History of Wayne County, Indiana, 1872
Samuel Boyd
was born in Craven Co., S. C., May 20, 1763. He was of Scotch
descent. His father, James Boyd,
had previously emigrated thither from
Virginia, and had six sons and two
daughters. The father and one son died in
a Tory prison during the Revolutionary
war; and Samuel, the subject of this
sketch, came near losing his life
by a ball from a Tory gun. He recovered,
however, with the loss of his left
eye, and served through the war, having
enlisted at the age of 16. He was
married, December 12, 1785, to Isabella
Higgins, who also was of Scotch
descent, and a not distant relative of Robert
Burns, the poet. She did not forget,
through life, that, when a young woman,
she danced with Andrew Jackson. In
1788, Samuel Boyd, with his wife and one
child, moved to Kentucky, where they
lived 23 years. To provide homes for his
nine children, he removed to Whitewater
Valley, Indiana; and in November, 1811,
he built a tent of bark and limbs
of trees on Martindale's creek, 2 miles north
of Jacksonburgh, where he entered
a quarter section of land, on which he lived
until his death, November 27, 1835,
aged 72 years.
In 1801, during the famed Kane revival,
in Kentucky, he made a profession of
the Christian religion, and during
the remainder of his life he labored
faithfully, as a minister, for the
salvation of others. During a missionary
tour to the Indians, he again came
near losing his life. An Indian boy
thoughtlessly touched a burning brand
to a keg of powder, blowing the rude
hut to pieces, killing two children,
and injuring Samuel Boyd, who was laid
out as dead. He recovered, and for
more than a score of years was an active
laborer in the cause of his Master.
He was a member of the Christian church,
then often termed "Newlights." As
a public speaker he was earnest and
animated, and for one of so limited
educational advantages was an efficient
Christian teacher. His wife lived
to the age of 88 years, and died a
Christian, October 31, 1852. They
had ten children; all but one having lived
to be married, and settled as farmers
and farmers' wives, and all except one
in Wayne county, Indiana.
1. James, who died in Richmond,
September 29, 1863.
2. John, who, at the age of
82, resides in Dublin.
3. William, who died in Harrison
township, September 22, 1846.
4. Elizabeth, wife of Elijah
Martindale, lives at Newcastle, aged 78.
5. Samuel K., who resides at
Centerville.
6. Laird, who died in infancy.
7. Robert, who settled in Henry
county, and died there,February 24, 1853.
8. Martha, wife of Joseph
Lewis, at Williamsburg, aged 71.
9. Mary, wife of Abner M.
Bradbury, Cambridge City, aged 67.
10. IsabellaLadd, who died
in Marion county, September 16, 1854.
These nine heads of families had 92
children; and these have so multiplied that it is
safe to estimate the descendants of
Samuel and Isabella Boyd at the present date
(1871), at 550 children, grandchildren,
great-grandchildren, and great-great-grand
children. At a social reunion of the
Boyd family in 1861, 274 of them sat down to a
dinner, more than one hundred and
fifty being absent.
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Samuel K.
Boyd, son of Samuel Boyd,
an early settler in Harrison, was born
in Kentucky, June 29, 1794, and removed
with his father to that township in
1811. He was married, in 1817, 1st
to Martha Lewis, daughter of John Lewis, of
Green, and settled 1 1/2 miles north-east
from Williamsburg, where he lived
until his removal to Centerville,
a few years ago, where he now resides. He
had by this wife five daughters: 1.
Priscilla, who married James Clemens, and
resides at Linnville, Randolph Co.
2. Narcissa, who married John Chamness, of
Williamsburg, and is deceased. 3.
Sarah Ann, who married Joseph Lomax, a
lawyer at Kalamazoo, Mich. 4. Evelina,
who married William A. Peelle,
Centerville. 5. Martha, wife
of Winston W. Harris, and resides at Somerset,
Wabash Co.
After the death of his wife, Mr. Boyd
was married, in 1828, to Bethany Ladd, by whom
he had ten children, five sons and
five daughters, of whom six were married:
1. Isabella, to Thomas Fagan,
of Williamsburg.
2. William L., to Rebecca
Martin; resides at Chester.
3. Catharine, to William
Goodrich, and resides at Dunkirk, Jay Co.
4. Mary, who married John
Keever, of New Garden, where she died in 1861.
5.. Bethany
unmarried
6. Samuel K., unmarried.
Of the other four, James, John,
and Amanda died young; and Joseph L., in 1865, the day
of his discharge from the United States
army, in Texas.
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John Boyd,
son of Samuel Boyd, Sen., settled, in 1812, on Green's Fork, two
miles east of the present town of
Jacksonburg. He married, in 1819, Susan
Scott, daughter of Alexander
Scott, and is the father of thirteen children:
Samuel S., Sarah A., Nelson, Cynthia,
who died in infancy; William A., who,
as Major of the 84th Indiana volunteers,
was killed in the late war, at
Tunnel Hill, Georgia; Eliza J.,
John F., James W., Joseph L., a private
soldier in the 57th Indiana volunteers,
who died soon after the battle of
Pittsburg Landing, from exposure in
the field; Oliver C., Mary, Martha, and
Susan; all of whom were married,
except Oliver C., who still
resides with his parents. In 1857,
John Boyd sold his farm and removed to
Dublin, Indiana where he and his wife
now reside, aged, respectively, 82 and 71
years. Four of his sons and two sons-in-law
enlisted in the Union army during
the late war; and three of the number,
two sons and one son-in-law, laid down
their lives in defense of their country.
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Samuel Scott
Boyd, son of John Boyd, was born March 31, 1820, in Jackson,
now
Harrison township. Laboring on the
farm nine months of each year until he was
twenty-two years of age, his education
was limited to the branches usually
taught in those times during three
winter months. At the age of nineteen, he
was promoted to teacher in the school-house
in which he had finished his
education, under the instruction of
George W. Julian, of Centerville. In
1843, he and a brotherin-law bought
and rebuilt the McLucas mills on Green's
Fork, two miles east of Jacksonburgh.
He was married 1st on October 14, 1844, to
Monimia Bunnell, daughter of
Dr. William Bunnell, of the town of Washington.
His health failing, he commenced,
in 1846, the study of medicine with his
father-in-law. In March, 1849, he
graduated in the Ohio Medical College, and
in April located in Jacksonburgh,
where he continued practice until the death
of his wife, an excellent woman, and
the mother of four children, of which
three are living. Immediately after
this event, which occurred January 7,
1862, he removed to Centerville. In
September following, he was commissioned
surgeon of the 84th Indiana Volunteer
Infantry, and remained in the army
until the close of the war, sharing
the many trials and triumphs of that
regiment. In 1865, the doctor located
in Dublin, where he is still engaged in
the practice of his profession. On
the 5th of September of that year, he was
married 2nd to Louisa E. Vickroy,
of Pennsylvania. He has been a contributor to
various papers and periodicals from
early manhood, and has taken an active
part in promoting the causes of temperance
and antislavery, and in efforts for the
moral, social, and intellectual improvement
of the community.
History of Wayne County Indiana, Andrew W. Young Cincinnati, 1872