Andrew S McCreath emigrated to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the United States where he founded McCreath Laboratories in 1877. The company has had a long history intertwined with many famous names of the American industrial revolution including Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison and Charles Schwab.
To this day, A.S. McCreath & Son Inc. is a well-respected company involved in the testing of geological and mining materials.According to the company website, ‘a McCreath Certificate has been known to add value to a cargo of material’.
Thomas Edison is reputed to have said of the company – ‘The McCreaths are the umpires of the steel industry.’
Andrew S McCreath features in the ‘Commemorative Biographical Encyclopaedia of Dauphin County
“McCREATH, ANDREW S., son of William McCreath (died 1878, aged seventy-five) and Margaret Chrichton (died 1870, aged sixty-three), was born March 8, 1849, in Ayr, Scotland.
He was educated at Ayr Academy and studied Classics at Glasgow University. He then took special chemical courses at Andersonian Institute, Glasgow, under Professors Penny and Dr. Clark, and subsequently at Gottingen, under Professors Wochler and Filtig.
He came to America in 1870, and assumed charge of the chemical laboratory at the Pennsylvania steel works, where he remained till August, 1874, when he was appointed by the State geologist, chemist to the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, which position he still holds. He has prepared three reports for the State geologist, and special reports on the mineral resources along the lines of the Shenandoah Valley, Norfolk and Western, and New River railroads. He is actively engaged in his profession. He was married on February 4, 1875, to Eliza, daughter of Charles L. and Mary W. Hummel Berghaus.”
Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, Containing Sketches of Representative Citizens, and Many of the Early Scotch-Irish and German Settlers. Chambersburg, Pa., M. Runk & Company, 1896, page 259.
Andrew S McCreath and Eliza (ida, as she was known) Berghaus.
They had six children:
Mary Berghaus McCreath born 1876, Harrisburg. Died 3 November 1892, Harrisburg. Unmarried.
Andrew S. McCreath born c. 1879. Died 6 December 1912, Saranac Lake, New York. Unmarried.
William McCreath born 1885. Served in the US Army. Died 30 January 1938, Harrisburg. Unmarried.
Spencer Gilbert McCreath born 7 August 1890, Harrisburg. Died c. February 1891, Harrisburg.