Isaac McCoy Week(s) a summary and additional sources by Jim Curran

Isaac McCoy Week(s) a summary and additional sources. I hope you have enjoyed this look at the life of Isaac McCoy and that it has been an encouragement.

Many of the issues that arose in his day are similar to some that we are facing today. As I began to research McCoy I found myself in places that he had done work- and I felt like I was chasing him around the country in many ways. Thus the book that I am writing on him is entitled chasing McCoy. Perhaps this might encourage others to write on the Baptist history where God might place you.There is much research that can be done on him beyond the sources that I have mentioned although it covers his life well. Some of it I have found to be detective work- a little reference in his History leads me to other information. I will note some other sources that are not as readily available.

• The Isaac McCoy Papers from the Kansas State Historical Society. These are heavily referenced in Roustio however they are an even greater source of information. They are on a series of several microfilm reels. I was fortunate to be near a library that had a copy and spent many many hours pouring through them but feel I barely scratched the surface. reading these is often difficult and many times it is almost like trying to read barbed wire. There is a lot of great information here. They did not unfortunately publish his journal- I think that might fill in some holes in a couple of things that I am looking for
• The annual registry of Indian Affairs- Isaac McCoy. This was published by Particular Baptist Press but is now out of print. This is more a statistical survey of missionary work the McCoy did after removal over a period of years. It shows the amount of missions including other denominations. I looked through a library copy of this extensively but it is not really as useful as other sources.
• John M’coy His Life And Diaries Hardcover – Elizabeth and John M’Coy Haywood- This very rare book is about Isaac’s brother John (John changed the spelling of the family name so as not to be identified with the Hatfield McCoy feud) who was a deacon at Silver Creek as well as one of the founders of Franklin College. John outlived Isaac and pretty much the rest of the family. It gives insights of what happened afterward and John’s daughter Eliza would become a missionary to the Indians as well. I was able to read through a copy of this book in a library in Indiana and that was a non lending copy.
• Baptist Missions to the American Indians -Carl Coke Rister This little paperback gives some interesting summeries of McCoy’s work as well as that of the Valley Towns Mission among the Cherokee and others. Neat little book I found “by accident” in Texas- I had been looking for it.
• America In Crimson Red has a pretty good amount of information on McCoy.
• Isaac McCoy: America’s Advocate for Indians (PILLARS OF OLD KANSAS CITY) (Volume 1) by Sam Wellman This is a new book that was released- I have not had a chance to examine it.
• Isaac McCoy and the American Indians- Carol Spurlock Layman I include this as it will come up in a search for Isaac McCoy but it however is more of a historical novel rather than a history book and dramatic elements are introduced. For example a fictional conversation is included between McCoy and Isaac Parker.
• I consulted numerous county history books to fill in pieces here and there. I also filled in bits and pieces with some Indian histories, a history of one of the traders in Indiana as well as a history of the Parker family and a couple of other biographies.

I hope this series has been a blessing to you. Once I started researching this it was almost like information came to me. I would encourage you start researching the Baptist History around you and write.