Alexander Lowrey McCoy

Alexander was a Cherokee man

Biography

Alexander McCoy was born in the Cherokee Nation about 1791, the son of Daniel McCoy a white trader, and Lucy Fields, a Cherokee woman. He fathered children with three women. His first partner is believed by researcher George Bell to be a Lowrey. They were the parents of of John Lowrey McCoy. [1] With Aky Gunter he fathered a daughter, Lucy. In 1823 he married Sarah Hicks.

The Moravian missionaries recorded: "On 1 April 1823, "Mr. Alexander McCoy of Willstown & Miss Sarah Hicks, daughter of Mr. Charles R. Hicks were this day married in the presence of the scholars, the mission family and some of the relatives—who came with them to witness the ceremony."[2] They were the parents of Elvina, Mary Ann, Richard, Araminta, Edward, Charles, Elizabeth, and Nancy. [3] They lived at New Echota and like many Cherokee families they were forced from their home by white Georgians. When their property was assessed in 1836 it was described as a "Dwelling house, 2 pens, 20 feet square, hewed logs, 2 stories high, single roof, 2 brick chimneys, glass windows above and below," and valued at $1600 (most homes were valued at less than $200). [4] The 1835 Cherokee census lists a family of 11 living on Chicamauga Creek (now Tennessee). [5]

Alexander was Secretary of the Council at Amoah where the first formal Cherokee government was formed. From then until 1829 he served as Clerk of the Committee or the Council. He also served as Secretary of the Constitutional Convention of 1827. [6] He was asked to resign from his position as clerk since he was suspected of supporting removal of the Cherokees from the East, but was later reinstated when Major Ridge was elected Speaker. He was a partner with John Ridge in a ferry at New Town. [7] McCoy joined with Major Ridge and other Cherokee who became known as the "Treaty Party," who negotiated with the United States to exchange the Cherokee land in the east for land in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).

Alexander died in 1837 before Removal.

Research Notes

23 Oct 1823. Clerk of the Council. Note: Creek Chief, William McIntosh, attempted to bribe John Ross, then pres. of the Legislative council, Charles Hicks, the second chief, and Alexander McCoy, to influence the Cherokee people to make land cessions to the U.S. the. $12.000 bribe was refused. Amount differed in 2nd source. Wilkins, Cherokee Tragedy

Sources

1. ↑ Bell, George Morrison. Genealogy of Old and New Cherokee Indian Families. Bartlesville, OK, 1972
2. ↑ Edited & Introduced by Phillips, Joyce B. & Phillips, Paul Gary, The Brainerd Journal, A Mission to the Cherokees, 1817-1823, The University of Nebraska, 1998, page 347, citing 1823 April 1st, Mr. Alexander McCoy and Miss Sarah Hicks.
3. ↑ Starr, Emmet. History of the Cherokee Indians. Oklahoma Yesterday Publications edition, Tulsa, OK. 1979. p. 324. Digitized edition at Starr
4. ↑ Walker, Charles O. Cherokee Footprints. self-published, Jasper, Georgia. 1989. Vol. II, p. 136
5. ↑ 1835 Cherokee Census. Transcript, Oklahoma Chapter, Trail of Tears Association, Park Hill Oklahoma, 2002. p. 2
6. ↑ Hampton, David K. and Baker, Jack D., eds. Old Cherokee Families Notes of Dr. Emmet Starr. Baker Publishing Co., Oklahoma City, OK. 1987, Vol. 1, Note C633.
7. ↑ Wilkins, Thurman. Cherokee Tragedy. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK. 1986.

See also:

• National Archives and Records Administration, Eastern Cherokee Applications of the Court of Claims, Application #9154, grandson Henry Sanders
• The Cherokees by Grace Steele Woodward Publication: U, (Norman, OK: Univ. of OKLA, 1963).

Cherokee Sunset a nation betrayed: a narrative of travail and triumph, persecution and exile. by Samuel Carter III Publication: file; ; (Garden City, N Y: Doubleday & co.). 1976.

Source: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/McCoy-2283
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ALEXANDER MCCOY:

• The Brainerd Journal, p 536;
• Alexanders' marriage to Sarah Hicks was his second, Aky Gunter was his first wife.
• 1835 Census roll: Chickamauga Co, TN
• Clan: Ani'-Gilâ'hi = Twisters, Braids, or Long Hair Clan (Mary Grant)
• Occupation 1: May 06, 1817, Secretary of the Council at Amoah
• Occupation 2: July 26, 1827, Secretary of the Convention that formed the Cherokee Constitution
• Residence: 1822, Wills Town, AL
• Starr's Notes: C633

Source: Hicks, James R. “Cherokee Lineages: Register Report of Amatoya Moytoy” Genealogy.com, Sites.Rootsweb.com, 2023, https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/h/i/c/James-R-Hicks-VA/BOOK-0001/0021...

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• Census: 1850 - Poestenkill, Rensselaer, New York, USA
• Census: June 1 1870 - Indiana, USA
  • Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Oct 26 2019, 4:45:42 UTC

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• Census: 1850 - Poestenkill, Rensselaer, New York, USA
• Census: June 1 1870 - Indiana, USA
  • Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Oct 26 2019, 4:48:23 UTC