John Calvin McCoy (September 28, 1811September 2, 1889) is considered the "father of

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Early life

McCoy was born in

Vincennes, Indiana Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the lower Wabash River in the Southwestern Indiana, southwestern part of the state, nearly halfway between Evansville, Indi ...

. He studied as a

land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

Transylvania College Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southe ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, during 1826-1827. He accompanied his parents

Isaac Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was the ...

and Christiana (Polk) McCoy to Kansas City to perform

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

missionary work in 1830.

Career

In 1833, John McCoy built a two-story cabin at what is today 444 Westport Road on the northeast corner of Pennsylvania Avenue. He opened a store for travelers on the Santa Fe and

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

trails. He named the area Westport because it was the last settlement before travelers ventured into the

Territory of Kansas The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the free state of Kansas. ...

. McCoy's store was four miles from the Missouri River in the hills away from the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

. He established a dock at a rocky point in the river between Main and Grand Street, which came to be called Westport Landing. He followed a trail that was to become Broadway to reach it. The natural wharf became quite popular but the land surrounding it belonged to Gabriel Prudhomme, a farmer. After Prudhomme was murdered in 1831, his property was auctioned in 1838 to settle the estate. Fourteen people, including McCoy, bought the property by forming the Town of Kansas Company after the French description of the area around the town, ''chez les Canses'' ("home of the Kansa" Indians). He platted it into 318 lots for sale. In 1853, when the town was officially charted by the state of Missouri, the English pronunciation of the French name was applied to the new "City of Kansas", which later became known as Kansas City. Due to his sympathies with the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, he was required to leave Kansas City by General Order No. 11 of 1863.

Personal life

John married Virginia Christiana Chick (December 20, 1820 – April 28, 1849) on January 23, 1838. She was the daughter of William Miles Chick (August 31, 1794 in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

– April 7, 1847 in Kansas City, MO) and Ann Eliza Smith (1796 in Virginia – 1876 in Kansas City, MO). The McCoys had several children: Josephus (December 6, 1838 – September 2, 1843), Eleanor (December 2, 1840 – ?), Juliette (February 16, 1842 – ?), Spencer Cone (July 25, 1844 – January 8, 1863 in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

as a Confederate soldier), William Chick (February 21, 1846 – May 12, 1848), and Virginia (August 22, 1848 – ?).

Death

He was buried in Union Cemetery.

Legacy

Kansas City Public Library The Kansas City Public Library is a public system headquartered in the Central Library in Kansas City, Missouri. The system operates its Central Library and neighborhood branches located in Kansas City, Independence, and Sugar Creek. Founde ...

historian said McCoy "single-handedly had the greatest effect on the development of early Kansas City". He is widely regarded as "the father of Kansas City". Pioneer Park is at Westport and Broadway, with a sculpture by Thomas L. Beard of

Alexander Majors Alexander Majors (October 4, 1814 – January 13, 1900) was an American businessman, who along with William Hepburn Russell and William B. Waddell founded the Pony Express, based in St. Joseph, Missouri. This was one of the westernmost points ...

, John McCoy, and

Jim Bridger James Felix "Jim" Bridger (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) was an American mountain man, trapper, Army scout, and wilderness guide who explored and trapped in the Western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was known as Old ...

References

External links

"John Calvin McCoy"
University of Missouri, Kansas City resources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCoy, John Calvin 1811 births 1889 deaths People from Vincennes, Indiana Transylvania University alumni People from Kansas City, Missouri