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| Affiliation | Union Labor |
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1890-01-01 |
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| Name | John G. Coy |
| Address |
Fort Collins, Colorado , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
April 14, 1834
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| Died | July 07, 1912
(78 years)
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| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Modifed | Mr. Matt
Apr 14, 2022 07:23am |
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| Info | JOHN G. COY has resided on his present homestead in Larimer County since August 1, 1862. His settlement here was due to accident. He had started to California, with six oxen and two cows, but at Fort Kearney three of the oxen and one cow were stolen, and he was unable to make the long journey to the Pacific with the few left. In this way he was induced to establish his home in Colorado, the representations of Mr. Ames, whom he met causing him to locate on the Cache la Poudre, where a government post was established. His first home was a log shanty left by a squatter. He continued on the claim and in 1866 proved up on the land, securing the title to one hundred and sixty acres, and here, across the river from Fort Collins, he has improved a place that is the admiration of every visitor.
Mr. Coy was born in Oswego, N. Y., April 14, 1834. His father, William, a native of Lincolnshire, England, came to America in young manhood and became boss miller in the Oswego mills. He died when his son; our subject, was ten years of age. The wife and mother, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Thorp, was born in England and died in Oswego six months after the death of her husband. She left three children, John, Benjamin (now a contractor in Oswego, N. Y.) and William (who died in St. Louis). Our subject, the oldest son, was taken into the home of an uncle, but after a few months went to work for a miller, three miles from Oswego. There he remained until he was thirteen. In 1847 he went to Illinois and settled in Bloomingdale, DuPage County, where he had an uncle, a farmer. He made his home with the uncle and during two winters attended school. In 1852 he returned to Oswego, then went via New Orleans to St. Louis. In the spring of 1853 he joined a company of twelve men, accompanying a cattle train of three hundred head of cattle, also some horses. He went from St. Louis to Kansas City, thence up the Kaw River to Fort Kearney, then followed the Platte to Julesburg, where he crossed, and struck the North Platte at Ash Hollow, then went up the south side of that river, which he crossed one hundred miles above Fort Laramie, paying a heavy toll to cross the bridge. From there he went through South Pass, thence to the head of the Humboldt and down to the desert, from there to the Sacramento Valley. At Nicholas, on Feather River, he and his friends broke camp and separated. He secured employment on a farm, but after two months engaged in mining on the Yuba River. When the rainy season began he left the mine and went to Grass Valley, where he made shingles during the winter. In the spring he went to St. Louis, Cal., where he worked at mining by the day. His next location was at Goodyear's Bar, where he took up a claim and mined during the summer, thence went to lone Valley in the fall and there mined for one year. From Shasta, his next location, he went to Dog Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River, and there remained two years, thence to Dogtown, in Butte County, where he engaged in mining for three and one-half years. He returned east from San Francisco in 1861 across the isthmus, where he first heard of the Civil war. Returning to Oswego, during the same year he again went west, traveling through Kansas and Nebraska. Near Fort Scott, Kan., he was captured by the "Jay Hawkers," who thought he was a southerner, but who released him on learning he was from New York. On his way to an uncle in Cuba, Mo., via Kansas City, he was caught by the Confederates at Warrensburg, and was held for several days, but fortunately was acquainted with a captain in the regiment from there, and from him secured release. Finally reaching his uncle, he spent a few weeks there, then returned to Oswego, using a provost marshal's pass, which he still holds. From Oswego he went to Iowa, and in Fayette, that state, in the spring of 1862, married Miss Emily Adams, who was born in England, but was brought to America by her parents when a child. With his wife he went to Cuba, Mo., where he outfitted for a trip across the plains, intending to go to California, but, as above stated, landing in Colorado. In the spring of 1866 he took his wife and child back east, to Iowa and Oswego, where they remained for a few months, returning via St. Joseph with a mule team.
In 1864 Mr. Coy started the ditch from the Cache la Poudre one mile away, to his farm, and this has given him an abundance of water ever since, as he has a priority of water right. After securing one hundred and sixty acres he preempted another tract adjoining, of the same size, and later sold twenty acres, which left him three hundred acres, all under cultivation. His sonin law built the Hoffman mill, a grist mill, which has fine water power. He has improved the farm with a good residence and substantial barns. For a time he grazed cattle near Sherman. He now owns a cattle ranch on the North Platte in Wyoming, where he has a son who is engaged in raising stock.
Mr. Coy has been interested in the stock business and has fed sheep and cattle profitably, being among the first to engage in these industries. The first ten crops of wheat that he raised averaged over twenty-six bushels to the acre, and his two best crops reached forty bushels to the acre. Politically he is identified with the People's party and has been chairman of the county committee. In early days he was the Labor Union candidate for the legislature, also was candidate for county treasurer. In 1890 he was the Union Labor candidate for governor, but his party was in the minority. He has been connected with the Grange and Farmers' Alliance, and for one term served as president of the Fair Association. His wife attends the Methodist Episcopal Church. They are the parents of six children: Elizabeth, a graduate of the Agricultural College and wife of Waiter Lawrence, who is a professor in that institution William B., who is ranching in Wyoming; Fannie E., wife of John Hoffman, of Fort Collins; Anna B. and John E., who are graduates of the high school; and Burgis O., the three last named at home.
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