Caddo, OK; Bryan County Star; Newspaper - Boydstun

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Jack Boydstun boydstun@email.msn.com
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The Bryan County Star, Caddo, OK.  August 31, 1972

Boydstuns Came To Blue County In 1872

     John Hall Boydstun was one of the first white settlers in the 
Caddo area.  He and his brother, William C. Boydstun, came to Blue 
County, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory during 1872, the same year 
that Caddo was founded.
     They settled near Armstrong Academy and brought with them horses,
 cattle, and other livestock to begin farming and ranching.
     In 1876, John Boydstun moved to a place about two miles west of
Caddo, where he built a home.  He hauled the lumber and materials to
construct the house from Paris, Texas.  Barns, cribs, horse corrals, 
and cow pens were built from logs and timber cut in the area.
     Although Boydstun fenced about 120 acres of land with rails and 
he broke and farmed the native sod, he was primarily a stockman.  He 
brought with him some of the finest horses and livestock that had ever 
been in Indian Territory.  With this he developed a fine herd of 
quarter horses and racing stock which participated in races throughout 
the area, including Sherman, Texas.
     To meet the needs of freighters and other travelers using the old 
military road from Caddo to Fort Sill and Fort Reno, Boydstun had a 
blacksmith shop and a repair shop.  He or his employees repaired 
freight wagons and ox bows.
     John Boydstun was very active in the Masonic Lodge in Arkansas 
and in Indian Territory.  The records of Scottsville Lodge 112, Pope 
County, Ark., show that he was made a Mason in 1863 and was a member 
of that lodge until he demitted to the Caddo, Indian Territory, Lodge 
No. 3 on March 26, 1878.
     While a member of the Caddo Lodge he was Senior Steward in 1879, 
1881, and 1884, Junior Warden in 1882, and Junior Steward in 1883.  He 
was an active lecturer for Masonic work.
     Born near Chattanooga, Tenn. On February 24, 1823, John Hall 
Boydstun was the son of Cavanaugh Boydstun and Polly Slape Boydstun.  
He married Elizabeth Cummings (born Nov. 7, 1821) in Hamilton County, 
Tennessee on January 16, 1845.  Elizabeth died in Texas on March 28, 
1848.
     Boydstun left Texas in about 1851 or 1852 to go back to Tennessee 
and when he arrived in the vicinity of Dover, Pope County, Arkansas, 
he decided to remain there.  Pauline Ridge of Liberty Township, Pope 
County,Arkansas became Mrs. John Boydstun on Nov. 18, 1852.  She died 
June 6, 1854.
     In May, 1855, Boydstun married Pauline's sister, Sina Ann Jane 
Ridge (born Oct. 16, 1838).  To this marriage there were born eleven 
boys and two girls, all of whom lived in Caddo or the immediate area.  
Sina died February 22, 1881, and John died at the home of his son, 
Thomas Hall Boydstun, in Caddo on November 7, 1902.  Both are buried 
in the Caddo cemetery.
     Many of John Boydstun's decedents[sic] still reside in the Caddo
area.  Among these are a granddaughter, Ethel Haigh of Durnat, 
daughter of George A. Boydstun; Howard, son of Tom Hall Boydstun; and 
Grady of Caddo.

Submitted by: Samantha Edwards Boydstun (boydstun@msn.com)
March 6, 1999