Alfred McCray was admitted to the bar in 1905 and quickly became known as an energetic, outspoken, scrupulously honest and idealistic man. He threw himself into his cases and rarely charged adequate fees for the efforts he put into them.
Source:
Sluff of History’s Boot Soles
An Anecdotal History of Dayton’s Bench and Bar
By David C. Greer
~~~
Judge Alfred McCray and son, Latta, Dayton, and Atwell McCray, Clarksville, were dinner guests of their sister, Mrs. Ed Ertel, Sunday.
Published in The Wilmington News-Journal (Wilmington, OH), on Saturday, December 24, 1927, pg. 11.
~~~~
JUDGE M'CRAY,
COMMON PLEAS
JURIST IS DEAD
Death Follows Minor Oper-
tion as Relief for Sinus
Infection.
STERLING QUALITIES AND
PERSONALITY WIN FRIENDS
Funeral Services Will Be Held
at 2 o'clock Thursday
Afternoon.
Such a shock as rarely comes because of the passing of a man in public life was that experienced in Dayton and the Miami Valley Tuesday morning when it was learned that Judge Alfred McCray of the Montgomery county common pleas court died at 8:15 o'clock Monday night in Miami Valley Hospital.
With announcement of the suspension of all proceedings in common pleas court Tuesday morning, until next Monday, R. N. Brumbaugh, president of the Dayton Bar association, has called a meeting of that association for 2 o'clock in courtroom No. 1, to take appropriate action upon the death of Judge Alfred McCray.
Judge Harry L. Ferneding, presiding judge of the court of appeals announced that court will suspend all proceedings until Friday, following adjournment Tuesday noon.
He had been ill but two days, having undergone a minor operation Saturday morning for the draining of a sinus, the treatment disclosing the fact that he was afflicted with an erysipelas infection which streptococcus, resulted. The infection having set in following the operation, which was conducted at his home 1235 East Harvard boulevard, he was removed to the hospital Monday morning, where doctors and nurses labored in vain to save his life. He was conscious until within 10 minutes of his death.
Funeral services will be held at 2 o'clock Thursday afternoon at Grace M. E. church. Rev. Charles W. Brashares, pastor of the church, who is now in Kansas City, has been notified of the death and will return to Dayton to officiate at the services. Burial will be made in Woodland. Offices in the courthouse will close during the funeral hours. The weekly Friday noon meeting of the Noontide club, of which he was president, has been cancelled for this week.
STERLING QUALITIES
During the six years Judge McCray had been on the common pleas bench he had, through his sterling qualities and unfaltering attention to duty won the undivided respect of those who came in contact with him judicially and at the same time had, because of his dominant personality, made friends throughout this section of the country, many of whom, though they perhaps knew him only in passing acquaintanceship, experienced a peculiar fellow-feeling which portended a sympathetic friendship should it ever be required.
Judge McCray was the advisor of many in lines other than those encountered merely in his court work. He had grown up a red-corpuscled boy and young man, and others found in him for that reason a heartfelt response when they approached him for a bit of advice. Always ready to listen the other fellow's supposed troubles, showing and expressing an interest in the problems and activities of those who sought his attention, he naturally built up an exceptionally wide circle of friends.
He was particularly a great friend of the newspaper men. At one time, while he attended the University of Cincinnati, he covered the courts in the city hall at Cincinnati for one of the dailies there. He knew what a newspaper man is up against in his daily rounds, and was always ready to help one along. His office was always open to the reporters, and he was never too busy to hunt through his files in quest of some specific information they might desire.
Newspaper men appreciated the friendship he extended them. They knew it was sincere, and he has never been known to express an unkind thought regarding any one of them with whom he came in contact. He enjoyed nothing more than to chat with them and recall some of his own experiences while a reporter in Cincinnati.
His death cuts short a career which had much in store and a promising future ahead. He was to have been a candidate for re-election in this year's election, and so satisfactory and so universally acceptable has been his work on the bench that it was generally agreed he would have no trouble returning to the office without opposition.
PARENTS DEAD.
Judge McCray was 47 years of age, having been born May 2, 1881, on a farm near Clarksville, Warren county. His parents, Samuel A. and Lydia McCray, are both dead. He attended the country school in the district where he was born and later graduated from the Clarksville high school. At a later period he taught school near his parents' home for two years and in 1905 graduated from the law school of the University of Cincinnati.
In 1906, Judge McCray came to Dayton and started practice in the Beckel building, Third and Jefferson streets, where he remained for four or five years, removing to the Reibold building where he formed a partnership with John Dineen.
Six years ago when a new common pleas judgeship was created, the partnership was dissolved with the appointment of Judge McCray to the post by Governor Harry L. Davis. He served the brief appointive period and was elected to the succeeding term by an overwhelming majority. He was appointed judge August 16, 1921, and elected in November of 1923.
He was married on December 31, 1911, to Miss Mary Latta, of Ludlow, Ky., who survives, together with two sons, Samuel A., 14, and Taylor Latta, 11. To these boys he was not only a real father but a pal and chum as well, indulging with them when occasion gave opportunity in their sports and endeavors. He also leaves a brother, Atwell McCray, of near Clarksville, Ohio, and a sister, Mrs. Edward Ertel, of Blanchester, Ohio.
Judge McCray was born in a Republican family and was a staunch supporter of the party all his life as well as a tireless and enthusiastic worker when occasion demanded. He filled many speaking engagements from time to time. He was a great admirer of Judge Charles E. Hughes and Ambassador Myron T. Herrick and nothing stirred his blood so much as the daring exploits of youth, such as the flight of Col. Lindbergh and similar ventures.
32nd DEGREE MASON
He was a 32nd degree Mason, being a member of Conservancy lodge No. 661, of which he was master in 1921, and also held membership in Reed Commandery No. 6, Knights Templar, Reese council No. 9; Antioch Temple of the Shrine, Knights of Pythias and Junior Order of Mechanics. He was president of the Noontide club, a Masonic organization, and a member of the official board of Grace M. E. church.
In addition to these, he was a member of Ormus Grotto, a Masonic social order; the Loyal Order of Moose; the Independent Order of Red Men, the Eagles, was chairman of the athletic council and instructor at the Y. M. C. A., and a director of the Dayton Council of Churches. He was a member of the Montgomery Bar association, of the Lawyers' club, and the American Trapshooters' association.
He was in line for the position of potentate in the Shrine, being assistant rabban, which would have brought him into the chief office of the order in two years. Last Friday he was one of the most enthusiastic and hardest workers in the ceremonial of the Shrine at the fairgrounds and made no complaint, his fellow workers said Tuesday, of feeling at all ill in any way at the time. In the Scottish Rite work he was also active, being the grand pontiff, or presiding officer in the 19th degree ceremonial.
For a number of years he has been a member of the law faculty of the Y. M. C. A. night school, taking a deep interest in this as well as other association activities, because of the contact it gave him with young men.
FOOTBALL CAPTAIN.
In sports he held an exceptionally keen interest, for here he sought relaxation himself from the cares and responsibilities of the bench. While in the University of Cincinnati law school he played on the university football team, on which he was captain in his senior year. He officiated during the more than 20 years he resided in Dayton at a great many football games in the Miami valley and elsewhere. He was a great football fan and few Daytonians attended more Ohio State games than did he.
Few of his closest friends even knew of his illness until late during the day Monday, when the word became noised about that he had been removed to the hospital. Even the seriousness of his case was not generally known or anticipated, and the news of his death, spreading rapidly when it occurred, caught his friends unaware with its shock.
Owing to the sudden death of Judge McCray, the meeting of the Women's council of the Montgomery County Republican association, scheduled for Tuesday, has been indefinitely postponed.
Published in The Dayton Herald (Dayton, OH), on Tuesday, May 22, 1928, pgs. 1 and 7.
~~~
A YOUNG MAN'S FRIEND
To the Editor of the News:
I am a young man who has been associated with Judge Alfred McCray for a period of three or four years, and I wish to express my thoughts in behalf of the young men and boys of Dayton and this vicinity.
I would say:
In behalf of the boys and young men of Dayton, we want to express our profound sympathy, and it is a great loss to know of his death. He was a man that all boys and young men admired, because he carried out the four-fold plan of living in his habits, work, religion and his career. He played the game and he played it fair. Alfred McCray was a hero to every boy of Dayton because he was a big boy himself and he loved them. The Great Referee has called his decision, but his spirit shall lie within the hearts of every boy in this community.
CLOYD B. DUNLAP.
Dayton, May 22.
Published in The Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH), on Thursday, May 24, 1928, pg. 6.
Source:
Sluff of History’s Boot Soles
An Anecdotal History of Dayton’s Bench and Bar
By David C. Greer
~~~
Judge Alfred McCray and son, Latta, Dayton, and Atwell McCray, Clarksville, were dinner guests of their sister, Mrs. Ed Ertel, Sunday.
Published in The Wilmington News-Journal (Wilmington, OH), on Saturday, December 24, 1927, pg. 11.
~~~~
JUDGE M'CRAY,
COMMON PLEAS
JURIST IS DEAD
Death Follows Minor Oper-
tion as Relief for Sinus
Infection.
STERLING QUALITIES AND
PERSONALITY WIN FRIENDS
Funeral Services Will Be Held
at 2 o'clock Thursday
Afternoon.
Such a shock as rarely comes because of the passing of a man in public life was that experienced in Dayton and the Miami Valley Tuesday morning when it was learned that Judge Alfred McCray of the Montgomery county common pleas court died at 8:15 o'clock Monday night in Miami Valley Hospital.
With announcement of the suspension of all proceedings in common pleas court Tuesday morning, until next Monday, R. N. Brumbaugh, president of the Dayton Bar association, has called a meeting of that association for 2 o'clock in courtroom No. 1, to take appropriate action upon the death of Judge Alfred McCray.
Judge Harry L. Ferneding, presiding judge of the court of appeals announced that court will suspend all proceedings until Friday, following adjournment Tuesday noon.
He had been ill but two days, having undergone a minor operation Saturday morning for the draining of a sinus, the treatment disclosing the fact that he was afflicted with an erysipelas infection which streptococcus, resulted. The infection having set in following the operation, which was conducted at his home 1235 East Harvard boulevard, he was removed to the hospital Monday morning, where doctors and nurses labored in vain to save his life. He was conscious until within 10 minutes of his death.
Funeral services will be held at 2 o'clock Thursday afternoon at Grace M. E. church. Rev. Charles W. Brashares, pastor of the church, who is now in Kansas City, has been notified of the death and will return to Dayton to officiate at the services. Burial will be made in Woodland. Offices in the courthouse will close during the funeral hours. The weekly Friday noon meeting of the Noontide club, of which he was president, has been cancelled for this week.
STERLING QUALITIES
During the six years Judge McCray had been on the common pleas bench he had, through his sterling qualities and unfaltering attention to duty won the undivided respect of those who came in contact with him judicially and at the same time had, because of his dominant personality, made friends throughout this section of the country, many of whom, though they perhaps knew him only in passing acquaintanceship, experienced a peculiar fellow-feeling which portended a sympathetic friendship should it ever be required.
Judge McCray was the advisor of many in lines other than those encountered merely in his court work. He had grown up a red-corpuscled boy and young man, and others found in him for that reason a heartfelt response when they approached him for a bit of advice. Always ready to listen the other fellow's supposed troubles, showing and expressing an interest in the problems and activities of those who sought his attention, he naturally built up an exceptionally wide circle of friends.
He was particularly a great friend of the newspaper men. At one time, while he attended the University of Cincinnati, he covered the courts in the city hall at Cincinnati for one of the dailies there. He knew what a newspaper man is up against in his daily rounds, and was always ready to help one along. His office was always open to the reporters, and he was never too busy to hunt through his files in quest of some specific information they might desire.
Newspaper men appreciated the friendship he extended them. They knew it was sincere, and he has never been known to express an unkind thought regarding any one of them with whom he came in contact. He enjoyed nothing more than to chat with them and recall some of his own experiences while a reporter in Cincinnati.
His death cuts short a career which had much in store and a promising future ahead. He was to have been a candidate for re-election in this year's election, and so satisfactory and so universally acceptable has been his work on the bench that it was generally agreed he would have no trouble returning to the office without opposition.
PARENTS DEAD.
Judge McCray was 47 years of age, having been born May 2, 1881, on a farm near Clarksville, Warren county. His parents, Samuel A. and Lydia McCray, are both dead. He attended the country school in the district where he was born and later graduated from the Clarksville high school. At a later period he taught school near his parents' home for two years and in 1905 graduated from the law school of the University of Cincinnati.
In 1906, Judge McCray came to Dayton and started practice in the Beckel building, Third and Jefferson streets, where he remained for four or five years, removing to the Reibold building where he formed a partnership with John Dineen.
Six years ago when a new common pleas judgeship was created, the partnership was dissolved with the appointment of Judge McCray to the post by Governor Harry L. Davis. He served the brief appointive period and was elected to the succeeding term by an overwhelming majority. He was appointed judge August 16, 1921, and elected in November of 1923.
He was married on December 31, 1911, to Miss Mary Latta, of Ludlow, Ky., who survives, together with two sons, Samuel A., 14, and Taylor Latta, 11. To these boys he was not only a real father but a pal and chum as well, indulging with them when occasion gave opportunity in their sports and endeavors. He also leaves a brother, Atwell McCray, of near Clarksville, Ohio, and a sister, Mrs. Edward Ertel, of Blanchester, Ohio.
Judge McCray was born in a Republican family and was a staunch supporter of the party all his life as well as a tireless and enthusiastic worker when occasion demanded. He filled many speaking engagements from time to time. He was a great admirer of Judge Charles E. Hughes and Ambassador Myron T. Herrick and nothing stirred his blood so much as the daring exploits of youth, such as the flight of Col. Lindbergh and similar ventures.
32nd DEGREE MASON
He was a 32nd degree Mason, being a member of Conservancy lodge No. 661, of which he was master in 1921, and also held membership in Reed Commandery No. 6, Knights Templar, Reese council No. 9; Antioch Temple of the Shrine, Knights of Pythias and Junior Order of Mechanics. He was president of the Noontide club, a Masonic organization, and a member of the official board of Grace M. E. church.
In addition to these, he was a member of Ormus Grotto, a Masonic social order; the Loyal Order of Moose; the Independent Order of Red Men, the Eagles, was chairman of the athletic council and instructor at the Y. M. C. A., and a director of the Dayton Council of Churches. He was a member of the Montgomery Bar association, of the Lawyers' club, and the American Trapshooters' association.
He was in line for the position of potentate in the Shrine, being assistant rabban, which would have brought him into the chief office of the order in two years. Last Friday he was one of the most enthusiastic and hardest workers in the ceremonial of the Shrine at the fairgrounds and made no complaint, his fellow workers said Tuesday, of feeling at all ill in any way at the time. In the Scottish Rite work he was also active, being the grand pontiff, or presiding officer in the 19th degree ceremonial.
For a number of years he has been a member of the law faculty of the Y. M. C. A. night school, taking a deep interest in this as well as other association activities, because of the contact it gave him with young men.
FOOTBALL CAPTAIN.
In sports he held an exceptionally keen interest, for here he sought relaxation himself from the cares and responsibilities of the bench. While in the University of Cincinnati law school he played on the university football team, on which he was captain in his senior year. He officiated during the more than 20 years he resided in Dayton at a great many football games in the Miami valley and elsewhere. He was a great football fan and few Daytonians attended more Ohio State games than did he.
Few of his closest friends even knew of his illness until late during the day Monday, when the word became noised about that he had been removed to the hospital. Even the seriousness of his case was not generally known or anticipated, and the news of his death, spreading rapidly when it occurred, caught his friends unaware with its shock.
Owing to the sudden death of Judge McCray, the meeting of the Women's council of the Montgomery County Republican association, scheduled for Tuesday, has been indefinitely postponed.
Published in The Dayton Herald (Dayton, OH), on Tuesday, May 22, 1928, pgs. 1 and 7.
~~~
A YOUNG MAN'S FRIEND
To the Editor of the News:
I am a young man who has been associated with Judge Alfred McCray for a period of three or four years, and I wish to express my thoughts in behalf of the young men and boys of Dayton and this vicinity.
I would say:
In behalf of the boys and young men of Dayton, we want to express our profound sympathy, and it is a great loss to know of his death. He was a man that all boys and young men admired, because he carried out the four-fold plan of living in his habits, work, religion and his career. He played the game and he played it fair. Alfred McCray was a hero to every boy of Dayton because he was a big boy himself and he loved them. The Great Referee has called his decision, but his spirit shall lie within the hearts of every boy in this community.
CLOYD B. DUNLAP.
Dayton, May 22.
Published in The Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH), on Thursday, May 24, 1928, pg. 6.
Alfred McCray was admitted to the bar in 1905 and quickly became known as an energetic, outspoken, scrupulously honest and idealistic man. He threw himself into his cases and rarely charged adequate fees for the efforts he put into them.
Source:
Sluff of History’s Boot Soles
An Anecdotal History of Dayton’s Bench and Bar
By David C. Greer
~~~
Judge Alfred McCray and son, Latta, Dayton, and Atwell McCray, Clarksville, were dinner guests of their sister, Mrs. Ed Ertel, Sunday.
Published in The Wilmington News-Journal (Wilmington, OH), on Saturday, December 24, 1927, pg. 11.
~~~~
JUDGE M'CRAY,
COMMON PLEAS
JURIST IS DEAD
Death Follows Minor Oper-
tion as Relief for Sinus
Infection.
STERLING QUALITIES AND
PERSONALITY WIN FRIENDS
Funeral Services Will Be Held
at 2 o'clock Thursday
Afternoon.
Such a shock as rarely comes because of the passing of a man in public life was that experienced in Dayton and the Miami Valley Tuesday morning when it was learned that Judge Alfred McCray of the Montgomery county common pleas court died at 8:15 o'clock Monday night in Miami Valley Hospital.
With announcement of the suspension of all proceedings in common pleas court Tuesday morning, until next Monday, R. N. Brumbaugh, president of the Dayton Bar association, has called a meeting of that association for 2 o'clock in courtroom No. 1, to take appropriate action upon the death of Judge Alfred McCray.
Judge Harry L. Ferneding, presiding judge of the court of appeals announced that court will suspend all proceedings until Friday, following adjournment Tuesday noon.
He had been ill but two days, having undergone a minor operation Saturday morning for the draining of a sinus, the treatment disclosing the fact that he was afflicted with an erysipelas infection which streptococcus, resulted. The infection having set in following the operation, which was conducted at his home 1235 East Harvard boulevard, he was removed to the hospital Monday morning, where doctors and nurses labored in vain to save his life. He was conscious until within 10 minutes of his death.
Funeral services will be held at 2 o'clock Thursday afternoon at Grace M. E. church. Rev. Charles W. Brashares, pastor of the church, who is now in Kansas City, has been notified of the death and will return to Dayton to officiate at the services. Burial will be made in Woodland. Offices in the courthouse will close during the funeral hours. The weekly Friday noon meeting of the Noontide club, of which he was president, has been cancelled for this week.
STERLING QUALITIES
During the six years Judge McCray had been on the common pleas bench he had, through his sterling qualities and unfaltering attention to duty won the undivided respect of those who came in contact with him judicially and at the same time had, because of his dominant personality, made friends throughout this section of the country, many of whom, though they perhaps knew him only in passing acquaintanceship, experienced a peculiar fellow-feeling which portended a sympathetic friendship should it ever be required.
Judge McCray was the advisor of many in lines other than those encountered merely in his court work. He had grown up a red-corpuscled boy and young man, and others found in him for that reason a heartfelt response when they approached him for a bit of advice. Always ready to listen the other fellow's supposed troubles, showing and expressing an interest in the problems and activities of those who sought his attention, he naturally built up an exceptionally wide circle of friends.
He was particularly a great friend of the newspaper men. At one time, while he attended the University of Cincinnati, he covered the courts in the city hall at Cincinnati for one of the dailies there. He knew what a newspaper man is up against in his daily rounds, and was always ready to help one along. His office was always open to the reporters, and he was never too busy to hunt through his files in quest of some specific information they might desire.
Newspaper men appreciated the friendship he extended them. They knew it was sincere, and he has never been known to express an unkind thought regarding any one of them with whom he came in contact. He enjoyed nothing more than to chat with them and recall some of his own experiences while a reporter in Cincinnati.
His death cuts short a career which had much in store and a promising future ahead. He was to have been a candidate for re-election in this year's election, and so satisfactory and so universally acceptable has been his work on the bench that it was generally agreed he would have no trouble returning to the office without opposition.
PARENTS DEAD.
Judge McCray was 47 years of age, having been born May 2, 1881, on a farm near Clarksville, Warren county. His parents, Samuel A. and Lydia McCray, are both dead. He attended the country school in the district where he was born and later graduated from the Clarksville high school. At a later period he taught school near his parents' home for two years and in 1905 graduated from the law school of the University of Cincinnati.
In 1906, Judge McCray came to Dayton and started practice in the Beckel building, Third and Jefferson streets, where he remained for four or five years, removing to the Reibold building where he formed a partnership with John Dineen.
Six years ago when a new common pleas judgeship was created, the partnership was dissolved with the appointment of Judge McCray to the post by Governor Harry L. Davis. He served the brief appointive period and was elected to the succeeding term by an overwhelming majority. He was appointed judge August 16, 1921, and elected in November of 1923.
He was married on December 31, 1911, to Miss Mary Latta, of Ludlow, Ky., who survives, together with two sons, Samuel A., 14, and Taylor Latta, 11. To these boys he was not only a real father but a pal and chum as well, indulging with them when occasion gave opportunity in their sports and endeavors. He also leaves a brother, Atwell McCray, of near Clarksville, Ohio, and a sister, Mrs. Edward Ertel, of Blanchester, Ohio.
Judge McCray was born in a Republican family and was a staunch supporter of the party all his life as well as a tireless and enthusiastic worker when occasion demanded. He filled many speaking engagements from time to time. He was a great admirer of Judge Charles E. Hughes and Ambassador Myron T. Herrick and nothing stirred his blood so much as the daring exploits of youth, such as the flight of Col. Lindbergh and similar ventures.
32nd DEGREE MASON
He was a 32nd degree Mason, being a member of Conservancy lodge No. 661, of which he was master in 1921, and also held membership in Reed Commandery No. 6, Knights Templar, Reese council No. 9; Antioch Temple of the Shrine, Knights of Pythias and Junior Order of Mechanics. He was president of the Noontide club, a Masonic organization, and a member of the official board of Grace M. E. church.
In addition to these, he was a member of Ormus Grotto, a Masonic social order; the Loyal Order of Moose; the Independent Order of Red Men, the Eagles, was chairman of the athletic council and instructor at the Y. M. C. A., and a director of the Dayton Council of Churches. He was a member of the Montgomery Bar association, of the Lawyers' club, and the American Trapshooters' association.
He was in line for the position of potentate in the Shrine, being assistant rabban, which would have brought him into the chief office of the order in two years. Last Friday he was one of the most enthusiastic and hardest workers in the ceremonial of the Shrine at the fairgrounds and made no complaint, his fellow workers said Tuesday, of feeling at all ill in any way at the time. In the Scottish Rite work he was also active, being the grand pontiff, or presiding officer in the 19th degree ceremonial.
For a number of years he has been a member of the law faculty of the Y. M. C. A. night school, taking a deep interest in this as well as other association activities, because of the contact it gave him with young men.
FOOTBALL CAPTAIN.
In sports he held an exceptionally keen interest, for here he sought relaxation himself from the cares and responsibilities of the bench. While in the University of Cincinnati law school he played on the university football team, on which he was captain in his senior year. He officiated during the more than 20 years he resided in Dayton at a great many football games in the Miami valley and elsewhere. He was a great football fan and few Daytonians attended more Ohio State games than did he.
Few of his closest friends even knew of his illness until late during the day Monday, when the word became noised about that he had been removed to the hospital. Even the seriousness of his case was not generally known or anticipated, and the news of his death, spreading rapidly when it occurred, caught his friends unaware with its shock.
Owing to the sudden death of Judge McCray, the meeting of the Women's council of the Montgomery County Republican association, scheduled for Tuesday, has been indefinitely postponed.
Published in The Dayton Herald (Dayton, OH), on Tuesday, May 22, 1928, pgs. 1 and 7.
~~~
A YOUNG MAN'S FRIEND
To the Editor of the News:
I am a young man who has been associated with Judge Alfred McCray for a period of three or four years, and I wish to express my thoughts in behalf of the young men and boys of Dayton and this vicinity.
I would say:
In behalf of the boys and young men of Dayton, we want to express our profound sympathy, and it is a great loss to know of his death. He was a man that all boys and young men admired, because he carried out the four-fold plan of living in his habits, work, religion and his career. He played the game and he played it fair. Alfred McCray was a hero to every boy of Dayton because he was a big boy himself and he loved them. The Great Referee has called his decision, but his spirit shall lie within the hearts of every boy in this community.
CLOYD B. DUNLAP.
Dayton, May 22.
Published in The Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH), on Thursday, May 24, 1928, pg. 6.
Source:
Sluff of History’s Boot Soles
An Anecdotal History of Dayton’s Bench and Bar
By David C. Greer
~~~
Judge Alfred McCray and son, Latta, Dayton, and Atwell McCray, Clarksville, were dinner guests of their sister, Mrs. Ed Ertel, Sunday.
Published in The Wilmington News-Journal (Wilmington, OH), on Saturday, December 24, 1927, pg. 11.
~~~~
JUDGE M'CRAY,
COMMON PLEAS
JURIST IS DEAD
Death Follows Minor Oper-
tion as Relief for Sinus
Infection.
STERLING QUALITIES AND
PERSONALITY WIN FRIENDS
Funeral Services Will Be Held
at 2 o'clock Thursday
Afternoon.
Such a shock as rarely comes because of the passing of a man in public life was that experienced in Dayton and the Miami Valley Tuesday morning when it was learned that Judge Alfred McCray of the Montgomery county common pleas court died at 8:15 o'clock Monday night in Miami Valley Hospital.
With announcement of the suspension of all proceedings in common pleas court Tuesday morning, until next Monday, R. N. Brumbaugh, president of the Dayton Bar association, has called a meeting of that association for 2 o'clock in courtroom No. 1, to take appropriate action upon the death of Judge Alfred McCray.
Judge Harry L. Ferneding, presiding judge of the court of appeals announced that court will suspend all proceedings until Friday, following adjournment Tuesday noon.
He had been ill but two days, having undergone a minor operation Saturday morning for the draining of a sinus, the treatment disclosing the fact that he was afflicted with an erysipelas infection which streptococcus, resulted. The infection having set in following the operation, which was conducted at his home 1235 East Harvard boulevard, he was removed to the hospital Monday morning, where doctors and nurses labored in vain to save his life. He was conscious until within 10 minutes of his death.
Funeral services will be held at 2 o'clock Thursday afternoon at Grace M. E. church. Rev. Charles W. Brashares, pastor of the church, who is now in Kansas City, has been notified of the death and will return to Dayton to officiate at the services. Burial will be made in Woodland. Offices in the courthouse will close during the funeral hours. The weekly Friday noon meeting of the Noontide club, of which he was president, has been cancelled for this week.
STERLING QUALITIES
During the six years Judge McCray had been on the common pleas bench he had, through his sterling qualities and unfaltering attention to duty won the undivided respect of those who came in contact with him judicially and at the same time had, because of his dominant personality, made friends throughout this section of the country, many of whom, though they perhaps knew him only in passing acquaintanceship, experienced a peculiar fellow-feeling which portended a sympathetic friendship should it ever be required.
Judge McCray was the advisor of many in lines other than those encountered merely in his court work. He had grown up a red-corpuscled boy and young man, and others found in him for that reason a heartfelt response when they approached him for a bit of advice. Always ready to listen the other fellow's supposed troubles, showing and expressing an interest in the problems and activities of those who sought his attention, he naturally built up an exceptionally wide circle of friends.
He was particularly a great friend of the newspaper men. At one time, while he attended the University of Cincinnati, he covered the courts in the city hall at Cincinnati for one of the dailies there. He knew what a newspaper man is up against in his daily rounds, and was always ready to help one along. His office was always open to the reporters, and he was never too busy to hunt through his files in quest of some specific information they might desire.
Newspaper men appreciated the friendship he extended them. They knew it was sincere, and he has never been known to express an unkind thought regarding any one of them with whom he came in contact. He enjoyed nothing more than to chat with them and recall some of his own experiences while a reporter in Cincinnati.
His death cuts short a career which had much in store and a promising future ahead. He was to have been a candidate for re-election in this year's election, and so satisfactory and so universally acceptable has been his work on the bench that it was generally agreed he would have no trouble returning to the office without opposition.
PARENTS DEAD.
Judge McCray was 47 years of age, having been born May 2, 1881, on a farm near Clarksville, Warren county. His parents, Samuel A. and Lydia McCray, are both dead. He attended the country school in the district where he was born and later graduated from the Clarksville high school. At a later period he taught school near his parents' home for two years and in 1905 graduated from the law school of the University of Cincinnati.
In 1906, Judge McCray came to Dayton and started practice in the Beckel building, Third and Jefferson streets, where he remained for four or five years, removing to the Reibold building where he formed a partnership with John Dineen.
Six years ago when a new common pleas judgeship was created, the partnership was dissolved with the appointment of Judge McCray to the post by Governor Harry L. Davis. He served the brief appointive period and was elected to the succeeding term by an overwhelming majority. He was appointed judge August 16, 1921, and elected in November of 1923.
He was married on December 31, 1911, to Miss Mary Latta, of Ludlow, Ky., who survives, together with two sons, Samuel A., 14, and Taylor Latta, 11. To these boys he was not only a real father but a pal and chum as well, indulging with them when occasion gave opportunity in their sports and endeavors. He also leaves a brother, Atwell McCray, of near Clarksville, Ohio, and a sister, Mrs. Edward Ertel, of Blanchester, Ohio.
Judge McCray was born in a Republican family and was a staunch supporter of the party all his life as well as a tireless and enthusiastic worker when occasion demanded. He filled many speaking engagements from time to time. He was a great admirer of Judge Charles E. Hughes and Ambassador Myron T. Herrick and nothing stirred his blood so much as the daring exploits of youth, such as the flight of Col. Lindbergh and similar ventures.
32nd DEGREE MASON
He was a 32nd degree Mason, being a member of Conservancy lodge No. 661, of which he was master in 1921, and also held membership in Reed Commandery No. 6, Knights Templar, Reese council No. 9; Antioch Temple of the Shrine, Knights of Pythias and Junior Order of Mechanics. He was president of the Noontide club, a Masonic organization, and a member of the official board of Grace M. E. church.
In addition to these, he was a member of Ormus Grotto, a Masonic social order; the Loyal Order of Moose; the Independent Order of Red Men, the Eagles, was chairman of the athletic council and instructor at the Y. M. C. A., and a director of the Dayton Council of Churches. He was a member of the Montgomery Bar association, of the Lawyers' club, and the American Trapshooters' association.
He was in line for the position of potentate in the Shrine, being assistant rabban, which would have brought him into the chief office of the order in two years. Last Friday he was one of the most enthusiastic and hardest workers in the ceremonial of the Shrine at the fairgrounds and made no complaint, his fellow workers said Tuesday, of feeling at all ill in any way at the time. In the Scottish Rite work he was also active, being the grand pontiff, or presiding officer in the 19th degree ceremonial.
For a number of years he has been a member of the law faculty of the Y. M. C. A. night school, taking a deep interest in this as well as other association activities, because of the contact it gave him with young men.
FOOTBALL CAPTAIN.
In sports he held an exceptionally keen interest, for here he sought relaxation himself from the cares and responsibilities of the bench. While in the University of Cincinnati law school he played on the university football team, on which he was captain in his senior year. He officiated during the more than 20 years he resided in Dayton at a great many football games in the Miami valley and elsewhere. He was a great football fan and few Daytonians attended more Ohio State games than did he.
Few of his closest friends even knew of his illness until late during the day Monday, when the word became noised about that he had been removed to the hospital. Even the seriousness of his case was not generally known or anticipated, and the news of his death, spreading rapidly when it occurred, caught his friends unaware with its shock.
Owing to the sudden death of Judge McCray, the meeting of the Women's council of the Montgomery County Republican association, scheduled for Tuesday, has been indefinitely postponed.
Published in The Dayton Herald (Dayton, OH), on Tuesday, May 22, 1928, pgs. 1 and 7.
~~~
A YOUNG MAN'S FRIEND
To the Editor of the News:
I am a young man who has been associated with Judge Alfred McCray for a period of three or four years, and I wish to express my thoughts in behalf of the young men and boys of Dayton and this vicinity.
I would say:
In behalf of the boys and young men of Dayton, we want to express our profound sympathy, and it is a great loss to know of his death. He was a man that all boys and young men admired, because he carried out the four-fold plan of living in his habits, work, religion and his career. He played the game and he played it fair. Alfred McCray was a hero to every boy of Dayton because he was a big boy himself and he loved them. The Great Referee has called his decision, but his spirit shall lie within the hearts of every boy in this community.
CLOYD B. DUNLAP.
Dayton, May 22.
Published in The Dayton Daily News (Dayton, OH), on Thursday, May 24, 1928, pg. 6.
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ALFRED McCRAY
1881 - 1928
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