Josiah McCoy Justice of the Peace at Westminster, was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, May 20, 1826. His father was Colonel John McCoy, of Scotch ancestry; and his mother, whose maiden name was Jane Brice, was a daughter of Rev. John Brice, of West Virginia. They were among the early settlers of Washington County, Pennsylvania. In 1850 Josiah McCoy went to Marshall County, Illinois, followed farming for a number of years, and subsequently mercantile business some five years at Henry, that county.
In December, 1873, he became a citizen of California and a resident of the town of Westminster, where he bought 120 acres of land. This he has put under a high state of cultivation, and is carrying on the dairy business and stock-raising. He also owns valuable land near Beaumont, in San Bernardino County. Politically he affiliates with the Republican Party and sympathizes with the Prohibition movement; he is public-spirited, aiding in all good enterprises.
Mr. McCoy was first married in 1854, to Miss Mary L. Noe, a native of New Jersey; their children are: John J., now of Beaumont; Carrie B., a teacher; Jessie A., a student at the Normal School at Los Angeles; Chester M., of Beaumont. Judge McCoy lost his first wife in 1865, and was married again April 23, 1868, at Coshocton, Ohio, to Miss Martha L. Wells, a native of Licking County, that State, and daughter of Chester and Polly (Case) Wells, natives respectively of Chatham and Granby, Connecticut. By the latter marriage the children are: Hattie Wells, Mamie Sturges and Wells Brice. Miss Hattie is attending Hanna College, and Miss Mamie is a student at the Normal School at Los Angeles. Mr. and Mrs. McCoy are members of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is an elder.