John Loy (1747 PA—3 May 1840 Orange Co., NC at home of son Jacob)
md.
Mary Duffie (“Molly”) Holt (ca. 1750 Berks Co., PA—1833/1834 Orange Co., NC at home of son Jacob)
d/o John and Mary Holt.

John was son of Martin Loy (to America 1741) and wife Catherine (Foust) Loy.

Some records have given John’s birth date as 1 April 1747. This error is due to a 1962 DAR submission by descendant Jean May (Waggener) Chapin. In the DAR application papers, she wrote ancestor’s name, then began to put her 11 April birth date and birth place as Stanberry, MO. Apparently she realized her mistake, that she was to fill her ancestor’s data there, erased hers, typing in 1747 with birthplace PA. Because a faint 1 April can still be seen, many researchers (including author of Know Your Relatives, who used this as a source!) have thought this to be John’s birth date. Another discrepancy I’ve encountered is Mary (Holt) Loy’s death date. The 15 August 1801 date often given as Mary’s death was really the date her father John Holt made a Deed of Gift to his children, including daughter Molly Loy. As of yet, I haven’t found her actual death date. She was not listed in the 1842/1843 baptisms of the dead performed by John’s niece Margaret Ann (Loy) Clapp and her son Benjamin Clapp. Though Margaret’s uncle John was listed as deceased, Mary was not named. But then, these baptisms may have only been for blood relatives. If limited to blood relation, this would explain why John’s brother Henry’s wife Margaret was listed, supporting my theory that this Margaret was also a sister to Margaret (Loy) Clapp’s mother Catherine (Tillman) Loy.

John served in the Revolutionary War, but his pension application was rejected for lack of proof of sufficient service.

John and Mary likely only spoke German, or mainly German, as their sons John Jr. and George attended German-speaking Steiner’s (Stoner’s) Church. Some researchers claim John and Mary had son Solomon, but this was really a grandson, son of their son Henry. This stemmed from an early 20th century researcher who in a letter mentioned the Solomon Loy in the 1840 Chatham Co., NC census was a son of John and Mary (Holt) Loy, but he was really their grandson.

Besides their seven known children, the court records between John’s sons George and John mention another daughter. The 1800 census gives another female in household, which would have been this daughter who lived out of the county at time of John’s 1820 distribution of inheritance to his eight children. She was apparently still living during the time of the 1840 court matter between her brothers George and Jacob, otherwise the papers would have mentioned her as now deceased. Two of the three youngest females in John’s 1800 household were in the 1775-1784 birth age group and another in the 1784-1790 birth age group. The first group would have been Elizabeth and this daughter with unknown name. In 1806, both Elizabeth and Mary Eliza were married, and the other female was gone from the 1810 household as well. This implies she would have married by 1810 and shortly after marriage relocated out of the county, and very likely out of the state, as her brother John Jr. left North Carolina for Tennessee about that time.

Some researchers had also given a “Michael Loy” as a son of John and Mary (Holt) Loy. Aside from John and Mary’s sons listed below, which are all accounted for and categorized by age in the pre-1840 censuses, there are no “extra” males that could fit for another son. There was a Michael Lue in the Orange Co., NC marriage records ca. 1827, but both Michael Lue and John Lue in these records are from another family and not connected to the Loys, according to John Lue’s descendant.

To date, no will has yet been found for John Loy, nor grave sites for him and Mary. It is possible they were buried on son Jacob’s land.

John and Mary’s children:

*Both John and George had the same age groups in census 1800-1840. Through process of elimination, I was able to narrow the window down to a 1760-1765 birth year range. From the earliest family records, John was always listed before George. There is slight chance they could have been twins, but so far no evidence has proven whether they were or not. In 1800 census, George’s wife [Maria] was in same age category as he was. In 1810 no female his age category was listed, which seems to indicate she died by then.

**In an early 20th century letter to Miss Blanch Dixon of Elkin, NC, Eugene Baker Loy, Sr. wrote that his great-great-grandfather (Henry Loy) was a "large fat man who dropped dead while standing in door talking to someone." He said his own grandfather Haywood Loy was witness to it, being a small boy at the time, their residence being on Varnell’s Creek [Chatham Co., NC]. John Haywood Loy was born December 1844 and Henry is last known in census records in 1830 as well as two Orange Co., NC land sales on 1 April 1830, with one sale being to son John and the other sale being to son William. FamilySearch has a file of Orange Co., NC finalized estate records of Henry Loy, deceased, with the file labeled ca. 1819. Until now, I had dismissed this as being too late for my Henry (who died ca. 1798) and too early for his nephew Henry, this subject. However, upon careful, lengthy perusal, I realised the ca. 1819 label must have been based upon the 1819 due date of a borrower’s delinquent note (in other words, an I.O.U.) that was owed to Henry’s estate. All other papers in this estate were dated 1832 and 1834. The file contains no earlier papers, to determine when the estate filing was initiated, but from what papers are given indicates Henry died between the 1830 census and the earliest date (1832) in these estate finalization papers.

***Some earlier records had Polly’s death year as 1865. Her modern grave marker gives 1863.