Frank A. McCoy, attorney at law and editor of the "Hugoton Hermes," is recognized as one of the leading journalists of the Southwest, where he not only is a leading factor in the development of Stevens county, but has been the means of moulding public opinion through his newspaper, which, is the only one in the county. Mr. McCoy was born on a farm near Peoria, Ill., January 24, 1878, the son of Joseph A. and Mary E. Stewart McCoy. The McCoy family lived in Pennsylvania for many years, but the grandparents of Frank removed to Ohio, where Joseph McCoy was born December 3, 1849, on a farm near Wooster. In 1883 he came to Kansas, locating in Sedgwick county, where he farmed for two years before removing to Kingman county, where he followed the same vocation. From 1887 to 1912 Mr. McCoy was engaged in running a ranch in Barber county, but has given up active business and now lives at Hugoton, Kan. In politics he is a Democrat, but never held public office. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. McCoy married Mary E. Stewart, at Peoria, in 1873; she was born in Peoria county, Illinois, December 14, 1856, the daughter of James A. and Eliza Markley Stewart. Her grandfather Markley was an eminent lawyer and jurist in Illinois, where he had a great reputation. Mrs. McCoy died at Sawyer, Kan., October 20, 1909, leaving a family of four children: Dale S., born January 17, 1874, was elected sheriff of Stevens county on the Democratic ticket in 1908, and reëlected in 1910; is chairman of the Democratic central committee of the county and resides on a farm four miles from Hugoton. Frank A.; Joseph J., born September 30, 1893, lives at Hugoton, Kan., and Vera Madge, born September 2, 1898, also lives at Hugoton.

Frank McCoy was educated in the public schools of Barber county; then attended the county normal school, and when only sixteen years of age began teaching, a vocation he followed until he was twenty-one. He then entered the University of Oklahoma, at Norman, studying there until February, 1903. During the two years he was at the university Mr. McCoy was captain of the track team, and established a record of ten seconds for the hundred-yard dash. For two years he held the medal as the best all-round athlete in the territorial meets, including the all-star team of Oklahoma. After leaving Norman he entered the law department of the University of Kansas, graduating with the class of 1905. While at Kansas University he played on the football team and was a member of the track team in 1903 and 1905, establishing a record of fifty-one seconds for the quarter-mile dash, which he still holds. Mr. McCoy was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity while in Kansas University, also of the honorary law fraternity Phi Delta Phi, and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The June following his graduation from the law school, Mr. McCoy was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Kansas, at Topeka, and in the fall he became the physical director of the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, at Stillwater, a position he filled until 1906, when he located at Hugoton to engage in the active practice of his profession. The following November he was elected county attorney of Stevens county on the Republican ticket, being reëlected in 1908. In August of the latter year he purchased the Hugoton "Hermes," the only paper in the county, which he sold on October 1, I909. The first of the next year he removed to Liberal, Kan., opened a law office and carried on business until April, 1912, when he returned to Hugoton, opened an office and repurchased the "Hermes." Mr. McCoy is today regarded as one of the leading journalists of the Southwest; he has a gratifying practice, which is growing rapidly. He is the city attorney of Hugoton, and is editor of the "Hermes," making a great success of both business ventures. June 3, 1908, Mr. McCoy married Eula Gay, the daughter of John A. and Anna Gwyne Kelley, of Hugoton. Mrs. McCoy was born in Stevens county September 1, 1888, and passed away December 30, 1908. Mr. McCoy was married a second time on August 31, 1910, to Golde Isola, the daughter of James S. and Belle Vaughn Funk. Mrs. McCoy was born in Reno county, Kan., July 21, 1888. There is one child in the family: James Franklin, born July 20, 1911. Mrs. McCoy is a musician of note and an artist, having taken several prizes for her pictures at the Southwestern Fair, held at Liberal, and also took first prize for burnt wood work. She has classes in painting and music, and today is one of the social leaders of Hugoton, where the McCoy home is ever open to the many warm personal friends which have been there.