Tehama
County
Biographies
GALEN
C. MCCOY
The conditions of climate and soil
have made the sheep industry one of especial importance in Tehama county, and Mr. McCoy for years has been actively engaged in
this occupation, having at the present time thirty-five hundred sheep and
fifteen hundred lambs, and in the pasturage of his large flock he utilizes ten
thousand acres of land. While his home has been in Red Bluff for many years and
he is intensely devoted to the progress of this part of the country, by birth
and rearing he is a Missourian, Clark county having
been the place of his nativity. Born October 2, 1846, he is the oldest son of
Joseph McCoy, whose history will be found in the preceding sketch. After having
completed the studies of the country schools and the high school at St. Francisville, Clark county, he was
sent to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where he attended the Iowa University for a brief
period. While still a mere lad he gained considerable experience in the stock
business through buying stock in the Mississippi valley. After leaving college
he was employed as buyer and receiver of hogs for A. Maxwell & Co.,
packers, of Alexandria, Mo., a firm that later was merged into the well-known
partnership of Cole Brothers, of St. Louis.
Having decided to locate in the west Mr.
McCoy came to California in 1872 and made a tour of inspection throughout the
state visiting many of the important points. In the fall of 1872 he settled in
Red Bluff, but in a very short time he left there and became manager of what is
now the Wawona hotel, also acting as agent for the Washburn
Stage Company. During the fall of 1873 he returned to Red Bluff on horseback
and embarked in the business of stock-buyer, making shipment principally to
Virginia City, Nev. After a few years he turned his attention to the raising of
sheep, which business has brought him a fair degree of prosperity and success
in return for his close devotion to its management. As happens to all who raise
stock, he has had his share of good fortune and bad, of success and adversity;
when prices were high, his profits were encouraging, but at times when prices
descended to a point below the cost of production he carried on the business
without any financial gains. However, eventually he has established his
position among the financially solid sheep-raisers of the county.
The marriage of Mr. McCoy occurred December 17, 1884, and united him
with Miss Isora Vickers, who for a few years before
her marriage successfully followed the occupation of school teacher. Her
parents, James and Jemima (Rogers) Vickers, were natives of Tennessee, and
moved from there to Texas, later went to Missouri, and finally traveled to the
Pacific coast, landing in California in the fall of 1857. The journey was made
by ox-teams and they brought with them a drove of cattle. The only child of Mr.
and Mrs. McCoy is a daughter, Georgia Dell, now a student in the Red Bluff high
school. The family are (sic) identified with the
Baptist Church, to whose varied philanthropies Mr. McCoy is a generous
contributor, as he is also to other enterprises having for their object the
upbuilding of the community and the elevation of its people morally,
spiritually and educationally. In politics he is a stanch
Democrat but has held no office except that of under-sheriff of the county. On
the organization of the Ancient Order of United Workmen of Red Bluff he became
a charter member of the lodge, in which he has retained his membership to the
present time. He is also a member of Vesper Lodge No.84, F. & A. M.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: "History of the State of
California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento
Valley, Cal.," J. M. Guinn, Page 423.
The Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, 1906.
© 2017 Cecelia M. Setty.
Golden
Nugget Library's Tehama County Biographies