Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of May (Mrs. W.A.) Crary, 1866-1921
By Beth Twomey, librarian, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota
May M. McDonald was born May 4, 1866 in Bates, Missouri to Samuel and America McDonald. She married William Appleton Crary around 1886. They had three children together--Earl, Ethel, and James Burton. The town of Crary, in Ramsey, North Dakota is named for them as they were the first pioneers that settled there and who owned the land the town now stands on.
Mrs. Crary was a member of the Grand Forks Votes for Women Club. She served as a member of the Invitation Committee and took part in a luncheon honoring Miss Jane Addams, the famous suffrage speaker. Addams was in Grand Forks in October 1912 as part of her first campaign tour and gave a talk about suffrage at a local auditorium.
Mrs. Crary was a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.) and she also belonged to the Methodist Ladies Aid Society. She was Vice -president for district 6 in 1917. She also belonged to the Women's Home Missionary Society where she served as the secretary of nite boxes, and she was a member of the Acacia Chapter, No. 12, Order of the Eastern Star of the Masonic Temple in Grand Forks. Mrs. Crary also served as the president of the Mother's Auxiliary for the Y.M.C.A.
Mrs. Crary died on August 15, 1921 aged 55 in Stutsman County, North Dakota. She is buried in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SOURCES
"Dinner an Enjoyable Affair". The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.), 30 Oct. 1912. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042373/1912-10-30/ed-1/seq-6/
May McDonald. 1880 United States Federal Census
May McDonald Crary. Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24506805/may-crary
"Society News and Notes". The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.), 10 Sept. 1908. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042373/1908-09-10/ed-1/seq-7/
"Suffrage Hostesses Tonight". The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.), 01 Feb. 1913. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042373/1913-02-01/ed-1/seq-5/
"The Local Field," Devils Lake Inter-Ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]), 17 Feb. 1905. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88076514/1905-02-17/ed-1/seq-3/
"What are They Doing in Society". Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.), 24 Oct. 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89074405/1914-10-24/ed-1/seq-3/
"What are They Doing in Society". Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.), 17 Sept. 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89074405/1914-09-17/ed-1/seq-3/
"W.H.M.S. Meeting" The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.), 07 May 1907. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042373/1907-05-07/ed-1/seq-8/