Northumberland County PA Archives Biographies.....McCleery, John 1837 - 

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Author: Biographical Publishing Co.



JOHN McCLEERY, president of the Milton Trust & Safe Deposit Company, through

whose efforts it was organized in 1887, has for many years been prominently

identified with business enterprises in Milton, Northumberland County, Pa. He is

a man of great energy and strong personality and his efforts in various

undertakings have met with gratifying and deserved success. He is a son of Dr.

William and Margaret (Pollock) McCleery, and was born April 8, 1837.



  Our subject's ancestors were natives of Scotland, who, at the time of the

early persecutions, established a home in Ireland, where Michael McCleery, the

great-grandfather of our subject, was born. He had a brother John, who came to

America and served as a captain in the Revolutionary War, being killed in the

battle of Bunker Hill.



  John McCleery, the grandfather of our subject, was born at the forks of the

Conestoga, in Earl township, Lancaster County, Pa., October 13, 1767, and at an

early age engaged in mercantile pursuits at Harrisburg. He later moved to

Milton, Northumberland County, Pa., being among the first to engage in business

there, and opened a general merchandise store on the corner of South Front

street and Broadway, where Folmer's grocery store is now situated. He dealt

largely in produce and grain, but the means of transportation to markets were

very limited and he had to ship them down the river in arks to the larger

cities, where he would trade for merchandise. He finally retired from that

business and purchased a farm, which now forms a part of the William Cameron

estate, and there successfully engaged in farming the remainder of his life. On

September 23, 1802, he and Mary Lytle, who was born at Lytle Ferry, on the

Susquehanna River, in Dauphin County, March 16, 1774, and was a daughter of

Joseph and Sarah Lytle, were united in marriage by Rev. Nathan Soudcn.

Paternally she was of English descent, while maternally her ancestors were of

Irish extraction. Their union resulted in the following issue: William; Sarah,

the wife of John L. Watson, was born February 18, 1805; Joseph, born January 10,

1807; Jane, who married Rev. David X. Junkin, was born February 4, 1809;

Elizabeth, born September 10, 1811; and Mary, born March 16, 1814, who wedded

Rev. Nathan Shotwell.



  Dr. William McCleery, the father of our subject, was born at Halifax, Dauphin

County, Pa., July 31, 1803, and early in life was brought to Milton by his

parents, practically growing up with that borough. His education was obtained in

the Milton Academy, Rev. David Kirkpatrick, D. D., principal. He then attended

the Washington College at Washington, Pa., and later graduated from the

Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia in 1827. He then entered upon the

practice of his profession at Milton, and in a very short time established a

very large clientage, which he retained until 1857, when he was succeeded by his

son, Dr. James P., who is a prominent physician of the borough at the present

time. He then lived in retirement for a brief period, gaining a much needed

rest, but a state of idleness was antagonistic to his energetic temperament, and

he was soon actively engaged in business, building at Milton the first steam

saw-mill erected on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, it being situated

where the car manufacturing establishment is now located. This saw-mill was

erected in 1844. This he operated until death, which occurred on December 4,

1867, at the age of sixty-four years. He was originally a Whig in his political

affiliations, as was his father, but he later became a Republican. He built the

handsome residence in which our subject now lives, in which he spent his latter

days. He was joined in the holy bonds of wedlock with Margaret Pollock, a

daughter of William Pollock, and a sister of the late James Pollock, ex-governor

of Pennsylvania, and they were the parents of the following children: Mary, born

September 9, 1830, is the wife of Joseph D. Potts of Philadelphia; James P., a

record of whose life appears elsewhere; Sarah, deceased, was born November 5,

1834; John, the subject of this personal history; William P., born April 27,

1834, was a captain in the i8th Reg. U. S. Inf. in the Civil War, and later

served against the Indians on the western plains,—he resigned his commission in

1868 and is now engaged in business at Troy, Pa.; and Julia J., deceased, who

was born October 18, 1841, was the wife of Gen. Jesse Merrill. Mrs. McCleery

died in 1842 aged thirty-six.



  John McCleery was educated at the Milton Academy, Tuscarora Academy, Juniata,

and in Princeton College, from which he was graduated in 1858. Immediately after

leaving college he accepted a position as assistant principal of the Milton

Academy, being associated with Rev. W. T. Wylie, and at the same time he read

law with Hon. James Pollock, and continued until the Civil War broke out, when

he entered the service, being mustered in June I, 1861, as captain of Company H,

of the 5th Regiment of Pennsylvania Reserves. He was severely wounded in the

battle of the Charles City Cross Road in the seven days' fighting before

Richmond, and was taken prisoner on June 30, 1862, being incarcerated in Libby

Prison. There his health was impaired and he has never completely regained it as

his injuries finally resulted in paralysis. Upon his release from Libby he was

mustered out on account of his physical disability, but as he later greatly

improved in health, he was mustered in as a lieutenant-colonel with the 28th

Emergency Regiment at Harrisburg. After the close of the war he returned home

and began to practice law, but the duties were too arduous for one who had

undergone the great physical strain to which he was subjected during the war,

and he finally gave it up. He has since been closely allied with all enterprises

organized to further the interests of Milton. He was recently identified with

the Milton Car Works; the Milton Rolling Mills; is a director of the Milton

Water Works; and is president of the Milton Trust & Safe Deposit Company. It was

largely through his efforts that the latter was organized on February 17, 1887,

it being incorporated with an authorized capital of $250,000,000 one-half of

which was paid in cash.



  Mr. McCleery was married June 6, 1866, to Mary Helen Marr, a daughter of David

and Hettie L. (Davis) Marr, and a great-granddaughter of Joseph and Susanna

(Price) Marr. Joseph was born in Northampton County, Pa., June 15, 1750, and in

1793 he came up the West Branch of the Susquehanna River to Turbot township,

where he purchased of the widow of Turbot Francis a tract of 379 acres of land,

it being a portion of the estate known as "The Colonel's Reward." It was a

choice piece of land for which he paid five pounds per acre, and in 1793 he

located upon it with his family. He lived there the remainder of his life, dying

September 3, 1796; his wife died December 27, 1826. His wife's maiden name was

Susanna Price, and she was born April 27, 1754. They had the following children:

Mary, the wife of Robert Martin; Hannah, the wife of William Hull, whose sketch

also appears in this work; David; William; Joseph; and Alem, a prominent

attorney who has twice served as congressman. David Marr, the father of Mrs.

McCleery, was born on the old homestead, and was a farmer by occupation, owning

two fine farms. He later became a railroad contractor and finally became a

woolen manufacturer at White Deer Mills, Union County. He died at the age of

forty-seven years. He married Hettie L. Davis and they had four children: Annie

Eliza, the wife of John A. Grier; Mary Helen, the wife of our subject; William,

who died in infancy; and Rebecca, who also died young. Mr. Marr formed a second

union with Harriet Matchin, by whom he had five children: William; Alem;

Brainard; Alfred; and Jeanette.



  Mr. and Mrs. McCleery have two children, namely: Edward Heber, a physician of

Kane, Pa., who attended Lawrenceville School, was a member of the class of 1888

at Princeton, and graduated from the Jefferson Medical College in 1890; and

Margaret Pollock. Politically our subject is a stanch Republican, but has never

accepted an office. He is a conscientious member of the Presbyterian Church.

Socially he is a member of the G. A. R. post; and also the Union Veteran's Legion.





Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

  

  Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District

  Published by 

  Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899)









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