Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Boyd, William S. 1840 - living in 1917
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com July 23, 2005, 6:11 pm

Author: B. F. Bowen

WILLIAM S. BOYD.

    William S. Boyd, one of the well-known and prominent retired farmers and
old-time freighters of Irving, Marshall county, was born in Bath county.
Kentucky, on September 8, 1840, the son of Samuel G. and Roxlina (Mark-well)
Boyd. The parents were natives of Virginia and were early settlers in Kentucky,
where the mother died in 1862.

    William S. Boyd received his education in the schools of his native state,
where he grew to manhood. He and his father's family experienced many of the
hardships of the Civil War, but their sympathies were with the Union. In 1863
William S. Boyd enlisted in Company A, Seventh Kentucky Cavalry and gave
nineteen months of active service to the cause of the Union. Much of his service
was rendered in scout duty, and when near Springfield, Tennessee, he was
captured and served a time in Libby prison. After receiving an honorable
discharge, he returned to his home in Kentucky, where he remained until
February, 1865, when he came to Kansas. He made the trip by way of Quincy,
Illinois, and was accompanied by his sister and her husband, William Fenwick,
both of whom are now deceased. They came to Marshall county, where Mr. Boyd
worked at grubbing for John Wells for six weeks. He then engaged as a freighter
and made seven trips across the plains, his last trip being to Cheyenne, Ft.
Mitchell and Julesburg, and he acted as a collector, in which he was most
successful. He went as a hand under Bob Smith and William Wells, and on his
first trip he acted as one of the bull whackers. He drove five yoke of good
oxen, and was backed in the enterprise by John Wells. After several trips, Mr.
Wells had over ten thousand pounds of freight, which brought him twenty-two
dollars per one hundred weight for transporting to Ft. Laramie. In June, 1866,
with George Martin and Ed Stenniff, Mr. Boyd started for Ft. Laramie with a
train of freight, and were forty-seven days on the road. The freight bill
realized two thousand dollars, less the expense. The life proved a hard one and
was accompanied with many dangers.

    In 1868 Mr. Boyd retired from the work and settled on a farm in Wells
township, Marshall county. In 1870 he homesteaded eighty acres in Wells township
in section 3. Here he built a frame house, sixteen by sixteen feet, which at
that time was considered a splendid home. He developed his farm and engaged in
general farming and stock raising with much success. He added to his farm and is
now the owner of five hundred and fifty-six acres of excellent land, after
selling one hundred and sixty acres that he at one time owned in Riley county.
He continued the active life of a farmer until 1910, when he moved to Irving,
where he now resides and where he has a splendid home, with all the conveniences
to which his active life has entitled him. During 'his active life on the farm,
in addition to his general farm work, he handled some eighty head of cattle and
many hogs, each year, which he placed on the market at the best prices.

    In May, 1874, Mr. Boyd was married to Laura B. Pollitt, a native of
Kentucky, where she was born on March 21, 1855. She was the daughter of Thomas
Alexander and Eliza (Deatley) Pollitt, who were natives of Virginia and later
located in the Blue Grass state. Mrs. Boyd was reared in her native state and
there received her education in the local schools. Mr. Boyd had located in
Marshall county and he returned to the old Kentucky home to claim his bride. To
Mr. and Mrs. Boyd have been born the following children: Lillie Belle, John A.,
George L., Omer S., Charles A., Ella May, Lena, Frank, Emma, Lawrence J. and
Thomas A. Lillie Belle Stoneman is a resident of Blue Rapids township, where her
husband is a farmer; John A. is the owner of eighty acres of land in Wells
township, and is now engaged as rural mail carrier out of Irving; George L. is
on the old home place in Wells township, and is engaged in general farming and
stock raising; Omer S. is the proprietor of a meat market at Irving; Charles A.
is engaged in farming in Bigelow township; Ella May Abrant resides in Colorado,
where she and her husband have homesteaded at Ordway; Lena is the wife of Roscoe
C. Denton of Irving; Frank is also a resident of Irving; Emma Big-low lives in
Bigelow township, where her husband is a farmer; Lawrence J. resides in
Colorado, and Thomas A. lives at Irving. Mr. and Mrs. Boyd are active members of
the Methodist Episcopal church and have long been prominent in the social and
the religious life of the township, where they have a beautiful home. Their
lives have been most active, and there are few residents of the county who are
entitled to more praise and honor for their good work. Coming to the county,
much of it then an undeveloped prairie, they had their share in the work of
making Marshall county one of the great farming and stock counties of the state.
During their lives, they have seen much of the territory developed from the home
of wild animals to well cultivated fields. Journeys are now made on steel trains
or in the automobile, over splendid roads. How different now is the
transportation of the commodities of life across the plains, to the days of Mr.
Boyd and his ox team. Mr. Boyd came to Kansas in 1865, one of the first settlers.

    Politically, Mr. Boyd is identified with the Democratic party and has always
taken a keen interest in civic life of the township and county. He was the first
treasurer of Wells township and had much to do with the organization of the
district. He and his wife always took the deepest interest in the educational
development of the community and had much to do with the moral standard of the
territory in those early days. Their lives have been spent in useful work, and
now they are enjoying the evening of their lives in peace and contentment,
honored and loved by all who know them.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions
by
Emma E. Forter

Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917)

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/marshall/bios/boyd93bs.txt

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