Allen line: James McCoy 1777-1833

 This is another of those "how did I miss writing about him" blog posts.  Except, maybe it's a God thing, because a field trip this past week gave me more information than I could have ever found anywhere else.  (Note: There is very little covid 19 in Washington County, Indiana and everyone wore masks and was socially distancing while we were there.  The irony of going to research two people who died in an epidemic in 1833, during the epidemic of 2020, did not escape me.)  Some of James McCoy's story I already knew, some I'd forgotten, some of what I found was new to me and some answered some questions I had.  

Elder James McCoy was born in 1777 in what became Fayette County, Pennsylvania to William and Elizabeth Royse McCoy.  When he was born, the area was in dispute.  Pennsylvania claimed it as part of Westmoreland County, and Virginia claimed it as part of West Augusta County.  Obviously, in 1777 the British and some of the Amerindian tribes also claimed it.  The nearest town was Uniontown, but perhaps of more importance, the nearest fort was Fort Necessity.  It is more than possible that James took refuge with his mother and sibilings at the fort from time to time.  His father, William and possibly even his grandfather, James, took part in the Revolutionary War at least to some extent.  

James was one of at least eight children born to William and Elizabeth.  When James was ten, William and Elizabeth started off on the adventure of a lifetime.  They boarded a flatboat, and went down the Ohio River to start a new life.  This was during a time when many would be settlers came under Indian attack on the trip down, and some of those settlers were killed.  Elizabeth was pregnant and the family rested in what became Cincinnati, Ohio on the trip down, while she gave birth to son Rice Gaddis McCoy.  As soon as they could, the family settled in Shelby County, Kentucky, which is where James met (possibly) and married Nancy Lane.  March 27, 1800 was the date of their marriage, possibly performed by father William as he was, by this time, a Baptist pastor.  

James and Nancy apparently lived as newlyweds in or around Shelbyville although I haven't found them in either the 1800 or the 1810 census.  It has been said that James and Nancy came to Indiana from Kentucky in 1801, that he joined the Fourteen Mile Baptist Church, near Charlestown, Indiana that same year.  He served as clerk of that church for 16 years and was also one of the organizers of the Indiana  Baptist State Convention.  He was also the first schoolteacher in southern Indiana.   He was ordained a pastor in 1819 and was known throughout southern Indiana, serving four churches and not accepting pay from any of them.  He is referred to on his tombstone as "Elder James McCoy".

During their marriage, James and Nancy had at least nine children.  It is possible that the boy or young man who died at the same time they did, Milton McCoy, was theirs, but there seems to be no definite proof.  Sometime between 1812 and 1820, James and Nancy moved to Salem, Indiana.  William purchased land there in 1819 and 1820.  Possibly the first purchase was for a plot in Salem, where the family lived.  The second purchase was for 160 acres of land. which probably supported the family.  In the 1820 census there is a total of 9 people listed in the McCoy household,  Unlike his brother, Rice McCoy, William apparently did not have slaves.  

A cholera epidemic hit Salem in June of 1833, part of the national epidemic of that year.  Somewhere close to 100 people died from the disease in just a few short weeks.  William and Nancy would have been among those ministering to the ill and doing what they could to comfort them.  Almost inevitably, they both sickened.  Nancy died July 8 and William July 12.  His brother, John, and another Salem man were trying to take William to the country but he died on the edge of town.  They are buried at Crown Hill Cemetery. Each has a nice poetic inscription on their tombstone.  I wonder who picked them out and when the stones were placed?

I didn't get to go to the courthouse to look for the estate papers.  I know that the estate, which was probably mostly the land and home William owned, was divided equally among the children, with three grandchildren also listed as heirs at law.  I would love to see his inventory, to know how many books he had.  A school teacher and pastor should have at least a shelf full, don't you think?

The line of descent is

James McCoy-Nancy Anderson

Vincent McCoy-Eleanor Jackson

Nancy McCoy-George Allen

Edward Allen-Edith Knott

Richard Allen-Gladys Holbrook

Their descendants