[1][2] The couple were Irish Catholics immigrants who became Protestants and missioners after being saved from a lifestyle of drinking and crime by missionaries.

Fahy moved to New York City and became a waitress and entertainer in the Fourth Ward, a notorious area of Manhattan.

[9] After several months of attending worship and Bible study at the mission, she moved to the New Jersey countryside to live with a Christian family who helped her rediscover religion and set aside her wayward lifestyle.

[18][19][20] Apparently her relocation to New Jersey was, in part, an effort of the missionaries to separate Fahey from McAuley, after learning that the cohabitating couple was not married.

[10] After her conversion to a religious lifestyle, Fahey visited her father and lived with her older sister in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

[19][3] She was a Bible reader and also provided testimony about her religious conversion in the Fourth Ward's saloons, tenement houses, and "dens of infamy".

[6][18][24][12][17] The mission house was surrounded by rum shops, dance halls, and gambling dens in an area that was frequented by drunkards, thieves, and prostitutes.

[25][26] According to a promotional booklet for the mission, its audience included homeless men and women, landsmen, sailors, strangers, the friendless, and anyone interested in Christian service.

[25] The meetings lasted an hour and included Bible readings, singing of hymns, and testimonials by individuals who were saved from sin by the "power of Jesus".

[29] On May 12, 1892, Maria McAuley married noted New York architect Bradford Lee Gilbert in Cranford, New Jersey.

[13] On October 13, 1887, Cora Gilbert served her husband with divorce papers during the intermission of a prayer meeting at Cremorne Mission, based on infidelity.

[13][33][34] At the same time, she served Maria with a $50,000 ($1,695,556 in today's money) lawsuit for alienation of affections, with allegations that "were numerous and specific.

S Hatch, real estate agent Sidney Whittemore, Franklin W. Coe, and other ladies and gentlemen associated with McAuley Mission.

[13] Hatch also spoke, saying "The very fact that I am on this platform tonight is sufficient for the purpose without saying a word, but I may add that my faith in Mrs. McAuley and Mr. Gilbert has not been shaken one jot by what has appeared in print, and I continue to have unwavering confidence in both.