William B. McCreery

William Barber McCreery (August 27, 1836 – December 9, 1896) was an American politician and diplomat who lived much of his life in Michigan.

Early life McCreery was born on August 27, 1836, in Mt. Morris, Livingston County, New York.

Civil War Initially assigned to Company F, Second Michigan Infantry, with the Union Army in the Civil War. He fought with valor and was serious wounded at Williamsburg, Virginia, and at Chickamauga. He was captured by the Confederates after being wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga. He escaped in 1864 from Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia reportedly by the way of a tunnel dug by himself and other prisoners.

After the war Returning to Flint, McCreery enter the general merchandising business with F. W. Judd then in the lumber industry with a sawmill on the banks of the Flint River just south of the Saginaw Road bridge. In the Grant administration, he became the district collector of internal revenue. He was involved in the Flint City Water Works Company as its president and as an original stockholders and in the Grand Trunk Railway Flint-Lansing extension construction.

Political life He was elected as the ninth mayor of the City of Flint in 1865 serving two 1-year terms. Elected Michigan State Treasurer in 1875 serving until 1878. Appointed in 1890 as U.S. Consul in Valparaíso.

Post-political Life He served as a director of First National Bank of Flint. McCreery died on December 9, 1896, in Flint, Michigan, and laid to rest at Glenwood Cemetery, Flint, Michigan.