Biography
William V. McCoy was a "Virginia mountaineer" from Big Stone Gap, Virginia. William V. McCoy was convicted of conspiring to seize U.S. property and oppose the government and was sentenced to five years in prison. He served in Atlanta Penitentiary from August 17, 1917, to April 24, 1921. Although sixty-one years old when he went to prison, McCoy was confined in "the hole" from January to May 1918.
1920s remaining-entry review: The Keowee Courier, August 15, 1917, page 1, in the report headed Virginians Are on Trial, expressly states that William V. McCoy and John W. Phipps were arrested May 27, 1917 by Virginia guardsmen and government agents. The complete original page was visually checked. This establishes the arrest, not the date of admission to a particular prison; the other custody fields are unchanged.
The Keowee Courier, August 15, 1917 places the proceeding in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and reports the May 27, 1917 arrest of McCoy and John W. Phipps. The biography’s state has been corrected; the report does not establish an actual prison intake or discharge date.