Martha Isabelle (Baird) McCoy (1791 - 1874)

Born 13 Jul 1791 in Lincoln County, North Carolina

Ancestors

Wife of John McCoy — married 25 Jul 1812 in Brown County, Ohio

Descendants

Died 9 Jul 1874 at age 82 in Champaign County, Illinois

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Biography

John Baird, b. 1759, Lincoln Co., NC; d. 9 Jan. 1815, at age 56, Georgetown, OH; m. Lincoln Co., NC., Jane Hill, d/o William Hill and Jane McCall, b. Clover, SC; d. Lincoln Co., NC. Children of John and Jane: 1. Jane Baird, b. Lincoln Co. NC; m. Mr. (?) McCoy 2. Martha Baird "Ibby" b. Lincoln Co., NC,; m. Mr. (?) McCoy 3. Harvey Baird, b. 1806, Lincoln Co., NC.; d. Putnum Co., IL; m. Margaret J. Kirkpatrick [d. 8 June 1862] 4. Hannah Baird, b. Lincoln Co. NC; m. John Dean, brother of Catharine Dean 5. Nancy Elizabeth Baird, b. 1788, Lincoln Co., NC; d. Lawrence, KS; m. John Shepherd, Jr. 6. John Hill Baird, b. 12 June 1792, Catawba Creek, NC; d. 12 March 1862, Hennepin, IL; m. 1st 12 March 1818, Catharine Dean 7. Amzi Baird, b. 1803, Lincoln Co., NC; d. Georgetown, OH; m 1st Julia ?; m. 2nd M. King 8. Polly Baird, "Mary", b. 10 April 1809, Lincoln Co, NC; m 1831, Putnum Co., IL. Nelson Shepherd

From William McCoy and his Descendants, by Lycurgus McCoy, 1904:

"John McCoy (Alexander1)...He was a soldier of the War of 1812. Married...Isabelle Baird, daughter of John Baird, b. near King's Mountain, NC... She removed with her parents to Brown Co., Ohio, when she was nineteen years of age. After her husband's death she was granted a land warrant on account of his service in the War of 1812, and sold same for $460. When her parents moved from North Carolina to Ohio, they drove their sheep and cattle with them, and Isabelle, the eldest of the family, rode a pacing mare, and carried her one-year-old sister (her mother being dead) in her lap. She became the foster-mother of her father's family, and right well did she perform the duty. She was a strong, handsome woman, and lived to ripe age..."

"This family were noted for their strong anti-slavery sentiments, were always friendly to the fugitive slaves traveling northward, and the latch-string of their home was always out for the dusky traveler seeking for liberty. They, together with George McCoy, and their sisters, Priscilla Thom and Jane Johns, emigrated to Woodford Co., Ill., about 1843." "A granddaughter writes that about the first remembrance she has was to be started upon rising in the morning, and seeing the floor of her grandfather's home covered with run-away slaves who had come in during the night, and were sleeping on the floor. This, she says, occurred frequently. These old Scotch families had the courage to do what they thought was right, regardless of the consequences. They removed with their family to Woodford Co., Ill, in 1841. Seven children lived to maturity; several died in infancy, of which there is no record."

Sources