Ship Model Craftsman, b. Muskegon, Michigan; At 21, McCracken became the first mate on an ocean-bound windjammer and traveled the seas for forty years. Upon his return, he retired and began carving wooden model ships out of his home in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. He carved commissioned ships as well as steamboats and historical models, including the ship Constitution, which was moored in the Boston Navy Yard. McCracken carved his ships with "$1.49 equipment --  a vegetable knife, a jack knife, a couple of pairs of pliers and a little home-made drill." He made ship models for the Leathem D. Smith Dock Co., Sturgeon Bay; Manitowoc Ship Building Corp.; E.B. Jones, Hancock, Michigan; A.B. Dick Co. of Chicago; and various yacht clubs throughout the country.  Grant Fitch, a Milwaukee banker, was one of the most avid collectors of McCracken¿s model ships, and his collection is now housed at the Marine National Bank of Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Public Museum, and the Milwaukee Public Library Marine Room.
 

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[Source: Whyte, Bertha K. Craftsmen of Wisconsin. Racine, Wisconsin: Western Company, Inc., 1971.]