John C. McCoy

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of John C. McCoy, and it's one worth hearing. Born in 1819, this man had already built himself a reputation practicing law in Kentucky before he ever set eyes on Texas.

But in 1845, he came. And when John C. McCoy arrived, things started happening.

He took on the role of agent for Peters' Colony (that stretch of territory laid out across Dallas and the adjacent counties), and in doing so, he planted himself right at the center of what this place was becoming. Now here's the thing about being first: somebody always is, and in this corner of Texas, that somebody was McCoy. He was the first attorney to practice law here.

Not the second. Not the third. The first.

He went on to found the bar association, which means every lawyer who ever stood up in a Dallas courtroom owes a quiet nod to this Kentucky transplant. And if courtrooms weren't enough action for him, he fought in the Mexican War. When he wasn't in the field or the courtroom, he was building something; the marker calls him an outstanding civic leader, and by the time you add it all up, that's not a stretch.

John C. McCoy died in 1887, having spent more than four decades shaping this place. First in, and it turns out, hard to forget.

What the marker says

(1819 - 1887) Practiced law in Kentucky before coming to Texas in 1845. Was agent for Peters' Colony located in Dallas and adjacent counties. First attorney to practice law here. He founded bar association; fought in the Mexican War; was outstanding civic leader. Recorded - 1968