Boyd, W. F.

BOYD, BOOTH, HENDRICKS, GIST, CLEMENTS, HARSH, CLAYTON, ORDOWAY

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/11/2009 at 10:56:47

W. F. Boyd was born in Carter County, Tenn., June 8, 1840, and is a son of J. R. and Elizabeth (Boyd) Boyd. His father was of German ancestry and was born in White County, Tenn., about 1818, being the eldest of five brothers. The name of the original emigrant or the exact date of his arrival in this country, we do not know, but it is known to be before the Revolutionary War. As far as we have been able to trace the family in this country we find them in Tennessee, where doubtless the first representative in America made settlement. Both the paternal and maternal grandfathers of our subject served in the War of the Revolution.

Though a resident of Tennessee, the father of our subject was not a slave owner; in fact, he was opposed to human slavery. In politics he was an old-line Whig; in religious belief, he was a member of the Methodist Church, in which he was an active worker. His wife was born in Carter County, Tenn., about 1822, and was a member of an old Scotch family. In 1852, Mr. Boyd brought his family north to Illinois, where he settled in Sangamon County, about twelve miles from Springfield. In 1857 he came to Iowa and settled on the farm now owned by our subject, and located in the northern part of Jasper County. There the wife and mother died in May 1882, and the father in September 1890.

Our subject is the next to the eldest in a family of ten children, of whom all but one brother and one sister are living. Cornelia L. married Leonard Booth, who was killed in Polk County, Iowa; she afterward married John Simpson, and died in Polk County; her son, James A. Booth, now resides in Springfield, Ill. George W. has a meat market in Nevada, Story County, Iowa; Harriet J. married John W. Hendricks, and after his death she became the wife of Holdon Gist; her third husband, John Clements, is a farmer residing five miles west of Newton. Nathaniel T., a private in Company B, Thirteenth Iowa Infantry, participated in the battles of Iuka find Corinth and died during his service at Marietta, Ga.; Eva, widow of William Harsh, resides near Newton; Mary E. married D. W. Clayton and lives in Nevada, Story County, Iowa, where he is engaged in the lumber business; James I. is a resident of Des Moines; Ellen married C. F. Ordoway and lives in Le Mars, Iowa; J. H. is a prominent attorney and land agent at Nevada, Iowa.

Although his advantages for obtaining an education were limited, our subject early applied himself to his studies, making use of every spare moment, and in this way he provided himself with a good store of knowledge. For some time he was a teacher in the public schools. His first work for himself was at the age of eighteen years, when he began to work out on a farm for fifty cents per day. In that way he earned sufficient money to pay for his first forty acres of land. In July 1863, he married Miss Cynthia A. Newhouse, who was born in Michigan, being the daughter of Jonathan Newhouse, a prominent farmer, and for some years Justice of the Peace.

After his marriage Mr. Boyd taught school and also worked on his farm. Being an excellent financier, he has accumulated a large fortune and is now recognized as one of the wealthy men of the county. He has been more or less interested in local politics and is a staunch Democrat. For three years he filled the office of Deputy County Treasurer. In the fall of 1891 he was a candidate for the position of County Treasurer, and had previously been a candidate for Sheriff and County Supervisor. While he has always been ahead of his ticket, the Republican majority has been too great for him to secure an election on the Democratic ticket. He has served his township as Assessor and has been chosen to fill the responsible position of Postmaster at Newton. A free and forcible writer, for many years he was a correspondent for different papers, but his attention has been devoted principally to his life occupation, that of a farmer and stock-raiser. He still continues to superintend his farm, although since 1887 he has resided in Newton.

Mr. and Mrs. Boyd are the parents of three sons. Charles E., a graduate of the Newton High School, Baltimore Medical College and Cleveland Medical College, is a rising young physician, and is now filling the head place in the University Hospital at Cleveland, Ohio; he is an active member of the Christian Church. Walter, who was educated at the high school of Newton, is a printer by trade and is employed on the State Democrat, at Newton. Alva L., the second of the three boys, died when he was eleven years of age. Though not identified with any religious organization, Mr. Boyd attends the Christian Church and contributes liberally to its support. His wife, a noble Christian woman, is actively identified with that denomination. The first deed ever recorded in Carter County, Tenn. was the deed from William Sharf to William Boyd in 1796, the latter being a great-grandfather of our subject. Portrait and Biographical Record, Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, IA Page 247.