Person:Victoria McCoy (1)

Identity

Her death record (see image at Find A Grave)^[1] gives her parents' names as Compton Runyan and Victoria McCoy, both born in Kentucky. Her marriage record^[2] gives her own name as Victoria McCoy and her mother's name as Polly McCoy (no father's name).

The only online record of a Compton Runyon appears to be John Compton Runyon^[5] from Kentucky who married (as his second wife) Laura Belle Maynard in Logan County, West Virginia in 1894 (giving a West Virginia connection). Possibly Victoria was the illegitimate child of John Compton Runyon and Victoria (or Polly) McCoy. John Compton Runyon's sister Sarah married William McCoy, so there was a connection between John Compton Runyon and McCoy's.

Alternately, Victoria was the child of a Victoria or Polly McCoy who later married John Compton Runyon - however, there appears to be no evidence for John Compton Runyon having more than his 2 known wives. Another possibility is that the father's name in her death record is inaccurate - just a relative of some sort whose name was known to her daughter.

She is possibly the 4-year-old Victoria McCoy in Logan County, West Virginia in the 1870 census^[3] (born in West Virginia, daughter of William and Sarah McCoy - not John Compton Runyon's sister and brother-in-law, as the ages are wrong for that). Her death record says she was born in Kentucky, but either it or the census could be incorrect. And/or she might be the 13-year-old servant in Wayne County Virginia in the 1880 census^[4] (birth place given as West Virginia, but possibly just assumed by census-taker or the head of household).

Marriages

When her daughter Myrtle married in 1902, she gave her name as Myrtle Prichard (no names of parents). Myrtle's death record gives her father's name as James A Prichard. However, in the 1900 census, the surname given for Myrtle and her sister Alice is Cannady^[6]. No marriage record between Victoria and either a James Prichard or a Cannady was found online. When Victoria married George Hobbs in 1889^[2], her name is given as Victoria McCoy, implying (if McCoy was truly her maiden name) that she was not previously married. It seems likely that her first 2 children were illegitimate, and possibly not both with the same father.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Victoria McCoy Hobbs, in Find A Grave.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 [1], in West Virginia, United States. Vital Research Records Search Selection. (West Virginia, United States: West Virginia Archives and History).
3. ↑ [2], in United States. 1870 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publications M593 and T132).
4. ↑ [3], in United States. 1880 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication T9).
5. ↑ John Compton Runyon, in Find A Grave.
6. ↑ [4], in United States. 1900 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication T623).