BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, BELMONT COUNTY, OHIO

"History of the Upper Ohio Valley" Vol. II, 1890.

Presented by Linda Fluharty from hard copies provided
by Mary Staley & Phyllis Slater.


Pages 620-621.

WILLIAM BOYD

William Boyd, one of the oldest citizens of Belmont county, was born in
Ireland, February 2, 1801. He remained at the home of his parents, James
and Margaret (Emock) Boyd, until July 11,1823, when he sailed from Belfast,
and after an eleven weeks' voyage, landed in Maine. He then proceeded to
Pittsburgh, and thence to Shepardstown, where he remained until 1825.
There he was married to Margaret McFarland, a native of Ireland, who
came with her father to America in 1812. After his marriage Mr. Boyd
rented land for two years, and then bought fifty-eight acres of new land.
This he settled on and began to clear, and by years of skillful husbandry
he amassed considerable property, first adding eighty acres to his land,
and finally increasing it to 240 acres. He began at the bottom of the
ladder, having worked on first coming to the United States for $5 per
month as a weaver. About 1839 he experienced an accident which rendered
him unfit for farming. While going through a clearing one day he stopped
near a log heap to cut away a small stump, when one of the logs became
loosened and rolled over him, inflicting serious and permanent injuries.
Barring the results of that accident, he is, despite his great age, in
excellent health. He is a member of the United Presbyterian church, and
has been a member of the session and an elder for fifty-seven years. In
politics he is a republican. Nine children were born to him and wife,
of whom six are living, Andrew Mc., William, Ann Jane, Margaret, Isabel,
and Catherine.