Lacy Leonard McRae was born in North Carolina on October 15, 1894. A resident of Wadeville, Montgomery County, in 1918 he was arrested along with his brother Will for violating the prohibition law. They were sentenced to time on the Stanly County roadwork chain gang, but he was later pardoned by Governor Thomas W. Bickett so that he could serve as a private during World War I. When he returned home, Lacy and his brother Will both testified against Nevin C. Cranford, their former superintendent on the chain gang who was on trial for murdering three African American prisoners. McRae died in Montgomery County on September 11, 1972.