Mary Frances “Fannie” McCray (1837–1898). In her biography written by her husband and son she is portrayed as a multifaceted Christian woman. Her life serves as an example of the power and the influence of religion during the time of enslavement and after. At the death of her owner,

Polly Adams Pauline "Polly" Adams (born 27 August 1939) is an English actress best known for her work on the stage both in England and in the United States, and for her portrayal of Mrs. Brown on the television series ''Just William''. She made her Broadwa ...

the will stipulated that she was to be granted freedom and the funds to purchase land in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. As was common at the time, the will was contested, but Polly Adams' relatives were not able to overturn it. In Ohio she eventually marries, Mack McCray, a Union army veteran and a devout Christian. Her many accomplishments include: founder of a

Free Methodist The Free Methodist Church (FMC) is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement, based in the United States. It is evangelical in nature and is Wesleyan–Arminian in theology. The Free Methodist Church has members in over 100 ...

church in

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of No ...

; founder First Holiness church of

Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, southwest of Toledo, Ohio, T ...

; the first black female preacher of the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

in the Dakota Territory; leader of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...

in Lima, Ohio.

Notes

Summary of this biography available at: Butler, Erin Bartels. Summary. Life of Mary F. McCray: Born and Raised a Slave in the State of Kentucky http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/mccray/summary.html

References

*S. J. McCray, ''Life of Mary F. McCray: Born and Raised a Slave in the State of Kentucky.'' Lima, Ohio: .n. 1898. http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/mccray/menu.html *Terhune, Carol Parker. “McCray, Mary F.” African American National Biography. Edited by Ed. Henry Louis Gates Jr., Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham. Oxford African American Studies Center.

Notes

References

Further reading