| Notes |
- ***NOTE, NOTE, NOTE: PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THERE WAS A FAMILY OFMCCOY'S ALREADY LIVING IN ORANGE, AUGUSTA COUNTY, VIRGINIA IN EARLY1700 PRIOR TO THIS FAMILIES ARRIVAL. IT WOULD BE EASY TO MIX THEM UPSINCE SOME OF EACH FAMILIES CHILDREN HAD SIMILAR NAMES AND CLOSE BIRTHYEARS. KEEP IN MIND THE VERY LARGE LAND AREA THAT THESE COUNTIES TOOKIN AT THE TIME. OTHER MCCOY'S SETTLED IN WHAT IS NOW WEST VIRGINIAAS WELL, BUT AT THE TIME WAS ALSO AUGUSTA COUNTY. THIS FAMILY WAS OFIRISH QUAKER ORIGINS -- MCKOY/ MCKAY. AND AS FAR AS I KNOW, THE ONLYONES IN THE AREA AT THE TIME WITH THESE SURNAMES TOGETHER IN FRIENDSRECORDS.
Augusta County, VA was first established in 1738 (although notofficially organized until 1745) from Old Orange Co VA (andunorganized land to the west). That same year, 1738, Frederick Co, VAwas also established from Orange (and unorganized land to the west),but likewise not officially organized until 1743. Due to changes* in1750-1753 in county lines, the northern part of Augusta became part ofFrederick Co, VA, and in 1753, Hampshire Co, VA was est. from thewestern segment of Frederick Co VA. As a result of these changes, someof the early Augusta Co VA records listed below were, by 1753, part ofFrederick Co, VA.
Sources: (1). Kerns, W.L. Ph.D., FREDERICK COUNTY VIRGINIA:Settlement and Some First Families of Back Creek Valley 1730-1830,1995, Gateway Press, Inc., Baltimore, MD. (2). Philadelphia YearlyMeeting, A Collection of Memorials Concerning Diverse DeceasedMinisters and Others of the People Called Quakers, Printed by JosephCrukshank, Philadelphia, 1787. Reprint. (Bowie, Maryland: HeritageBooks, Inc., 1990), p. 161.
"Historic Hopewell Church was established in 1734 as a meeting forworship. the church building is located on a mound or hill thataffords a view of a section of Opequon Valley that lies North ofWinchester. An old graveyard, enclosed within a rock fence, holds theremains of the first Quaker pioneers to the Opequon Settlement. EarlyQuakers did not believe in tombstone inscriptions. Local historieshave neglected or overlooked the importaant role played by the Quakersin the settlement of Back Creek Valley. these peculiar people of Godopposed war and preached peace. Neither would they swear a publicoath, but made affirmations instead." [Transcribed 28 February 2006,SLJuhl, Compiler]
THIS FAMILY SURNAME WAS ORIGINALLY USED AS MACKAY, MCKAY, MCKOY,MCCAY, AND MCCOY. IT WAS CHANGED WITH EACH GENERATION WITH IT BEING"AMERICANIZED" LIKE SO MANY OTHERS. THE NAMES WERE USED VERYINTERCHANGEABLY. PLUS, THERE WERE ALSO ERRORS IN TRANSCRIPTION OF THEWRITTEN HAND WRITING. EVENTUALLY, THE SURNAMES WERE DOCUMENTED ASMCKOY, MCKAY, and MCCOY. IF YOU WILL NOTE BELOW WITH THE FIRSTRESOURCE ON TWO PAGES 434 AND 461, YOU WILL SEE AN EXAMPLE WHERE THEINTERCHANGE OF THE NAMES OCCURED. LATER ON IN THE MILITARY RECORDS OFTHE AMERICAN REVOLUTION THE TRANSITION OF THE NAME FROM ONE TO THEOTHER OCCURS AGAIN SEVERAL TIMES WITH DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS. OFCOURSE, IT HAS NOT BEEN ESTABLISHED THAT THIS FAMILY PARTICIPATEDMILITARILY IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR DUE TO THEIR QUAKER BELIEFS;HOWEVER, THEY MAY HAVE HELPED IN OTHER WAYS UNKNOWN TO THE COMPILER ATTHIS TIME.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, IN THE 1797, JUNE 6TH COURT DOCUMENT, THE SURNAMEHAD COMPLETELY CHANGED TO "MCCOY" INSTEAD OF MCKAY THAT WAS ON THEORIGINAL COURT FILED DOCUMENTS OF THE LAND GRANT PATENT DISPUTE IN1739, AS NOTED BELOW.
"6 June 1797 Orange County, Grantee(s): Hite, Joist; Green, Robert;Duff, William; and McCay, Robert -- Representatives of.
James WOOD Governor...For consideration of the ancient composition ofthirty five pounds Sterling paid into the Treasury of thisCommonwealth, also in conformity to a Decree of the High Court ofChancery dated eighth day of May one thousand seven hundred and eightysix made in pursuance of a decreetal [sic] order of the Court ofAppeals of the Sixth of the same Month. Between the Representatives ofJost HITE, Robert GREEN, William DUFF and Robert McCOY in the saiddecree named plaintiffs and the Executors & Heirs at law or otherrepresentatives of Thomas Lord FAIRFAX decd. and other defendants,there is granted by the said Commonwealth unto John HITE, Isaac HITE,and Abraham HITE sons & devisees, and the said John heir at law ofJost HITE decd, said John and Isaac HITE also being survivingExecutors &c of Jost HITE. John HITE jr., William HITE, and ThomasCARTMILL and Anne his wife which John jr. William and Anne areChildren and Devisees of Joseph HITE decd.who was a devisee under thewill of Jost HITE which said John Jr. is heir at law of Joseph HITE,Mary HITE, Theoderick SEE [or LEE] and Catherine his wife andAlexander Pitt BUCHANAN and Sarah his wife which said Mary Catherineand Sarah are daughters and co-heirs of John HITE decd. eldest son &Heir at law of Jacob HITE decd. one of the sons and devisees of JostHITE decd. George HITE Executors &c of said Jacob HITE decd. whichsaid Jacob HITE deceased was Executor of Joseph HITE decd. AndrewMcCOY eldest son & Heir of Robert McCOY who was eldest son and heir ofRobert McCoy the elder James McCOY and Zachariah McCOY sons anddevisees of the elder Robert McCOY decd. Isaac McCOY Son and Heir ofIsaac McCOY decd. who was Son and Heir of Moses McCOY decd. son anddevisee of the said elder Robert McCOY Sarah LEITH daughter & deviseeof said Robert McCOY the elder Enoch JOB eldest Son and Heir ofMargaret JOB decd. a daughter and devisee of Robert McCOY the elderGeorge HOLLINGSWORTH eldest Son and Heir of Abraham HOLLINgSWORTHeldest son and heir of Hannah HOLLINGSWORTH decd. a Daughter anddevisee of Robert McCOY the elder, John GREEN, James GREEN, and JamesWILLIAMS and Eleanor his wife only daughter and Heir of Moses GREENdecd. which said John, James, and Moses are devisees of William DUFFdecd. Eleanor GREEN widow devisee & Executrix of Robert GREEN theelder decd. Robert GREEN eldest Son and heir of Nicholas GREEN decd.son and devisee of the said Robert GREEN the elder decd. a certaintract or Parcel of land containing seven thousand acres by surveybearing date eighteenth day of December one thousand seven hundred andthirty five lying and being in the County of Orange on South branch ofShanando River...begining at a black oak and white oak on the northside of said River above the land where Robert McCOY now lives...dated[6 June 1797].http://www.combs-families.org/combs/records/va/frederick.htm
Source: VSLA Digital Image of 6 June 1797 patent issued to heirs oforiginal grantees of 1735 patent, Northern Neck Grants X, 1795-1797,p. 550-553 (Reel 303, Recorded survey available. Northern Neck SurveysNo. 4, 1795-1796, p. 545-546 (Reel 315, Original survey exists.,Abstracted and submitted by Sue Elfving).
Notes: Survey for the above found on p. 545. There was a second patentfor 2200 acres in Orange issued to same grantees on the same date bydecree of the same court order (p. 546-550).
THE ORIGINAL 1739 PATENT SHOWS ROBERT MCKAY; HOWEVER, THE 1797 PATENTCLEARLY SHOWS THE NAME TO BE MCCOY. A 1735 patent for William DUFFshows him as being of King George Co., Virginia (Land Office PatentsNo. 16, 1735, p. 30). William DUFF also obtained land in SpotsylvaniaCo. and one Robert Green styled as being of St. Mark's parish inSpotsylvania Co. was also granted land in Spotsylvania in 1733. RobertMcKAY aka McCOY Sr. must have been pretty old because there is an 1734grant to Robert McKAY Jr.
Additional note about sources: For researchers interested in thesefamilies, the above referenced "Pioneers of Old Frederick County,Virginia" by Cecil O'Dell is recommended. It also appears that theoriginal case file for the Chancery suit are housed at the VirginiaState Library. Digital images of record surveys (indices for casefile) may be found at the Virginia State Library and Archives websitein their Special Collections/Government Records/HistoricalRecords/Virginia Colonial Records Project."
[Transcribed 24 March 2007, SLJuhl, compiler]
Source: Family Tree Maker, CD276 Scotch-Irish Settlers in America,1500s-1800s, The Scotch-Irish, Volume?s I, II, III, plus Wills andCourt Records, MyFamily.com, Inc.
"Among the Celtic inhabitants of Scotland and Ireland, Mac is used forson, as ex...MacKay, son of Aodh, or Hugh." [Transcribed 28 February2006, SLJuhl, Compiler]
I). RESOURCES: Family Tree Maker, CD276 Scotch-Irish Settlers inAmerica, 1500s-1800s, Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, Vol. I,Foreword, c2005 A.D., pg. 7. "In the year 1745, all that portion ofthe Colony of Virginia which lay west of the Blue Ridge Mountains waserected into a County which was named Augusta." "Its originalconstitution embraced all Virginia west of the Blue Ridge; the wholeof the present state of West Virginia; portion of the present WesternPennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, which was, at times, the seat ofthe County Court; and the lands on the waters of the Ohio andMississippi Rivers." [Transcribed 27 April 2005, SLJuhl, Compiler]
THESE ARE JUST A FEW EXCERPTS FROM THE MULTIPLE ONES AVAILABLE ON THECD276:
Excerpts from CD276 cont'd: (There are three different volumesavailable.)
pg. 497, Vol. III, Abstracts of Wills of Augusta County; "...part of7,009 acres patented to Hite, McCoy et als., 28th March, 1739, andsold..."
pg. 292, Vol. I, Augusta County Court Records; "Robert McCoy, JostHite, Robert Green, Robert Green, being executor..." (partners)
II). RESOURCES: Book: German Origins Of Jost Hite Virginia Pioneer1685-1761, by Henry Z. Jones, Jr., Ralph Connor and Klaus Wust,Shenandoah Genealogical Source Book No. 3, Shenandoah History P.O. Box98, Publishers Edinburg, Virginia 22824, Copyright 1979. A copy ofthe book may be found in the Davenport Public Library in Davenport,Iowa, Geneaology Department. By Klaus Wust: Page 21, Paragraph 1:"Jost Hite acquired a conditional grant of 40,000 acres in theShenandoah Valley..." "With a partner, Robert McKay, Hite went toWilliamsburg where he obtained on October 31, 1731 an order fromGovernor and Council authorizing the survey of 100,000 acres with theprovision that 100 families be settled thereon within two years."Paragraph 2: Hite did state that, "... he sold the land on which hethen lived in Philadelphia County, Province of Pennsylvania....withinfifteen miles of the City of Philadelphia." "..had moved to Virginiain the autumn of 1731." "...his party were obliged to live in theirwaggons till they built some small huts to shelter themselves from theinclemmacy of the weather and so far distant from any settlement, butespecially from any such as could supply them with any provisions ornecessaries, they could scarce procure any one thing nearer thanPennsylvania or Fredericksburg..." Paragraph 3: "...moving with hisentire clan and a number of others - a total of sixteen families - tothe Shenandoah Valley. Page 22: Para. 1: "Hite and Robert McKayjoined with Robert Green and William Duff to form a partnership whichbecame for all intents and purposes an aggressive land company."Para. 2: "Many of the first settlers who had come with theHites...were acquaintances and neighbors of his days in the coloniesof New York and Pennsylvania." Para. 3: "For their larger grant,Hite, McKay and Co. were allowed an extension to meet the terms byDecember 25, 1735 ..." IT WAS KNOWN AS THE HITE SETTLEMENT. Page 25,Para. 2; "In September 1757 and again in 1758 Indian raiders broughtthe war within a few miles of Jost Hite's home (which would includeall of the early settlers homes as well). On July 02, 1758, John Hitewrote to 'Collo. George Wasenton (Washington)": "Our inhabitants isall fled ... and we are Generally in Great Fair of the Enemy upon us." Apparently, Jost Hite knew George Washington, because George hadvisited him often at the tavern Jost Hite had owned in thePhiladelphia area prior to his move to Virginia. (Now known as TheFox Inn) Page 26, Para. 2: And, "On June 24, 1767 George Washingtonwrote to Captain John Posey ".... only look to Frederick, and see whatFortunes were made by the Hite's and first takers up of those lands.Nay how the greatest Estates we have in this colony were made, was itnot by taking up and purchasing at very low rates the rich back landswhich were thought nothing in those days, but are now the mostvaluable land we possess." The genealogy of the Hite (Americanversion of the name) Family is available in the McCoy Volumes throughthis resource. It is also mentioned that Elizabeth McKay married JostHite's son Joseph and they had four children. In Jost Hite's willJoseph's children were left 1/5th of his estates. However, there isnot a great deal of information on this subject, and it would seemthat many people who have done this families genealogy have too manymarriages listed and Joseph having children after his death clear upinto the late 1700's. Which is not possible since Joseph wasmentioned in Jost Hite's Will as having proceeded him in death priorto 1758. Please contact the compiler (Sandra L. Elkins Juhl) forfurther information or this family.
III). RESOURCES: Book: Annals Of Augusta County, Virginia from 1726to 1871, by Jos. A. Waddell, Member of the Virginia HistoricalSociety, Second Edition, Staunton, VA., C. Russell Caldwell,Publisher, 1902. Page 24, Para. 4:"...when, in 1732, Joist Hite anda party of pioneers set out to settle upon a grant of 40,000 acres ofland in the Valley." And a great deal more information.[Transcribed 27 April 2005, SLJuhl, Compiler]
IV). RESOURCE: "The Friendly Virginians: America's First Quakers",by Jay Worrall, Jr., clerk of three Friends Meetins in Virginia;Iberian Publishing Co., Georgia, 1994.http://www.chrisanddavid.com/LongGenealogy/longfamil/pafn12.htm
"This book was a delightful find at the Virginia Historical Society,Richmond. You can ask Amazon Books to search for a copy."
Excerpts: Chapter VI: "West of the Blue Ridge 1733-1750"
"ROBERT MCKAY, also a Nottingham Meeting Friend and his Germanpartner, Yost Hite, went to Williamsburg a year later in October 1731. They obtained 100,000 acres to the south of Ross and Bryan's grant.They also bought 40,000 acres allotted to the Van Meter brothers northof present-day Front Royal." "They came by the wagon road fromPhiladelphia to the frontier..." "Then the Valley of Virginia cameinto view. It was and is a kind of green Eden. The land was open andpark-like; ... Great mountains loomed blue on either side, east andwest. Presently, somewhere around Opequon Creek,
... ROBERT MCKAY would meet them, gravely smiling, and lead them totheir new home sites." "Crooked Run Meeting held in ROBERT MCKAY'Shome, three miles north of Front Royal. The home built of squaredchesnut logs still stands, in Cedarville on U.S. Route 522. LinvilleCreek, later Smith's Creek, met at first on land owned by ROBERTMCKAY, about where Broadway is now located - ..." "Friends in theValley in 1730's were isolated. The living was primitive anddangerous." "Friends came to their Meetings for worship carrying gunsagainst wild animals. One Quaker woman riding home from Meetingsidesaddle with her baby in her arms was chased by wolves right to hercabin door." "First Quaker bride in the Valley was HANNAH MCKAY,ROBERT'S daughter." "... the tribes welcomed the coming ofPennsylvania Quakers to the Valley." (Even though this broke thetreaty.) "Stories have come down about the visits of Indian huntersto Quaker homes in the Valley of Virginia." "...the Great Warrior'sPath where it crosses Smith's Creek, about 1734... etc...."
[Transcribed 25 March 2007, SLJuhl, compiler]
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1679 - 1746 (67 years)
