Paper 1. ‘African American Elders of Boston: Q. Walker Lewis, Enoch L. Lewis, and President Joseph T. Ball’ & Paper 2. ‘William McCarey (Alias Wm. Chubbee); Or The Magic Mulatto in Mormon Country’ While Mormon historians have focused mostly on Elijah Abel, there is evidence that as many as seven men of African descent held Mormon priesthood before 1847. In this session, Connell O’Donovan will present biographies of three African American men from the Boston Branch who held Mormon priesthood and who influenced Brigham Young’s instigation of the ban between 1847 and 1852. Patrick Polk’s presentation focuses on the life of William McCarey. Described variously as African American, Native American, Spanish, and mixed-race, McCarey is an enigmatic figure whose activities as a Mormon convert, or at least those ascribed to him, have had a powerful and lasting impact on LDS racial perceptions and church policies regarding African Americans.

Connell O’Donovan, Patrick A. Polk, Newell G. Bringhurst