Edward McCrady
Edward McCrady (March 16, 1802 – November 16, 1892) was a lawyer and politician from Charleston, South Carolina. His grandfather was an immigrant from County Antrim, Ireland.
He graduated from Yale College in 1820 and studied law with his uncle, Justice William Johnson of the U.S. Supreme Court, finishing his training with Judge Mitchell King of Charleston. He was admitted to the bar in 1824 and practiced law for a short time.
McCrady opposed the nullification crisis in 1832–33. He later served as United States District Attorney until 1850, resigning to align with the Southern Rights Association, which supported Southern conservatives but not immediate secession. He was elected to the South Carolina Legislature for several years. In the 1860 secession convention he voted for secession, believing that delaying it would bring chaos at home. His last public service was in the Legislature in 1864–65. He practiced law actively well past the age of eighty.
In the Episcopal Church, he played a leading role. He represented St. Philip’s for fifty years in the Diocesan Convention, served forty years on the diocese’s standing committee, and for over thirty years was a deputy to the General Convention.
He married Louisa Rebecca Lane in 1829. They had four daughters and four sons; two sons died before him (the eldest in 1881 and the third son in 1882).
Edward McCrady died in Charleston on November 16, 1892, at about ninety years old. He had been the last survivor of Yale’s Class of 1820 since 1889 and its oldest living graduate since 1891.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:24 (CET).