John Clark McCoy and Martha McFarlin

Conflicting Birth Dates	John Clark McCoy was born in Alabama on 7 May 1835 or 1836, to Daniel McCoy and Eliza Clark. His birthdate is given as May 7, 1836 in a record from the Joseph B. Long family. His application for a Confederate pension, dated 15 March 1909, says, "I will be seventy four years of age the 7th day of May next. I have lived in Texas 65 years and have lived in Gonzales County 30 years of that time..."         John C. McCoy came to Texas with his sister, Emmaline McCoy, and her husband, Joseph B. Long. John is found in the Long household in 1850 as a 14 year old. In 1850 they were living in Cherokee County, Texas. The Joseph Long family soon moved to Caldwell County, Texas.
Marriage	On 29 January 1857, John McCoy married Martha McFarlin in Caldwell County, Texas. Martha was the daughter of Louisa McFarlin who was married in 1844 to Sam Long, the elder brother of Joseph B. Long. Martha McFarlin was Sam's step-daughter. The identity of her father is unknown. McFarlin was her mother's maiden name.
McFarlin Mystery	The mystery of Martha's father is complex. In a biographical sketch, one son of Sam Long and Louisa McFarlin named his mother as "Louisa McRae". A story in the McCoy family says that Martha McFarlin McCoy's father and uncle were both killed in a battle near Goliad "after Santa Anna and the Alamo". Sarah's mother remarried to a man named Long.         In 1842, Erasmo Seguin was accused of killing three men, one of whom was named McRhea "at the Sulphur Springs" about a week before Dawson's Massacre in which Robert Cummings was killed. Robert Cummings was Louisa McFarlin's brother-in-law. This McRea/McRhea could have been the father of Louisa McFarlin's daughter, Martha. He may have married Louisa and deserted her or mistreated her enough for her to disdain using his name. If this McRea/McRhea was Martha's father, then the McCoy family story is pretty accurate. No other victim of Dawson's Massacre is a good candidate for Martha's father. Robert Cummings was certainly her uncle.
Children	John and Martha McCoy are said to have had ten children. Nine are known by name. Sarah Francis b 21 Nov 1857 d 1 March 1944 m 1 July 1879 Willis Adolph White Adam b 1861 d m Beatrice John Franklin b 26 May 1864 d 31 Jan 1944 m Nancy Luticia Davidson Martha Emma b 12 March 1868 d 15 March 1946 m JEJ Davis William Adolphus b May 1870 d m 1893 Florence Clemmie Davidson Charles Edward b 31 March 1873 d m 15 Nov 1896 Viola Earnest Rebecca Jane b 3 Feb 1875 d 15 July 1966 m Robert L. Thornton Daniel S b Sept 1877 d m Lillian Luther b 19 Jan 1880 d 6 July 1956 m Anna/Venie Dixon
At Home	John and Martha were married in Caldwell County in 1857 and living there in 1860. By 1870, they were residents of Gonzales County, though not far from where they had lived in Caldwell County. They were still in Gonzales County in 1880. This picture was likely made at their home in Gonzales County, before they went to live near their daughter in Eastland County. No one has recognized the little girl with them in the picture.         John and Martha were living in Eastland County, Texas in 1900. Daniel and Luther were still at home. Charles and John lived very close by with their wives and children. In 1910, John and Martha were living with their daughter Sarah and her husband Willis A. White, in Eastland County, Texas. We do not know when or where Martha died.
Mexican Sojourn	A granddaughter of Martha McCoy Davis, Lucy Helen Bates, wrote that John and Martha McCoy's son Charlie lived for a time in Mexico where he owned land. He lost his property at the time of the Pancho Villa raids, returning to Texas "broke", about 1914. Lucy thought that Grandma Martha McCoy was with Charlie and his family and came back to Texas with consumption (tuberculosis) from which she later died. If she died after 1914 in Texas, there should be a death certificate for her.
John C. McCoy 4 Generations	John Clark McCoy with daughter Emma McCoy Davis, her daughter Lucy Davis Parker and baby Emma Mae         John was living with his daughter, Martha Emmaline "Emma" Davis, in 1921. On July 25 he committed suicide. He was apparently in poor health. He was buried at the Thompsonville cemetery in Gonzales County, Texas.

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