Angus C. McCoy was born in Washington County, Penn., March 13, 1789. He was the fourth child of Alexander and Nancy McCoy. Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Zadock and Nancy Smith, was born in Loudoun County, Va., May 9, 1799, They were married in Bourbon County, Ky., by the Rev. John Lyle, February 16, 1815. Elizabeth (Smith) McCoy died in Decatur County September 25, 1844. Rachel Mcpherson was born December 25, 1806; married to Angus C. McCoy, as his second wife, December 24, 1846.
The children of Angus C. and Elizabeth McCoy were:
- William Anderville, born in Kentucky April 24, 1816; died in Decatur County July 2, 1866.
- Caroline S., born October 2, 1817; married to Charles Hazelrigg December 31, 1835; lives near Greensburg.
- Ann Elizabeth, born July 17, 1819; died June 7, 1878; she was a mute.
- Thomas Melvin, born April 2, 1821; married Sarah Hughes; died in Decatur County February 11, 1878. Thomas M. McCoy was a man active in the Anti-Slavery question and a great temperance worker; he was a man who took a strong interest in moral and religious matters, and was a co¬worker with any denomination where he believed good could be accomplished; he was specially noted as a successful Sunday-school worker.
- John Granville, born August 2, 1822; died July 4, 1847.
- James Thornton, born May 22, 1824; married Martha Custer; lives at McCoy's Station,
- Douglass Smith, born in Decatur County November 16, 1825; lives near Greensburg,
- George Washington, born January 30, 1827; married Jenny Oakley; lives near Fort Wayne, Ind. His wife died September 9, 1869,
- Robert Trimble, born April 24, 1829; died September 9, 1849.
- Susan K., born February 10, 1831; married Lefford Thomson; lives in Boone Countv, Ind. Lefford Thomas died November, 1868.-'^v::^'. '. '
- Sarah M., born February 22, 1833; died March 7, 1877.
- Joseph Austin, born February 15, 1835; married Hannah Robison; lives near Kingston.
- Nancy A., born January 31, 1837; married Origen Thomson; died February 6, 1879.
- Angus Franklin, born January 16, 1839; late Captain Company D, One Hundred and Twenty-third Indiana Volunteers; now Treasurer of Decatur County.
- Charles Daniel, born July 25, 1841; married first, Nancy Lynn; second. Flora Welsh; lives in Boone County, Ind.
- Naomi E., born September 19, 1844: died October 6, 1881.
The children of Angus C. McCoy by his second wife, Rachel, were:
- Willougby C, born September 21, 1847; married Elizabeth Crawford; lives at Adams.
- Fidelia J., born November 8, 1849; married Albert T. Reiley.
Judge Angus C. McCoy was raised in Kentucky, and, during his early life, was employed in the various duties incident to a new country, but, with approaching manhood, came a desire for a calling more in accordance with his tastes. To what extent his preparatory studies were continued, or in what manner obtained, is not known by his descendants of to-day; but that he studied law with Hon. Robert Trimble, of Paris, Ky., and was admitted to the bar and actually engaged in the practice of his profession at Carlisle, Ky, is well known to all. He was married there and five or six of his eighteen children were born there. When the New Purchase was thrown open to settlement, and its future was fairly established, he removed to Decatur County and purchased 160 acres of land of Andrew Eider. This was in 1824 and the land is known as the northwest quarter of Section 9, Town 10, Range 10 (it is the old MoCov homestead, now owned and occupied by James Thornton McCoy. The C, L, St. L. & C. R. R. runs close to a corner of this tract, where a station, known as McCoys, has been established). Upon this land he settled, and improved it and built upon it, until it became one of the well-known improvements of the county. Mr. McCoy devoted most of his time and energies to the development of his farm, though he occasionally engaged in the practice of his profession. It is altogether probable that he was admitted to the bar of Decatur County among the very earliest of her attorneys, though that fact is not established by research; he also took great interest in the political issues of the day, and sometimes did effective service as a speaker upon political subjects. About the year 1829 or 1830, he was elected Probate Judge of Decatur County, to which important position he was several times re-elected; having served, all together, for a period of fourteen years in the above office, he retired from public life and to the duties of a farmer. He died at home, in Decatur County on the 19th day of October, 1865, and now rests, with others of the family, in the Decatur County Cemetery at Greensburg. Judge McCoy was a man of more than ordinary intellectual ability and of a high moral tone. The family were all raised in the strict faith of the Scotch Presbyterian Church, and were among the first to denounce slavery as a feature of our national government. He was a member of the Kingston Presbyterian Church, and raised his family to observe the true principles of right and justice between man and man. To this day the sons are noted for being free from the prevailing vices of the hour, and for their uprightness and general integrity. The old Scotch type of stature, complexion and style, is very prominent in the sons who are now among the leading men of this county.
It is related that Mrs. Elizabeth McCoy was unfamiliar with the practical duties of housewifery at the time of her marriage, but that she at once resolved to be mistress of the situation, the result of which was she became one of the most successful housewives of her neighborhood. She was a stout, hearty woman, who made her home pleasant by her personal attention to all the necessary details of its management. She spun and wove the cloth for her children's garments, and was at once sempstress and tailor. Several times she rode on horseback from her home to her father's house in Kentucky, and carried one child, at a time when there were no roads, save bridle-paths or "traces." Her children are among the "gray beards" of Decatur County to-day, and they delight to recall the many reminiscences of their childhood and of the self-sacrificing devotion of their brave and affectionate mother.
