Charles McCrary was born around 1855 in South Carolina. McCrary worked as a laborer and resided in Salisbury (Rowan County), North Carolina. McCrary was charged with larceny on April 26, 1875, and sentenced to two years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. McCrary was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 1212. In the descriptive register, McCrary's race is noted as "colored." McCrary was twenty years old when he was arrested. McCrary was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, McCrary was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He died while working on the Western North Carolina Railroad on May 23, 1876.