Biographies and Obituaries
In loving memory
John James McCracken
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.
Contributed by: Mrs. Jeanne Everett, McCracken Family Historian