General Notes

Alias:<ALIA> /McKoy/
REFN: 24116
[lillief.ged]
Notes for LILLIAN BONNIE MCCOY:
Great story about Lillian as written by Emma Barrett Reeves. "My moth
er 's memory, always good, was even sharper in her last years. After s
he w as 90 years old, she frequently told me stories from her youth; one w
as co ncerning this cousin, Lillian Bonnie McKoy. Mother was teaching sc
ho ol in Fate, Texas; one day in 1895 a Mississippi acquaintance from Sco
tt C ounty, Mississippi came to her boarding house and asked her to go wi
th h im to cousin Matt's house (this was Martha Zuleka) to help make a wed
di ng dress for Lillian McCoy. Mother was greatly surprised, for she kn
ew th at Lillian was engaged to Lovie McKendrie, a match highly approv
ed by h er parents, but Boss Farmer and Lillian had made it up to run aw
ay a nd be married, and they needed the wedding dress in a hurry. Mother r
ecall ed clearly the lovely material was to be trimmed in brocade. Stel
la Matt a nd some others already at the house, set to work. About mid-afte
rnoon, aft er a final fitting, Lillian and Boss went back to the McKoy ho
me in the co untry, leaving the girls to finish the dress. As they were pu
tting the fin ishing touches to the dress, Boss came back and told th
em to put the dre ss away cause the wedding was "Off!".
It seems that Aunt Margaret had gotten wind of the planned elopement a
nd l ured Lillian into the smokehouse and slammed the door and locked i
t. She r efused to let her out until Boss had left town. It was reported t
hat Bo ss entered into a spite marriage after he returned to Mississipp
i; beca me a heavy drinker and went to the dogs generally. The story go
es that Lov ie nearly wrecked his buggy getting out to the McCoy farm wh
en he was to ld what was going on".