Publisher's Synopsis
Warner "William" McCary (c. 1811-after 1854) was an African American convert to Mormonism. He was born Warner McCary in Natchez, Mississippi to an African American slave named Francis, or "Franky", and her master, a white carpenter from Pennsylvania named James McCary. Warner married a Native American woman, Laah Ceil, whose mother was Delaware Indian and father was Mohawk. Presenting himself as a Native American, McCary was helped in 1843 by local whites to get a permit as a free person of color in Mississippi. When he left in 1844, he toured various frontier and eastern cities as a musician and lecturer. During this time he briefly joined with Mormonism where he sparked racial controversy. McCary arrived in Nauvoo, Illinois in late 1845. He claimed he was a half-African American and half-Native American named Okah Tubbee and the "lost" son of Choctaw chief Mushulatubbee. He was expelled from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church) in 1847 for claiming to be a prophet.
