838|7|8|mf=y
birth_place = Richmond, Kentucky
death_date = death date and age|1918|10|8|1838|7|8|mf=y
death_place = Richmond, Kentucky
party = Democrat
spouse = Katherine Hughes
profession = Lawyer
religion = Presbyterian

James Bennett McCreary (July 8, 1838 - October 8, 1918) was Governor of Kentucky, a Representative and a Senator from Kentucky.

Early life

McCreary was born on July 8, 1838 in Richmond, Kentucky, the son of Dr. Edmund R. and Sabrina Bennett McCreary.cite book |editor=Kleber, John E. |others=Associate editors: Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter |title="The Kentucky Encyclopedia" |year=1992 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington, Kentucky |isbn=0813117720 |chapter=McCreary, James Bennett] He graduated from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, in 1857, and in 1859 was valedictorian of his law classcite book |title=Kentucky politicians : sketches of representative Corncrackers and other miscellany |last=McAfee |first=John J. |publisher=Press of the Courier-Journal job printing company |location=Louisville, Kentucky |year=1886 |url=http://kdl.kyvl.org/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=kyetexts;cc=kyetexts;sid=7c3b4143decaf4c8af264312f1bb5cd1;q1=beriah%20magoffin;idno=b92-77-27211894;view=toc |chapter=Hon. James B. McCreary |pages=pp. 118–120] at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, graduating with an LL.B.cite book |title="The Encyclopedia of Kentucky" |publisher=Somerset Publishers |location=New York, New York |year=1987 |isbn=0403099811] He was admitted to the bar in 1859 and commenced practice in Richmond.

Civil War service

McCreary entered the Confederate States Army with the rank of major on September 10, 1862.cite book |last=Powell |first=Robert A. |title="Kentucky Governors" |publisher=Bluegrass Printing Company |location=Danville, Kentucky |year=1976 |id=OCLC|2690774 |chapter=James B. McCreary] Serving with the 7th (later the 11th) Kentucky Cavalry under John Hunt Morgan, McCreary saw action in the Battle of Hartsville, and participated in the raids on the Kentucky towns of Monticello and Burkesville.

For his distinguished service at the Battle of Greasy Creek, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on July 4, 1863. He was captured by Union forces during Morgan's raid on Cheshire, Ohio, but was later released as part of a prisoner exchange deal. He resumed his military career under Kentuckian John C. Breckinridge.

McCreary returned to his legal practice following the war. On June 12, 1867, he married Katherine Hughes, the only daughter of a wealthy Fayette County farmer. A year later, the couple had their only child, a son.

Political career

In 1868, McCreary was chosen as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. He was then elected as a Democrat to the first of three consecutive terms in the Kentucky House of Representatives, serving from 1869 to 1875, and serving as speaker from 1871 to 1875.

First term as governor

McCreary won the 1875 Kentucky Democratic gubernatorial primary over General John Stuart Williams, and defeated Republican John Marshall Harlan in the general election. His primary campaign mantra was the abuses of the Grant administration in administering Reconstruction policy, but his inaugural address urged reconciliation with political enemies.cite book |title="Kentucky's Governors" |editor=Lowell H. Harrison |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington, Kentucky |year=2004 |isbn=0813123267 |chapter=James B. McCreary)]

McCreary supported advancement of the Commonwealth's public school system and opposed the taxation of corporations by municipalities. He also recommended improving navigation of the Kentucky River, changing insurance law to ensure prompt payment of benefits, and enacting prison reform legislation. The state legislature however, was averse to these changes. Because McCreary followed the traditional model of southern Democratic politics that featured a weak executive branch, few of these recommendations were acted upon. Instead, much of his tenure was spent attempting to suppress feuds in the eastern part of the Commonwealth.

Some of McCreary's proposals did pass, however. The he Agricultural and Mechanical College (later the University of Kentucky) was made independent from Kentucky University (later part of Transylvania University.) A state Board of Health was established in the Commonwealth. Railroad property was assessed a higher value for tax purposes, while property taxes and the legal interest rate were lowered. Some minor educational improvements were also realized.

The legislature also elected General Williams to the U.S. Senate over Governor McCreary and two other Democratic nominees.

McCreary's wife was the youngest-ever First Lady of the Commonwealth.

Tenure in Congress

In 1884, McCreary decided to seek election to Congress from Kentucky's Eighth District. His opponents for the Democratic nomination were Milton J. Durham and Philip B. Thompson, Jr., both of whom had held the district's seat previously. McCreary bested both men, and defeated Republican James Sebastian in the general election. He served six consecutive terms from March 4 1885 until March 3, 1897. During his tenure, he introduced the bill authorizing the first Pan-American Conference and was appointed by President Benjamin Harrison to be a delegate to the International Monetary Conference held in Brussels, Belgium in 1892. He was subsequently He ran unsuccessfully for renomination in 1896, after which he resumed the practice of law.

McCreary again represented Kentucky at four consecutive Democratic National Conventions from 1900 to 1912. He was elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4 1903 to March 3 1909. While serving in the Senate, he tried to advance Kentucky's agricultural interests and supported the free coinage of silver. He ran unsuccessfully for reelection in 1908.

econd term as governor

McCreary was again elected Governor of Kentucky in 1912 over Republican Edward Clay O'Rear and a myriad of minor party candidates. McCreary's second term as governor was more successful than his first, featuring a progressive platform. Counties were allowed to pass local option liquor laws during McCreary's second term. He won passage of a mandatory primary election law and restrictions on lobbyists' access to legislative chambers. He created executive departments to oversee banking and state highways, and called for campaigns against tuberculosis and illiteracy.

Perhaps most significant in McCreary's second term were his improvements in education. The Compulsory Attendance Act was passed during McCreary's second term. He oversaw a 25%-per-pupil increase in education expenditures and an optional system of textbook selection. He also gave women the right to vote in school elections.

Among his proposed reforms that did not pass the state legislature were a workman's compensation act and a bill requiring full disclosure of campaign contributions and expenditures.

Later life and legacy

McCreary ran again for election to the United States Senate in 1914, but was defeated by J. C. W. Beckham, and again resumed the practice of law. He died in Richmond and was interred in Richmond Cemetery.

McCreary was the only Kentucky governor to serve from both the Old State Capitol and the present state capitol. He was the first Kentucky governor to inhabit the new Executive Mansion. Though the governor's spouse is generally the official hostess of the mansion, McCreary's wife died before his election to a second gubernatorial term, and his granddaughter served as the new mansion's first hostess. [cite web |url=http://governorsmansion.ky.gov/facts/residents.htm |title=Kentucky Governor's Mansion: The Residents |publisher=Commonwealth of Kentucky |date=2007-04-16 |accessdate=2007-05-28]

McCreary County, Kentucky was formed during McCreary's second term as governor and was named in his honor. It was the last of Kentucky's 120 counties to be formed.

References

External links

*findagrave|7909094 Retrieved on 2008-02-13

Further reading

* Dictionary of American Biography
* Burckel, Nicholas C. "From Beckham to McCreary: The Progressive Record of Kentucky Governors." Register of the Kentucky Historical Society 76 (October 1978): 285-306
* McCreary, James B. Progress in Arbitration. Washington: Peace and Arbitration League, 1909.

Persondata
NAME=McCreary, James Bennett
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Governor of Kentucky, United States Senator, United States Representative
DATE OF BIRTH=July 8, 1838
PLACE OF BIRTH=Richmond, Kentucky
DATE OF DEATH=October 8, 1918
PLACE OF DEATH=Richmond, Kentucky