My Genealogy Hound

Simpson W. McCoy is a native of Kanawha County, Va., in which place he was born in 1831. His father was Samuel McCoy, also of Virginia, and his mother, Miss Elizabeth Graves, daughter of William Graves, patriot of the Revolutionary War. Samuel McCoy, the father of the subject of this sketch, died when Simpson was fifteen years of age. He then left the farm, and, together with his mother, lived in Buffalo, Mason Co., Va., until 1853, when he had reached the age of twenty-two, at which time he came to Morgan County, Mo., and engaged in running a saw and grist-mill. He continued the mill business for four years, and in July of the second year after leaving Virginia was married to Miss Caroline A. Bartlett, daughter of Asa Bartlett, of Cooper County, Mo., who was a wise and kind wife and mother. There were seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. McCoy, six of whom are now living: James F., the eldest son, is a bachelor, living near home, and is a successful farmer, farming being his choice occupation; John W., is a stockman in Western Texas, also a bachelor; Annie, the oldest daughter, and her husband, C. L. Senn, are living in Laclede County, Mo.; the three younger daughters, Iva S., Carrie L. and Miriam F., are at home. In the second year after his marriage Mr. McCoy bought a small farm in Cooper County, Mo., and after farming it two years sold it, and purchased the farm in Morgan County that he now resides on. He enlisted in the State service in 1861, but shortly afterward enlisted in the United States service, in which he remained until the great surrender of the Confederate army in 1865. Being then in Jackson County, Mo., he returned home, and has ever since followed farming with such success that his place is a model of beauty. On account of the many cedars which grow around the place it was named Cedar Valley. His farm, which consists of 240 acres, is one of the best stock and grain farms in Morgan County; and while it is in itself a temptation to many, it is also underlaid with mineral; lead has been repeatedly found on the surface; coal also abounds. In May, 1881, Mrs. McCoy died, and afterward Mr. McCoy married Mrs. Margaret Anthany, daughter of David Bell, of Cooper County, Mo. Mr. McCoy is a plain, old-time Baptist, having made a profession of religion, and was baptized in the Kanawha River, at his old home, by the Rev. Samuel T. Wyatt, on September 15, 1850, being then nineteen years of age. His family are also Baptists. He is a stanch Democrat, a kind, loving and indulgent father, “whose children rise up and call blessed.”