The McCoy Family

1. JAMES1 MCCOY was born Abt. 1816 in Kentucky. He married NANCY NOLAN.

Child of JAMES MCCOY and NANCY NOLAN is:

2.
i. JAMES C.2 MCCOY, b. September 09, 1836, Henry Co.,Iowa; d. April 06, 1910, Craigmont, ID.

Generation No. 2

2. JAMES C.2 MCCOY (JAMES1) was born September 09, 1836 in Henry Co.,Iowa, and died April 06, 1910 in Craigmont, ID. He married MARGARET A. LEDBETTER 1861 in Johnson Co., Texas, daughter of ABSOLOM LEDBETTER and MARY LACEY.

Notes for JAMES C. MCCOY:
James and Nancy Nolen McCoy parents of James C. McCoy were both natives of Kentucky and moved to Henry county, Iowa, in an early day, where James C. was born on the ninth of September, 1836. the family soon afterwards moved to Dekalb county, Mo., and ten years later to Eastern Texas, finally settling in Johnston County, the western portion of that state in 1851. Here James worked at farming, blacksmithing, masonry and other occupations til the fall of 1866. In 1861 he marrried Margaret Ledbetter. His father and one brother having been killed by the Indians, and his mother having died, he went back to Missouri in 1866. In 1868, with four brothers and their families and one sister, he came overland to Washington Territory. After spending the winter at Walla Walla, James opened a blacksmith shop on the Touchet just below the site of Dayton. A year later he removed it to Copei Creek. A year afterwards, he sold out and took a logging contract for a season, and the next year raised a crop on rented land just below Dayton. He then operated a saw-mill on Walla Walla River six months, after which he had a blacksmith shop in Milton, Oregon, about a year. In 1875 he put up a shingle mill on the south fork of the Touchet, twelve miles south of Dayton. This mill, he operated constantly, until it was destroyed by fire in July, 1882. A view of the old mill is given on another page. Mr McCoy is rebuilding near the site of the old mill and will soon be in running order again. He makes about 15,000 shingles per day, the greatest quantity turned out in one day being 23,000. Since last spring he has resided on a farm of 160 acres, owned by him, four miles south of Dayton. To his energy and capacity Mr. McCoy owes all his success since arriving a poor man in the undeveloped region he has helped to build up. His children are Mary A., James W., George N. and Nancy E.,(twins), Clara M., Andrew, Franklin, Mason S., Maud M., Viola, and Rosa. Nancy E. died in Walla Walla in 1868 when quite young; the others are all living. HISTORIC SKETCHES, WALLA WALLA, WHITMAN, COLUMBIA AND GARFIELD COUNTIES, WASHINGTON TERRITORY; by Frank T. Gilbert, Portland, Oregon, 1882 ( Printing and Lithography House of A.G. Walling, Corner of First and Ash Streets, 1882) Dayton, Washington Library.

Marie Adams has a photo of James in a Civil War uniform. He fought for the state of Texas which was a slave holding state. James fought for the Confederacy. After the Civil War, in 1866, he and Margaret went back to Missouri and must have come to the Washington Territory on the Oregon Trail. Karen Schmirler, Camas, Washington

James C. McCoy and Margaret Ledbetter McCoy left Texas for Missouri in 1867. They remained in Missouri for one year preparing for the trip to Oregon with a wagon train. They joined the train in 1869. As I understand it now, four brothers and one sister were on this same train.
Upon arrival in Oregon, Mary complained about the lack of apple orchards they had been led to believe covered the area. Margaret stated she didn't care about the apples. She was happy they had missed the Indians.
The wagon train broke up upon arrival in Oregon with some going to Washington Territory and some to California; the rest remaining in Oregon. The McCoys decided on Washington Territory and settled near Walla Walla. They later moved to Dayton, Washington where James established his shingle mill.
In 1885, there was a flood which caused major damage. Guy McCoy was only 2 or 3 years old and yelled "Maudie fell in the creek." (Maudie was his older sister). One of the older children pulled her out. They had a clock which was a prized possession and which they had brought with them on the wagon train. It was lost in the flood. A week later, young Mason was walking down the creek and spied the clock in a pine tree and retrieved it. It is now in the possession of Milton McCoy, Lewiston, Idaho...given to him by Esther McCoy, the widow of Eugen McCoy of Spokane, Washington.
In 1950, Eugen McCoy and his Uncle Guy hiked to the site of the old shingle mill on the south fork of the Touchet River. There was nothing left except a sawdust pile. Frances H. McCoy Spokane, Washington

Children of JAMES MCCOY and MARGARET LEDBETTER are:
3. i. MARY ANN3 MCCOY, b. December 12, 1861, Texas; d. May 31, 1940.

ii. JAMES WILLIAM MCCOY, b. January 13, 1862, Johnson Co., Texas; d. June 06, 1888.

Notes for JAMES WILLIAM MCCOY:
William J. McCoy was only 26 when he was killed. He got into an argument with another young man. No one knows what the argument was about. The man went home, got a gun and came back and killed William.

4. iii. GEORGE N. MCCOY, b. April 05, 1865, Texas; d. March 19, 1934.
iv. NANCY E. MCCOY, b. April 05, 1865, Johnson Co., Texas; d. November 08, 1868.

Notes for NANCY E. MCCOY:
Nancy and George McCoy were twins. Nancy died of either flu or typhoid fever. Frankie McCoy, Spokane, WA

5. v. CLARA MAY MCCOY, b. April 12, 1868, Missouri; d. January 09, 1949.
vi. FRANK A. MCCOY, b. February 10, 1870, Washington Territory; d. April 13, 1888.

Notes for FRANK A. MCCOY:
The story goes that Frank was shot, gunned down on horseback. Frankie McCoy, Spokane, WA

6. vii. MASON SPENCER MCCOY, b. February 15, 1872, Walla Walla County, Washington Territory; d. July 29, 1942.

7. viii. MAUD A. MCCOY, b. March 08, 1874, Milton Freewater, Oregon; d. March 24, 1952.

8. ix. JOHN C. MCCOY, b. April 29, 1876, Washington Territory; d. April 25,1934.

9. x. VIOLA RHEA MCCOY, b. November 25, 1878, Washington Territory, Dayton Washington; d. August 08, 1935, Spokane, Washington.

10. xi. ROSE B. MCCOY, b. March 30, 1881, Washington Territory; d. October 05, 1938.

xii. GUY DELBRIDGE MCCOY, b. June 13, 1883, Washington Territory; d.March 10, 1955, Spokane, Washington; m. TILLIE STEINHAUS, Forest, ID.

Notes for GUY DELBRIDGE MCCOY:
Newspaper announcement: Miss Tillie Steinhaus and Mr. Guy McCoy,both of Forest, were united in marriage in this city yesterday at the Bollinger Hotel. The couple left on the Owl train last night for Portland.
They will make their permanent home at Forest. Guy logged in Forest. He had a very classy team of horses. When he worked for the logging company in Bend, he and Tillie lived in the only moving city in the world. The city was moved approximately every 10 to 12 months as sections of land were logged off. The city was Shevelin, Oregon.
Tillie cut wood and sold it. She was very tight with her money. Once Guy bought a new car and swore everyone to secrecy as to its cost, for fear Tillie would make him return the car. At the time of Guy's death, they lived in Spokane, Washington near I-90 freeway. Their house has been torn down and I think a AAA inurance company is there now.
I remember going to their house for Sunday dinner. We always had chicken and cream gravy, potatoes and biscuits. Aunt Tillie made all in her wood stove. She had a small electric hot plate in the pantry area of the kitchen which she never used. Frankie McCoy, Spokane WA.
Tillie and Guy lived about 80 miles from Bend,Oregon and moved to Spokane, WA. Guy stated that he really didn't like Spokane and missed Oregon. Guy was a great banjo player and played in a band for years. He loved playing jokes on friends and told about a neighbor who was all dressed and going to see his girl. Guy hid behind a tree and fired his pistol.The horse bucked his friend off and got his clothes all dirty. Guy laughed uproariously. His friend was not happy aobut the incident.
Guy McCoy's wife Tilliie stated that her father fought for the North and Guy's father fought for the South during the Civil War. Tillie would get knots in her stomache when they had the two visit at the same time. They would argue and scream at each other about which side was right and which was wrong. Frankie McCoy, Spokane WA.

Generation No. 3

3. MARY ANN3 MCCOY (JAMES C.2, JAMES1) was born December 12, 1861 in Texas, and died May 31, 1940. She married FRANKLIN M. KAYS June 25, 1884 in Columbia Co..

Child of MARY MCCOY and FRANKLIN KAYS is:
i. VILETHA4 KAYS.

4. GEORGE N.3 MCCOY (JAMES C.2, JAMES1) was born April 05, 1865 in Texas, and died March 19, 1934.

Notes for GEORGE N. MCCOY:
George McCoy married and had a large family, but at the present time we have no information about him. We know his daughter, Mae, lived in Roseburg, Oregon. Frankie McCoy Spokane, WA

Child of GEORGE N. MCCOY is:
i. MAE4 MCCOY.

5. CLARA MAY3 MCCOY (JAMES C.2, JAMES1) was born April 12, 1868 in Missouri, and died January 09, 1949. She married WILLIAM P. BAULT November 15, 1885.

Notes for CLARA MAY MCCOY:
Clara married William Bault who was an unkind man. Clara became blind. I've seen photgraphs of Clara. There was a definite progression in the decline of her eye-sight. Early photos show her with no glasses, then later photos show glasses and finally the later photos show Clara blind. I think she probably had glaucoma and back then they probably didn't know how to treat it and so she went blind. It makes sense since Marie (Lorang) Adams has glaucoma and it is hereditary.
Clara made beautiful quilts. Minnie who was Heshal's wife, was very kind to Clara. She helped Clara make quilts for each of her nieces.
Clara's main home was in Hermiston, Oregon. Her first home was in Garden Grove, California, where they lived in shacks.
Clara jumped out of bed when living in Coulee Dam, screamed for Minnie to come help. A snake had crawled into her bed. Delsie and Delbert played tricks on Clara. She'd call for them and they wouldn't answer. Frankie McCoy, Spokane, WA.

Children of CLARA MCCOY and WILLIAM BAULT are:
11. i. HERSHAL4 BAULT.

ii. WILBER BAULT.

6. MASON SPENCER3 MCCOY (JAMES C.2, JAMES1) was born February 15, 1872 in Walla Walla County, Washington Territory, and died July 29, 1942. He married MARY HACKER 1896, daughter of JACOB HACKER and MARY.

Notes for MASON SPENCER MCCOY:
Mason became the chief of police in Kellogg, Idaho. He was accidentally killed in 1978 while deer hunting.

Notes for MARY HACKER:
Mary came to America with her parents from Germany when she was six years old. she was very ill on the trip. She had her ears pierced at an early age as at that time it was believed if you had your ears pierced, it would improve your eyesight. Her brother Eugene Louis Hacker along with his mother and sister Lizzie came to Idaho and settled in Forest . Mary had a job in St. Louis and followed a year later.

When Mary left St. Louis, she boarded the train in Kansas City and came to Spokane. From there she took the stage coach to Lewiston. So much snow was on the ground she had to take a sleigh to go on to Forest. On the way, the sleigh made an overnight stop at Wahaw which was a freight station. Mary got a job cooking at the station and stayed there. Guy and Mason McCoy were freighting between Lewiston and Forest and stopped to overnight at the Wahaw station on each trip. Many times they came in too late for supper and Mary would fix biscuits and gravy for them. That's how she met her future husband, Mason. He said many times that she made the best biscuits he had ever eaten.

Mary homesteaded near either Cottonwood or Forest, Idaho. She later sold her homestead after marrying Mason and they then homesteaded on Trapper Creek on Pinecreek, Idaho. She was very upset as Mason located the homestead and when she arrived in Pinecreek, she discovered it was a one room cabin with a dirt floor. The 1910 forest fire went right over the top of the cabin. Mason and his older sons had put wet gunny sacks on the sod roof and that is all that saved the cabin. They layed in the creek while the fire went over the top of them. I remember Mary telling me she was never so happy as when it snowed that year. Everything in the surrounding area was blackened by the fire and it was impossible to keep all those children or the house clean.

She also told me she and the children were sent by wagon to Kellogg. Beatrice who was the oldest daughter drove the team of horses. They stayed in Kellogg for a week before things had cooled off enough for them to return. Mason had purchased the homestead and logged the timber from the site.

Mason and some of his sons also later hauled ore from the Sydney mine.

Children of MASON MCCOY and MARY HACKER are:
i. BABY GIRL4 MCCOY, b. Abt. 1898.

Notes for BABY GIRL MCCOY:
Died at birth...Midwife cut cord too short and baby bled to death. Frankie McCoy, Spokane, WA

12. ii. EUGENE L. MCCOY, b. September 25, 1897; d. August 11, 1968, Spokane, Washington.

13. iii. BEATRICE MCCOY, b. October 23, 1900; d. January 01, 1979.

iv. LELA FAYE MCCOY, b. Abt. 1901; d. February 13, 1988; m. VERN GOUCHER.

v. FRANK MCCOY, b. August 10, 1903; d. October 19, 1957; m. ELLEN ROOSE, April 10, 1930.

Notes for FRANK MCCOY:
Marie Lorang and Viletha Lorang had a crush on Frank. Frankie McCoy, Spokane, WA

14. vi. JOHN MCCOY, b. July 04, 1904, Forest, ID; d. April 01, 1986.

15. vii. WILLIAM MCCOY, b. July 16, 1906; d. December 10, 1971.

16. viii. MASON MCCOY, b. July 12, 1908; d. October 1965.

17. ix. MILTON CHARLES MCCOY, b. November 02, 1910; d. November 01, 1978, Osburne, ID.

18. x. DOROTHY MCCOY, b. December 02, 1913, Wardner, Idaho; d. March 12, 1992.

19. xi. ROBERT EMMETT FRANCIS MCCOY, b. December 22, 1915, Wardner, ID.

xii. FRANCIS MCCOY, b. 1917; d. 1922.

Notes for FRANCIS MCCOY:
Died of Scarlet fever.

7. MAUD A.3 MCCOY (JAMES C.2, JAMES1) was born March 08, 1874 in Milton Freewater, Oregon, and died March 24, 1952. She married DOUGLAS RADLEY.

Notes for MAUD A. MCCOY:
Maud married Doug Radley who had a stiff leg and chewed tobacco and did very little work. They eventually moved to Forest, Idaho. Maud had a boarding house at Forest, Idaho. She fed people going into the Salmon River country. Of course, in those days, it was horseback only and she fed them going and coming. Some years later her son Donald built a fire and accidentally burned the house down.

Children of MAUD MCCOY and DOUGLAS RADLEY are:
i. LYTLE4 RADLEY.

20. ii. LILLIAN RADLEY.

iii. DONALD RADLEY.

iv. DEWITT RADLEY.

Notes for DEWITT RADLEY:
Dewitt owned property in Forest, Idaho and worked for his sister Lillian .

8. JOHN C.3 MCCOY (JAMES C.2, JAMES1) was born April 29, 1876 in Washington Territory, and died April 25, 1934. He married MARY.

Child of JOHN MCCOY and MARY is:
i. VIVIAN4 MCCOY.

9. VIOLA RHEA3 MCCOY (JAMES C.2, JAMES1) was born November 25, 1878 in Washington Territory, Dayton Washington, and died August 08, 1935 in Spokane, Washington. She married (1) UNKNOWN SWIFT. She married (2) JOSEPH LARANG in Forest, ID, son of UNKNOWN LARANG.

Notes for VIOLA RHEA MCCOY:
Viola Phoebe (pronounced Peebe) was approximately 5'4" tall. She had brown eyes and weighed about 150 pounds before she became ill with cancer. She followed the Christian Science religion. Viola had read a book and liked the character in it. She read the name has Peebe and wanted everyone thereafter to call her Peebe. Her father had a shingle factory.
Phoebe's daughter Sylvia died at about 18 months possibly from crib death. The Lorang children remember a big photo of Sylvia hanging on the wall of their home. Phoebe divorced Swift because he was always drunk and was a gambler. She told him if he came home drunk one more time that she'd leave. He did and she left. Swift's son Ivan stayed with Phoebe and her new husband Joe Lorang. Ivan only slept about 4 hours a day. He worked in town and became the postmaster in Gresham, Oregon. All of Ivan's children had multiple sclerosis.
Phoebe was a cook in Forest, Idaho where she met Joe Lorang. Phoebe was very talented. She could do anything. She was a great carpenter, cook, etc., She was an interpreter for the Nez perce tribe ( speaking the Chinook language). She was also a good photographer and had her own dark room.
Phoebe was supposed to have had a talent inherited from her mother. She could stop people from bleeding. The story goes, according to Leroy Lerang, that if there was an accident, they would always call Phoebe to come to the accident to stop the bleeding. Leroy remembers his mother even doing this over the telephone. She would get calls from back East.
Joe Lorang was in Spokane looking for a place to live when the mines burned in Forest. He had already found the ranch in Indian Canyon on 40 acres. The family couldn't move in until some remodeling was done. The family moved to a house on Helena, where Marie was born. When they lived at Spokane Bridge, they rented a house and Delight was born. They then moved to the ranch where Joe raised produce. Frank Schoenberg and Aunt Rosalia built the parlor onto the house in Indian Canyon. When the family moved to the ranch, they moved by horse and wagon. The ranch in Indian Canyon was two story. It had no electricity until after the kids left home. Leroy was the motor for the washing machine.
The kids remember the screen being black with flies. They had flypaper everywhere. On wash day, Phoebe always made several loaves of bread.
Nora Leech took care of Phoebe when she was sick. Phoebe went to a naturopath named Otis Carroll. By the time her colon cancer was diagnosed, it was quite severe. Phoebe was operated on two times during this period. Leroy gave his mother a blood transfusion. The doctors actually dook the artery out of Leroy's arm and hooked it up to a metered device and pumped blood into his mother. Leroy has a scar on his arm as a result of this procedure. The second time Leroy was 15 or 16 years old. In order to pay for the operation, Joe Lorang supplied the hospital with groceries and vegetables. In this way he paid for the entire operation.
When Phoebe became very ill, they moved to town, 1934. They lived in an apartment with Marie, Viletha and Delight. Leroy and Joe stayed and worked the farm in Indian Canyon. In 1935 Viola died of colon cancer. All the children lived at home with the exception of Leroy.
W.J. Orr, brother of the man who owned Deer Creek Mines, had two bears. They finally got so big that they were killed and meat was sold at the Davenport hotel. In Forest, the baby bears were kept in a pen. The pen was made of lumber. It was a 1/4 mile across. The baby bears would get out of the pen on a regular basis. The bears loved the Lorang family and would always hide under Leroy's bed... the black bear would climb th tree in front of the Lorang's cabin. The bears loved to eat red ants and water. These bears were very spoiled... when they finally got too big they were put in a cage and fed eggs.

Child of VIOLA MCCOY and UNKNOWN SWIFT is:
i. SYLVIA4 SWIFT.

Children of VIOLA MCCOY and JOSEPH LARANG are:

ii. LEROY LESTER4 LARANG, b. 1908, Forest, ID.

Notes for LEROY LESTER LARANG:

Leroy started school when he was 8 years old. He went for half the year at Spokane Bridge and then he finished at Occident school. He may have skipped two grades when he entered school.

iii. VILETHA VIRGINIA LARANG, b. 1914.

iv. MARIE MARGUERITE LARANG, b. 1915; m. UNKNOWN ADAMS.

v. DELIGHT DIETRESS LARANG, b. 1917; d. May 06, 1993.

10. ROSE B.3 MCCOY (JAMES C.2, JAMES1) was born March 30, 1881 in Washington Territory, and died October 05, 1938. She married (1) RICHTER. She married (2) UNKNOWN MCFARLAND.

Notes for ROSE B. MCCOY:
Rose was big boned and tall. She always looked very classy and wore furs. No one knows what McFarland did for a living. Rose did lots of trips to Alaska. Cole was basically raised by Joe and Phoebe Lorang. Cole would always come out to get cream and bread on the farm.

Notes for RICHTER:
They lived at 421 E. 52nd Street in Portland, Oregon in 1916.

Notes for UNKNOWN MCFARLAND:
Rosy and her husband McFarland were managing a hotel. Frank Lorang came to the hotel and called for Rosy to come out and talk to him. She did. Mr. McFarland came out and shot Rosy in the arm. Frank jumped on his horse and went home. Friends went to Frank's house and told him he had better hide as McFarland was probably going to shoot him. He never appeared. A short time later McFarland was found. He had committed suicide. Rosy later married Dr. Richter and moved to Alaska.

Children of ROSE MCCOY and UNKNOWN MCFARLAND are:

i. COLE4 MCFARLAND, m. PEGGY.

ii. JOHNNY MCFARLAND.

Back