family ties In late 1855, McCarty took an extended leave to travel back East. He returned in April 1856 with a wife, the widow Lussanah, and her children who he had adopted. Initially they went to Fort Steilacoom, but then transferred back to Fort Vancouver in 1857. In addition to his chaplaincy duties at the fort, Reverend McCarty conducted Episcopal services in a converted schoolhouse within the city of Vancouver, Washington. This is the beginning of St. Luke's Episcopal Church. Reverend McCarty settled down in Vancouver, retaining his chaplaincy in the U.S. Army at Fort Vancouver, and helping to build St. Luke's. The chaplaincy however required that Reverend McCarty minister to the troops in the field also. In 1859 Reverend McCarty traveled through territory recently involved in the Indian wars into Eastern Washington, to Fort Walla Walla, conducting the first Episcopal services there. He also conducted services in the surrounding community, as well as ministered in the field to those wounded and killed as a part of the various Indian wars occurring during this time. On May 27, 1860, he arranged for St. Luke's to be the first Episcopal church in the Washington Territory to be consecrated, by then Bishop Thomas F. Scott. Joseph M. Fletcher, a prominent local attorney, was elected the church's Sr. Warden at that time. A number of local civic leaders, including Louis Sohns, Henry C. Hodges, and John McNeil Eddings joined and became part of the church leadership. The church building was a converted schoolhouse located at East Fifth and West Reserve, outside of Fort Vancouver in Vancouver, Washington. Reverend McCarty continued to build the parish at St. Luke's, serving as its first rector. Reverend McCarty's oldest daughter, Mary McCarty, was married to James Crawford, a prominent local businessman and a vestry member of St. Luke's. Crawford was the partner of Charles W. Slocum, in the firm of Crawford & Slocum Co., which had business dealings in many parts of the Pacific Northwest. Retirement On September 16, 1867, Reverend McCarty was retired by the U.S. Army as a chaplain. On April 8, 1868, he resigned as rector at St. Luke's, and he and his wife Lussanah moved east to Washington, D.C., to live with their son. In 1873, the McCartys returned to Vancouver to participate in the dedication of a new church building for St. Luke's, built in the previous year. The Reverend and Mrs.