McCranor - David
Truthfully, David McCranor didn’t have a great connection as far as personally to our county, but he was here several times, may have even lived here very briefly, but he most definitely remains here forever, having been buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Born in another Montgomery County (in Germantown, Ohio) 10 January 1837 (one source says the 8th but his tombstone says 10 so going with that) he was the son of James and Elizabeth (Bender) McCranor (Society of Montana Pioneers) and remained there for many years until his mother and sister came to Crawfordsville where they remained until death (about three decades in the fair city). David left our area and went to California at a fairly early time (about 1856) at an early age, still in his teens.
There he did mining on “Johnston’s Bar where he made some money.” (Miller, Joaquin History of Montana) When the Pike’s Peak excitement became a reality, he too went there. He mined there a year or so and then on to Salmon River where he found gold and he was pretty much a Montanian from there on. For at least a couple of years, he was sheriff of and was Sheridan’s post master. In Sheridan, Montana, he was in the mercantile business for about ten years. Although he called Madison County (Sheridan) his home, he spent many winters in sunny California for his health. He was only 57 years old, never married and left a good amount of money to his sister, Lizzie (married to AE Voris), her son, Cliff, his mother and other relatives. Cliff and his mother were with David when he passed away and they saw to it that his body was shipped here where he rests in Oak Hill Cemetery.