BOYCE, Stephen A., b 1865; 1905 Bio, Delta County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/delta/bios/boycesa.txt --------------------------------------- Donated August 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- Stephen A. Boyce Stephen A. Boyce, of Delta, one of the prominent and successful business men of western Colorado, has had a varied and interesting career in different parts of the Southwest and West, and although the lines of life have at times been rugged and stern for him, he is of the fiber that does not shirk from endurance or shirk a duty because it may be unpleasant. He is a native of Texas, born in 1865, and his parents were Isaac and Caroline (Wilkinson) Boyce, the former a native of Mississippi and the latter of Missouri. The father emigrated to Texas in 1834 and became one of the early promoters of the stock industry which has grown to such great proportions in that state. He aided in building the first residence in the now flourishing and beautiful capital of the state, and was one of the substantial contributors to its early growth and progress. In 1865 he crossed the plains with ox teams to California, where he remained until 1871 engaged in the stock business. He then returned to Texas and again became prosperous and prominent in the stock industry and farming there, following these occupations until his death in 1884, at the age of sixty. The mother also became a resident of Texas in 1834, moving there with her parents at that time from her native state. She was married in her new home and died there February 5, 1904, at the age of seventy-six. They were the parents of eleven children, Stephen being the seventh son. His school days were passed in his native place, and they were limited in extent and the proper facilities for an education. At the age of seventeen he began life's work for himself, engaging in the general occupation of his section at the time, and the one to which he had been bred, the stock business. His first work of magnitude was a journey by trail from Texas to Dodge City, Kansas, which he made in 1882. From there he traveled over a trail to the Big Horn mountain in northern Wyoming, where he remained until the fall of 1884, then went to New Mexico, finding profitable employment in that territory until 1889. At that time he returned to his Texas home, and in the spring of 1892 came again to Wyoming and later to Colorado. In 1899 he settled at Delta where he has since lived and been actively engaged in raising stock and dealing on a large scale in real-estate and the loan business. He has been successful in his business and is one of the best known and most prominent men of this section in his lines. He has also had a gratifying success in mining, being the discoverer and owner of the Flossie B. copper mine and other valuable properties in the mining regions. He was married in 1897 to Miss Flossie E. Gaddis, who is one of the ornaments to the social life of the community in which they live, as he is one of the pillars of its industrial and commercial interests. =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access.