JOSEPH N. McCOY, M. D.
Dr. Joseph N. McCoy, who for a number of years has
successfully practiced as physician and surgeon in Corydon and
has built up a gratifying clientage in this connection, has
not only become well and favorably known in connection with
his profession but also has served as mayor of his home city,
greatly promoting during his administration public interests. Dr. McCoy was born
in Memphis, Missouri March 12, 1859, and is a son of Joseph J.
and Mary (McCandless) McCoy, both natives of Kentucky. The paternal
grandfather was Zachariah McCoy, who as a young man crossed
the Atlantic from Scotland to seek a home in the new world and
find prosperity in its opportunities. He first located in
Virginia, but later removed to the Blue Grass state. Joseph J. McCoy,
the father of our subject, came to Missouri in 1856, where he
located at Memphis. During
his active life he followed agricultural pursuits
successfully. He
made his home at Memphis until his demise, which occurred in
the early ‘60s. Mrs.
Mary McCoy removed to Allerton, Iowa, after the death of her
husband, where she subsequently passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph
J. McCoy were the parents of nine children, seven sons and two
daughters, all of whom grew to maturity.
Joseph N. McCoy, our subject, was reared at home and
received his education in the public schools. Having acquired a
fundamental knowledge of English learning, he decided upon a
medical career and in order to take up studies along this line
removed to Keokuk, Iowa, where he attended the College of
Physicians and Surgeons, from which he graduated with the
degree of M. D. in 1882.
Shortly thereafter he came to Corydon, Iowa, where he
remained in practice for four years, but in 1886 he removed to
Pratt, Kansas, where he established an office and successfully
followed his profession for some time. In February, 1898,
he returned to Corydon, where he has since built up a
clientage of gratifying proportions. In the course of his practice he has
become more or less identified with surgical work and serves
as local surgeon for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Railroad, and the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. His work in this
connection as well as in his private practice is of a high
order and he enjoys the full confidence of his patents. In the course of
years he has not only gained a wide experience but he has
natural intuition for the exercise of his profession. He is careful in
diagnosis and after he has once recognized the nature of a
case he is quick in his decision and seldom fails to apply the
right kind of remedy.
Dr. McCoy was married in 1877 to Miss Louisa L.
Thompson, of Memphis, Missouri, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Joseph Thompson. They
have one son, Bernard E., who makes his home in Spokane,
Washington, where he follows the same profession as his
father, specializing in diseases of the eye, nose and ear. He is a graduate of
Barnes Medical College of St. Louis, where he finished his
course in 1905. He
is married and has one son.
Dr. McCoy is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias,
and has been highly honored by that organization, as he was
grand chancellor for the Domain of Iowa for the year 1910. However, he
practically centers his whole attention upon his profession. All of his time is
given to his patients and he is at their service day or night
whenever and wherever needed, going to any inconvenience to be
of help in an emergency.
He is a member of the state and county medical
societies and also of the Des Moines and Southwestern Iowa
Medical Associations, and through the medium of these
memberships keeps in contact with new work done in the
profession and the latest methods and discoveries made in the
world of medical science.
There is little dissension of opinion regarding the
high quality of his work and he has won for himself favorable
criticism for the skillful methods which he has followed not
only among the general public but also among his colleagues in
the profession.