|
a.
|
Note: James Sylvester McCoy (as written by Elma McCoy Bryant) James Sylvester McCoy was the son of Elisha McCoy and his second wife, Caroline Ashing. He was born in Mound Township, Section #2, Effingham County, Illinois, on 31 Oct 1857, being the first of their children to be born in their Illinois home. He lived his entire life in Effingham County and died at his home located about two miles south of Altamont on 22 Mar 1931. He had very little education but he did attend several winter terms of school at the McCoy School and has five "Reward of Merit" cards which were presented to him by his teachers as "Honorable Testimony of Application for Industry, Punctuality, and Good Conduct". The teachers signing these cards were: Elijah Shout, Olive Cash, Maggie Baker, and Mattie B. Petterson. I heard he attended one term of school when he was 20 years old. His friends and neighbors considered him to be very well informed and said there was no good cause which he failed to stand for and support faithfully. He married at the age of 28, Lucy Agnes Magers, daughter of Gabriel Porter Magers and Julia Ann O'Brien. Lucy was 20. They married at the St. Claire Catholic Church Rectory, 16 Nov 1885. Witnesses were her brother, Samuel D. Magers and Lizzie Heilgensteinz. The Rev. Florence Kurzes performed the ceremony, and the marriage is recorded in the Effingham County clerk's office in Book I, page 125, and also in the records of the St. Claire Catholic Church at Altamont. Lucy Agnes Magers was born 24 May 1865 in Allen County, Indiana, near the town of Leo. She was seven years old when her parents brought the family to Mound Township, Effingham Co., Illinois. She died at the age of 83 at the family home, on 4 Aug 1948. Both Lucy and James are buried on the McCoy lot in the Union Cemetery, Altamont Illinois. James Sylvesters parents, sisters Alice Combs, Annie Dickman and Caroline Hightower, children Samuel, John, Bernice, Roy, Alva and Walter, grandchildren Betty Jean McCoy and Allen Bryant; Lucy's parents and numerous nieces and nephews are slso buried in this well-kept cemetery. James Sylvester and Lucy Agnes had eleven children, 6 sons and 5 daughters. After his marriage and until March 1900 James S. lived in Jackson Township, south of old Freemanton. When grandma Magers died, 6 Nov 1899, he bought the farm and moved in with Grandpap Magers. They took care of Grandpap until his death in 1904. Four of us were born on this farm (Ora, Roy, I (Elma), were born in the old house and Marion was born in the new house. Roy died in the new house. I still remember that old house, it looked like a barn. In fact, I have heard it was originally built for a barn and was located west of the present house near the first hollow. Grandpap moved it to the location near the present garden, and slightly west of the present crib. All along the south side of it were huckleberry bushes. The front door faced the west and the stairway was in this room. The house was used for many years as a kind of workshop, having a work table and a grindstone etc. I don't remember when all trace of it was completely gone but I do remember the noise the birds made getting out of the upstairs when the downstairs door was opened, especially in the evening after they had gone to roost. I half believed the place was haunted. Dad (James S.) and the older boys built all of the new buildings; the house, barn, silo, corncrib, chicken house, buggy shed, etc. When his three sons, Samuel, Alva and Milan went to war (WWI) the farm was considered by everyone to be one of the prettiest in the neighborhood. Dad (James S.) also owned, at one time, quite a bit of the land of his father. This estate was settled in court, and Dad bought Aunt Ellie Smith's, his brother, Sam's and his half-brother Brumwell's share as well as the part belonging to some of the children of Aunt Sarah byers who was deceased. He farmed this land for several years, but finally sold it. In his early years he served as a school director, and for twelve years in his later life he was the assessor of Mound Township, being elected on the Republican ticket. He was not a formal member of any church, but his father and mother and his paternal grandparents belonged to the Methodist Church the greater part of their lives. Six of his children were baptized in the St. Claire Catholic Church at Altamont Illinois, and five were baptized in the Methodist Church at Altamont. (I, Elma have letters from both churches giving the dates of their baptisms). After grandmother Magers' death, mother joined the Methodist Church at Altamont Illinois, and she remained a member of it until her death. Facts about this person: Burial Union Cemetery, Effingham Co., Altamont IL
|
