James H. McCoy Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1276-1277 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.


	JAMES H. McCOY, who is now serving on the bench of the fifth 
judicial circuit of the state, was born on a farm near Oakley, Macon 
county, Illinois, on the 14th of July, 1855, the son of Benjamin F. and 
Minerva D. (Helm) McCoy, the former of whom was born and reared in 
Greenbrier county, Virginia, where he devoted his active life to 
agricultural pursuits. He is now a resident of Oakley, Illinois, of 
which state he is an honored pioneer. His wife was born near the city of 
Baltimore, Maryland, in 1830, and died at Oakley, Illinois, in 1889. 
The subject of this sketch pursued his studies in the district schools 
during his boyhood days and then entered the high school at Decatur, 
Illinois, where he fitted himself for matriculation in the Illinois 
Wesleyan University, at Bloomington, being graduated in the law 
department of that institution as a member of the class of 1880. During 
the following two years he gave his attention principally to teaching in 
the public schools of his native state, and in 1883 he was appointed 
special field examiner for the United States pension department, with 
headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky. In July, 1885, he was dismissed 
from this position on account of "offensive partisanship," and the 
following month he opened a law office at Britton, Marshall county, 
Dakota territory, there continuing in active practice until 1893, when 
he removed to Webster, Day county, South Dakota, where he built up a 
large and important law business, remaining in practice there until 
January, 1900, when he transferred his residence and professional 
headquarters to the city of Aberdeen. His practice was of general 
character, and from 1890 to 1901 he probably tried as many civil cases 
as any other attorney in the circuit, this fact standing in unmistakable 
evidence of his ability and the confidence reposed in him by the public. 
In 1887 Judge McCoy was appointed county auditor of Marshall county, and 
two years later was elected county judge of that county, being re-
elected in 1892. In 1901 he was elected to his present exacting and 
responsible office of judge of the circuit court of the fifth judicial 
circuit, embracing the counties of Brown, Beadle, Day, Grant, Marshall, 
Spink and Roberts. His rulings on the bench have shown him to be 
possessed of a clear, judicial mind, a thorough knowledge of the 
minutiae of the law, and a desire to subordinate all else to the ends of 
justice, so that he has but augmented his hold upon popular confidence 
and esteem. On April 27, 1904, at the judicial convention held at 
Webster, the Judge was renominated by acclamation for a second term of 
four and a half years as judge. The Judge is an uncompromising advocate 
of the principles of the Republican party, in whose cause he has 
rendered effective service, having served as chairman of the central 
committees of both Marshall and Day counties. Fraternally he is 
identified with the Masonic order, having served two years as senior 
warden of Coteau Lodge, while a resident of Webster; he is also a member 
of the Modern Woodmen of America, and of the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen. 

	In Springfield, Illinois, on the 27th of June, 1883, Judge McCoy 
was married to Miss Hanna F. Heath, and they have two children, Lelah 
K., who was born March 11, 1886, and James C., who was born October 18, 
1892.