Horton and Bryan Family History

Robert Pepper McCoun was born on 8 May1860 in Salvisa, Mercer County, Kentucky, the same year in which the only Kentucky-born president, Abraham Lincoln, was elected. Rob’s father was Joseph Eccles “Joe” McCoun (1825-1897). Joe was the son of Esther Eccles (1792-1881) and Joseph McCoun (1784-1829), who built the house in which Joe and Rob were born. All were descendants of Ulster Scots Presbyterians who were among the first settlers in Kentucky eight decades earlier.Rob’s mother was Mary Louise “Luta” Pepper (1834-1874), the daughter of a wealthy farmer, Samuel Pepper (1802-1874) and granddaughter of still-famous-today Elijah Pepper (1760-1831), who in 1812 founded the Kentucky bourbon industry. Luta’s mother, Mahala Perry (1804-1865), was a member of another wealthy Woodford County family.

On Valentine’s Day 1891, 30-year-old Rob McCoun and 22-year-old Syrene Cockerham exchanged wedding vows in the parlor of her Aunt Mary Sebastian’s home in Morgan County, Kentucky. The young couple settled in Wolfe County, Kentucky.

Their birthdates and names of Rob and Syrene’s children were:

1891, 24 November. Glenn Reynolds McCoun.

1892, 12 December. Hettie Frye McCoun.

1894, 28 August. Mahalah McCoun (born and died the same day).

1896, 22 September. Lucy Ethel McCoun (“Ethel”).

1898, 6 April. Samuel Caesar McCoun (“Caesar”).

1899, 10 December. Effie Wayland McCoun (“Wayland”).

1901, 29 December. Nancy Mayo McCoun (“Nannie”).

Robert Pepper McCoun on 25 September 1940. He was 80 years old. Rob was buried in the Evans Cemetery in Campton, where Syrene would join him 22 years later.

---