Lemuel McCracken Mystery

Lemuel arrived in Iowa about 1850. It is unclear if he moved directly to Lee County or if he resided for a time in another Iowa county. However, by 1854 he is living in Lee County. He does not stay consistently in one location within the county during the approximate 20 years he lived there, moving between townships.

In 1850, John McCracken lived in District 28, Lee County, Iowa. John was born in Delaware and was old enough to be Lemuel’s father. However, Lemuel never recorded his father as being from Delaware. This family also listed Elizabeth, Raney (approximately the same age as Lemuel), and Jacob. The latter two were born in Ohio. In 1860, John is living in Marion Twp. It does not seem that Lemuel belonged to this family for several reasons – conflicting birth year with Raney, lack of these names in the family, and no direct ties (e.g. never found living next door).

That family, according to another researcher with a direct relationship to John’s family could not find any record of Lemuel in their family line, although there was a Samuel. Since Samuel and Lemuel are often written similarly, it is wondered if this couldn’t actually be a the same person. On an interesting note, members of this family also moved to Kansas, but not to the area where Lemuel moved. Also, a photograph of this family shows similarities to Lemuel’s children. Yet, no proof of a connection has been found. It is possible that he is a cousin.