Alexander Watts McCoy was born on February 6, 1889 in Independence, Missouri. He attended the University of Missouri in 1906 with the intention of becoming a civil engineer. During his senior year at the University of Missouri, he became interested in the newly developing field of geology. He stayed after graduation to do graduate work in geology. In 1914 he earned a Master’s Degree in geology. He then accepted a position teaching at the University of Oklahoma. In 1917, McCoy began his long career in the oil business. He accepted a position at the Empire Gas and Fuel Company as head of the subsurface study department. His interest was centered around research and new ways of thinking in geology. He pioneered in oil-field water sampling, studies of oil-producing sands, studies of water encroachment, sub-surface mapping, sample logging, the use of the centrifuge for separation of oil from bottom sediment and water, and studies of the subsurface distribution of rocks and the determination of old shore lines. He served as chief research geologist for the Empire Gas and Fuel Company until the spring of 1920. At this time, McCoy became a consulting geologist with the firm of McCoy, Shidel, and Pasewalk and later with Alex W. McCoy and Company. In 1924, McCoy moved to Denver and became vice-president in charge of land and geology for Marland of Colorado. He later became vice-president in charge of land and geology for the Marland Production Company, which was a merger of Marland of Colorado, Marland of Texas, and Marland of Oklahoma. With this merger, McCoy moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma. With the stock market crash of 1929, the Marland Production Company went out of business. By 1940 he had joined the Deep Rock Oil Corporation as manager. He remained with this company until his death in 1944. McCoy belonged to many professional societies. He served as the president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in 1920. He later became the chairman of the research committee. He was also the society’s representative on the Division of Geology and Geography of the National Research Council from 1928 to 1931. McCoy married his college sweetheart Helen Aylesbury in 1917. They had 3 children, Alexander Jr., Phyllis, and Thomas. In 1927, Helen died. In 1943, McCoy was married again to Mrs. Elizabeth Shapard Terry of Tulsa. They had been friends since college.
From the guide to the Alexander Watts McCoy Papers, 1913 - 1946, (University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.)
