#The Children of William McCoy and Mary Burris McCoy
A reexamination of this family has prompted revised conclusions. The original analysis is below this text.
The first revision is the conclusion that Angeline McCoy, who disappears from the record after the 1870 census, must also be the person known as Fannie McCoy, who does not appear in the record until the 1880 census.
Angeline’s birth is well documented as occurring on 27 August 1855. She is present in the 1860 and 1870 census records with ages consistent with that birth date. Then she disappears entirely until 1938 when her obituary was printed in the Ashland KY newspaper, where she is described as the 74-year-old wife of Charles Clark (making her birth year 1864).
When one looks at the census records for Charles Clark, what is found is that he wife was Fannie McCoy, whose age wandered wildly over the years. [No member of this family seems to have been blessed with an accurate sense of counting years.]
Fannie McCoy first appears in the record in the 1880 census as a servant, age 21 and single, in Huntington WV a few miles east of where most of the family was living across the river in Boyd County KY. In 1900 she is in Catlettsburg KY with her brother Bud (Joseph) and a 7-year-old niece, Angie McCoy. This is a peculiar record for several reasons: 1) Fannie is said to be a widow; 2) although Angie would probably be thought to be Bud’s daughter, Bud is described as single. Fannie’s birth information is August 1863 (age 36). In 1910, Fannie is a 45-year-old boarding house proprietor who is living with her mother, Mary, who claims to be 100, her brother Robert and his daughter Beetha, and Charley Clark, who is a boarder and also in a 20-year marriage with Fannie. In 1920, Fannie is 56 and living with her husband Charles Clark and her sister (Rachel) Jane McCoy. And in 1930, she is 69 and living with Charley and another of her sisters, Polly McCoy.
Then we have the obituary and death certificate of Angeline McCoy, wife of Charles Clark, in Catlettsburg, who is said to have been born on 27 August 1863 to William McCoy and Mary Burris. Burial was in Bash Cemetery in Boyd County KY. However, while there is no stone for Angeline McCoy in that cemetery, there is one for “Fanny McCoy, 1847-1938”. So, where is Angeline? Is this Fanny McCoy also Angeline with even more inaccurate dates?
In any case, despite the wide variations in birth years (but the same birth month and day), I think the right conclusion is that the Angeline and Fannie McCoy entries in the record are for the same person. So I am combining them into Angeline Fannie McCoy with documented birth date of 27 Aug 1855 and documented death in 1938.
That conclusion produces a new problem. Mary Burris McCoy stated in the 1900 and 1910 census records that she had 14 children. But in combining Angeline and Fannie, my list of 14 has shrunk to 13.
Here are the documented years of death for the McCoy children:
* Elizabeth unknown
* Pleasant 1863
* James H unknown but almost certainly 1863
* Rachel Jane 1928
* Achillas unknown
* Wm Anderson 1922
* Robert 1915
* Phoeba Anna 1943
* Angeline/Fannie 1938
* Lorenzo Dow 1894
* Johnson 1944
* Joseph S "Bud" unknown
* Mary “Polly” 1951
Mary said in 1910 that 7 of her 14 were still living. Those were:
* Rachel Jane
* Wm Anderson
* Robert
* Phoebe
* Angeline/Fannie
* Johnson
* Mary Polly
In 1900, she said that 10 of the 14 were alive. Who were the additional 3? The possibilities are:
* Elizabeth McCoy Hatfield - probable
* James H - almost certainly died in 1863
* Achillas
* Joseph S “Bud”
So it seems likely that Elizabeth, Achillas and Joseph died sometime between 1900 and 1910.
And the 14th child? It would be likely that an infant would have been lost somewhere along the way. There are two breaks of approximately 4 years between known children in the 1850s where such a loss could easily have occurred.
As a result of these conclusions, I have combined Angeline and Fannie into one person as described above and added an unknown child probably born between 1850 and 1860.
January 2017
## ORIGINAL POST (2014)
Modified slightly after finding the 1870 census record, but the conclusion remains the same.]
Both the 1900 and 1910 census asked women how many children they had had and how many of them were living.
In 1910, Mary reported having had 14 children of whom 7 were still living. Those demonstrated to have been alive in 1910 are:
Rachel Jane
Wm Anderson
Robert
Phoebe Anna
Johnson
Fannie
Mary "Polly"
So those are the seven living; the others below were dead:
Elizabeth - not found after 1880 census*
Pleasant - died as a Civil War POW
James H - probably died as a Civil War POW (not present after 1860 census)
Achillas - not found after 1870 census
Lorenzo Dow - died 1894
Angeline - not found after the 1870 census except in documents that are actually dealing with her sister Fannie
Joseph S (Buddy) - present in the 1900 census as Bud but not found after that
Mary reported 10 of 14 alive in the 1900 census. Therefore, three of the above were still living in 1900. Buddy is the only one known to be living in 1900. Elizabeth may have remarried and could easily have still been living. She and Lorenzo Dow could at least still be found in 1880, but Lorenzo is now known to have died in 1894. So, at this point, it seems probable that the chlldren dead by 1900 were:
Pleasant
James H
Lorenzo Dow
Angeline
Will modify as new information becomes available.
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*There is a 1900 census record from the Blackberry Precinct in Pike County KY for Elizabeth Hatfield (widow) with sons John (born 1871) and Thomas (born 1874). The age of this Elizabeth does not match our Elizabeth, and we cannot account for a Thomas Hatfield as a child of Ephraim. This family matches another from the 1880 census, demonstrating that it is not the Ephraim Hatfield family.
Anderson McCoy-Mary Hoylman marriage
1850 United States Federal Census
1880 United States Federal Census
