William McCary, Pratt stated that he “was a black man that had the blood of Ham in him which lineage cursed as regards with priesthood”. Statements regarding Lucy Stanton specifically are unknown, but the cultural background under which Lucy and William are being written assumes a patriarchal leadership that William and lucy didn't follow to the same degree as other early Latter Day Saints. While historians agree that multiple factors, both political and doctrinal, contributed to the LDS Churchs’ policy towards ethnic minorities, specifically those of African descent, William McCarry is the earliest such man to be spoken out against by church leaders. The nature of the sexual practices William and Lucy engaged in with other church members at Winter Quarters provoked stern reaction from rank and file members of the organization, as the details of these practices were particularly forbidden by church leadership and believed to be the result of corrupted priesthood authority. In addition to this, because Lucy Stanton came from a particularly important and pious family in the early LDS Church, and her perceived apostate activity deeply grieved and concerned other members who feared the same fate for other own family members. Scholars argue that because the second restriction on blacks and priesthood was temple marriages, church leaders, particularly Brigham Young, had William and Lucy's marriage in mind when making the decision as an attempt to prevent more pious women from doing the same as Lucy Stanton and their followers. At the same time, White skin became synonymous with righteousness, arguably driven by Lucy and William's example. After Brigham Young officially instituted the temple and priesthood ban in 1847 the LDS Church generally forbade people of African descent from holding the office of the priesthood or participating in temple rituals until 1978 when the Church would formally reverse this policy. Death Lucy Celesta Stanton died in Springville, Utah in 1878 and was buried in Springville in the Historic Springville Cemetery. References 1816 births 1878 deaths American Latter Day Saints