Thomas Clay McCREERY, Congress, KY (1816-1890)

McCREERY, Thomas Clay, a Senator from Kentucky; born near Owensboro, Daviess County, Ky., on December 12, 1816; attended the common schools, and graduated from Centre College, Danville, Ky., in 1837; studied law; admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Frankfort, Franklin County, Ky.; returned to Owensboro and engaged in literary pursuits; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1842 to the Twenty-eighth Congress and again in 1844 to the Twenty-ninth Congress; presidential elector on the Democratic tickets in 1852, 1856, and 1860; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James Guthrie and served from February 19, 1868, to March 3, 1871; unsuccessful candidate for reelection; again elected to the United States Senate in 1872 and served from March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1879; declined to be a candidate for reelection; retired from public life and lived on his farm in Daviess County; moved to Owensboro, Ky., where he died July 10, 1890; interment in Elmwood Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present