Call Number:

Item 0136

Repository:

University of Delaware Library Special Collections

Extent:

1 volume

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

MSS 0097, Item 0136, First National Eclectic Assurance Society Financial Committee minutes and John C. McCoy medical notes, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

Date:

approximately 1868 to 1879 (inclusive)

Creator:

First National Eclectic Assurance Society and McCoy, John Cresap, 1857-1924

Form:

Minutes (administrative records) and Notes

Abstract:

The first portion of this volume contains the meeting minutes of the National Eclectic Assurance Society of the United States, Finance Committee, from 1868-1873, while the latter portion contains notes kept by medical student John C. McCoy.

The First National Eclectic Assurance Society operated in the late 1860s and early 1870s and had its main offices in New York, New York. In 1869, the Society had $125,000 in capital and advertised itself as “representative of the Eclectic Principle in Life Assurance.” Many members of the Society’s Finance Committee also served on its board of directors, including Stephen Barker, William L. Strong, Spencer W. Coe, and Leon D. DeBost. The Society changed its name to the “Eclectic Life Insurance Company” in 1869.

The medical notes in the latter part of this volume were recorded by John C. McCoy. McCoy was born in Delaware in 1857 and graduated from the University of the City of New York’s Medical School in 1879. He later held a professorship in laryngology at New York University. McCoy was the architect and owner of the McCoy House, built between 1892 and 1897 in Kirkwood, Delaware. McCoy died in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1924.

The Eclectic Medical Journal, Volume 6, Cincinnati, June 1869.Insurance Laws Passed by the Legislature of the State of New York, Session of 1869. Albany: Weed, Parsons and Company, 1869.Catalogue of the Graduates and Officers of the Medical Department of the University of the City of New York. New York: Douglas Taylor, October 1890.Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929 (accessed via Ancestry.com on May 11, 2017)1860 Federal Census (accessed via Ancestry.com on May 11, 2017)1900 Federal Census (accessed via Ancestry.com on May 11, 2017)National Register of Historic Places, Inventory—Nomination Form, “McCoy House,” Kirkwood, Delaware, April 24, 1973.Information derived from the collection.

The first portion of this volume contains the meeting minutes of the National Eclectic Assurance Society of the United States, Finance Committee, from 1868-1873, while the latter portion contains notes kept by medical student John C. McCoy.

The National Eclectic Assurance Society Finance Committee recorded meeting minutes in this volume from July 21, 1868 until July 21, 1873. The minutes in the notebook contain dated entries and note important points from the meetings such as resolutions passed, duties given, and rent received. On March 20, 1873, the committee was granted the power to borrow money and sell stock. At the same meeting, one of the members offered his resignation, but it was not accepted.

John McCoy’s medical notes are undated, but were probably recorded while he was a medical student in the late 1870s. McCoy focused on diseases of the internal organs, including the kidneys, liver, stomach, intestines, larynx, and lungs. He provided precise information on disease symptoms, duration, prognosis, treatment, and other details. Within these notes, McCoy also included a thesis on “Medical Quackery,” dedicated to his professor at the University of the City of New York, Montrose A. Pallen.

This volume is bound with marbled paper over boards. The spine and corners are covered in red leather. On the front and back cover there is a black leather rectangle with the gilt-stamped words “FINANCE COMMITTEE.” The leather rectangle is surrounded by a gilt-tooled border. The volume contains 286 pages of lined, wove paper with handwritten text in black and red ink and blue pencil. The page edges are marbled.