[1][2] He lived in Anne Arundel County until his father's death and then the family moved to North Carolina.
He received his early education in Warrenton, Chapel Hill and McCabe's University School in Petersburg, Virginia.
[1] He served as vice president and general counsel of the Petersburg Banking and Trust Company.
[2] McRae served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing Petersburg, from December 6, 1893, to March 4, 1898.
[4] McRae drowned on July 26, 1901, while attempting to rescue a boy in the water at Nags Head, North Carolina.