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Samuel D. McCracken, merchant
and banker, successfully connected with business enterprises at
Colorado Springs, was born on a farm in Niagara county, New
York, in 1858. His father, Richard McCracken, was a native of
the north of Ireland, born in 1832, and in his boyhood days he
crossed the Atlantic to Canada with his parents. He was a youth
of fourteen when he became a resident of the state of New York
and there began working as a farm hand. After reaching adult age
he was married in Niagara county, New York, to Miss Clarissa
Putnam and throughout his remaining days he devoted his
attention to general agricultural pursuits. He died in Niagara
county in 1900, while his widow survived him for a number of
years, there passing away in June, 1918.
Samuel D. McCracken is indebted to the public school system of
his native county for the early educational opportunities which
he enjoyed and which were supplemented by a high school course
in Lockport, New York. He left school at the age of twenty years
but remained a resident of Niagara county until the early
nineties, when he sought the opportunities of the growing west,
making his
way to Colorado Springs. He believed that he would have better
chances for advancement in this great and growing section of the
country and not long after his arrival he purchased an interest
in a dry goods business, although his name did not appear in the
firm style. In 1893 the New York Cash Store had been organized
and Mr. McCracken became one of the partners in the enterprise.
Later the name was changed to the Colorado Dry Goods Company, of
which Mr. McCracken is the president and he and his wife are the
sole owners. In this connection an extensive business is carried
on. The firm has a large stock of goods and the methods of the
house are such as will bear the closest investigation and
scrutiny. They have ever recognized the fact that satisfied
patrons are the best advertisement and they put forth every
possible effort to please their customers. In 1907 Mr. McCracken
also became one of the organizers of the Colorado Springs
National Bank and was elected to the presidency, in which
position he still continues. His has been the directing voice in
shaping the policy and promoting the interests of the bank and
in so doing he has ever most carefully safeguarded the
depositors, while at the same time progressive methods have led
to the growth of the business. Mr. McCracken is also president
of the P. Mayer Leather Company, of Pueblo, Colorado, wholesale
dealers in leather, findings and shoe store supplies. He now
devotes a great deal of his time and
attention to his large cattle ranch of six thousand acres, on
which he raises Short Horns and Black Galloways. This ranch is
located twelve miles from Colorado Springs.
On the 21st of December, 1892, in Buffalo, New York, Mr.
McCracken was married to Miss Ruth N. Corrigan. He is a Master
Mason and in religious faith is a Baptist, while his political
views are in accord with the principles of the republican party.
He is regarded as one of the most substantial business men of
Colorado Springs, standing high in the opinion of his fellow
townsmen, who recognize his genuine worth. What he undertakes he
accomplishes. His plans are well formulated and promptly
executed. He possesses in large measure that quality which for
want of a better term has been called commercial sense, enabling
him to recognize the value of an opportunity, to purchase wisely
and sell fairly, and by reason of such methods his business is
constantly growing. As merchant and banker he occupies a most
creditable position in the commercial and financial circles of
his adopted city.
by Stone, Wilbur Fiske, History of Colorado,
Volume III. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing
Company, 1918.
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