[3][1] While McAuley was an infant, his father abandoned the family to escape law enforcement officers pursuing him for counterfeiting.

A bigger nuisance and loafer never stepped above ground.”[3] For his childhood petty crimes, McAuley spent time, ranging from days to months, at the local jailhouse.

[3] Despite the prison's prohibition on talking, McAuley was able work in the carpet weaving shop and learned to read.

[3] His fifth year in prison, McAuley heard a man by the name of Orville Gardner testify of his conversion to Christianity and was brought to tears.

[1] McAuley's faith was reinvigorated by Water Street missionaries, and he began to work honest jobs between 1870 and 1872, saving and raising money to start a mission.

[3][2][5] In October 1872, Hatch donated a property on Water Street, and McAuley used the money he had raised to repair the building.

[7] In June 1911, Bradford Gilbert donated a yacht named the Jerry McAuley to The Salvation Army to give them access to sailors on ships.