Born in New Hampshire in 1827, McCauley later came to Ripon with his parents. A contractor and builder by trade, he built the First Congregational Church in 1853. McCauley attended both Bovay meetings, as recalled through an acquaintance in the Los Angeles Times dated April 20, 1914. McCauley left Ripon for Kansas in 1859, where he raised a company of Volunteers for the Civil War, holding the rank of Captain. After the Civil War he subsequently lived in Denver, CO, where he died on May 27, 1914.