Allen line: Isaac McCoy, Missionary and more

I've wanted to write about Isaac McCoy for a long time.  I knew that most of his personal papers were at Kansas State Historical Society library, and I know that I am unlikely to ever get to go there to read them myself.  I found the next best thing, a book written by a remarkable woman, Carol Spurlock Layman, who spent many years getting to "know" Isaac McCoy, my third great grand uncle, and now on my hero list.  The book is "Isaac McCoy and the American Indians".  I recommend reading the book, but if you're not ready to do that yet, this post might give you some insight into his life and times. 

Isaac was the son of William and Elizabeth Royse McCoy, one of at least eight children.  We might think he grew up in poverty, but he had the huge advantage of having two religious parents who prayed for all their children.  He was rich in the spiritual heritage he had, and it showed throughout his life.  Isaac was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and "enjoyed" the trip to near Louisville that the family made together on the Ohio River, in 1789.  The family settled in Kentucky but eventually moved to Silver Creek in southern Indiana, where William founded a church and pastored it for several years. 

Isaac was called to the ministry and in 1808 he and his wife, Christiana Polke (related to President James Polk but I'm not sure how) went to a settlement at Maria Creek in Knox County, Indiana and started a church there.  Isaac learned pastoring skills there, but he felt the call to do more, and knew that meant ministering to the native Americans.  In 1817, the McCoys decided to accept this call on their lives, and they were never the same.

I could write for hours about what they did and how they suffered, but that is all in the book.  They lived for a while at Fort Wayne, and then went north where they settled among the Pottawatomi and Ottawa tribes, starting a mission station, school, and church that both natives and whites attended.  As time went on, Isaac became convinced that the natives would have to leave the lands they were on and travel west, across the Mississippi and beyond, to settle there away from the white men who were destroying them by providing whiskey and other alcohol.  Eventually some of the natives did go to the Indian territory he had located and surveyed for them, and Isaac and Christiana continued their missionary work there. 

Two things stand out to me about this man and his wife.  Isaac was typically gone for a good part of each year, either working with other natives or traveling for supplies or going on political trips. Fourteen times he went to Washington, D.C., often traveling by horseback and camping out if there were no nearby homes or taverns to offer shelter.   Sometimes he took a son, or a native American, but sometimes he went alone, and he was never able to take his wife.  She was too busy taking care of the family and the mission to go along.  So the couple was often separated in distance. 

The other thing that strikes me is the sadness they often faced.  They had fourteen children together, but by the time Christiana died about 1851, only two were living.  I cannot imagine losing that many children.  They also lost many native children who were staying at the mission, and many friends among the natives.  It seems that it must have been unbearable to face so many sorrows, but Isaac and Christiana continued their service to the natives.  Isaac himself was ill for much of his life, from fevers and other illnesses.  Sometimes when it looks like he stayed at the mission for several months, it was because he spent two months or more in bed, recovering from a bout with malaria or whatever it was that had him down.  Isaac died in Louisville in 1846

The sad thing is that Isaac wasn't really successful in providing a new home for the natives.  Many went to other locations, many died from disease, a few stayed behind in Indiana and Michigan, and of course they did not get the lands they were promised.  However, he seems to have been an early supporter, almost a founder of the Southern Baptist church (as opposed to the Baptist church he always had belonged to, despite their lack of official financial support for his cause), who were willing to do more for the natives as far as missionary work goes. 

He is a hero in my eyes because of all the sacrifices he made, because of all the good he did, and because he was able to explain God to the natives in terms they understood.  He wasn't perfect, he made some bad choices in how he approached certain things, but I know that when the crowns are passed out, he will have one that is extra shiny and crowded with jewels.  I sure wish I had known this man! 

If you'd like to see a picture of Isaac, there is one on his Find a Grave listing, and also on his Wikipedia story.  Both sites give more information than I've included here.  I hope I've given you a sense of who the man was and why he deserves honor.  I also hope you'll go to these sites and read more, even if you're not going to read the book right now.