Finding Your Folks: Boyds from Meriwether to Alabama

Last week I mentioned an e-mail I received concerning the Boyd family belonging to Grady and Martha Stone.

Their Boyds migrated from Meriwether County, Ga. to Cleburne County, Ala. I can't connect my Boyds with these yet, but since they were in Meriwether County, chances are there is a link there somewhere.

Martha and Grady write: "Thank you for your interesting articles. We are searching for Boyds and specifically the mother and father of William Boyd, born 28 Dec. 1822. William married Mary Jane Smith, in Meriwether Co. on 5 Feb. 1843. They moved to Cleburne Co., Ala. where William is listed in the 1850 census. They had 13 children, one being Matt Allen Boyd who was my grandfather.

"William Boyd and Mary Jane are buried south of Heflin Ala., near Boyd Mountain. William and Mary Jane had 13 children and the list includes more than 150 descendants, in some cases through the fourth generation. We will be glad to share information. Martha & Grady Stone, stoneg@bellsouth.net"

I looked through my Boyds but nothing connected based on the limited research I had done. However, since it was a family name, it piqued my interest and I did a little digging. I had already done a tiny bit of Boyd research last year, but not nearly enough. I also received some excellent Boyd information from Erlene Boyd in Villa Rica. But, this was going to be a real challenge.

I think we all have our methods of figuring things out. Mine is to collect all pertinent information on a surname, put all the pieces on the table, and shuffle them around until you find a piece that fits. Sort of like doing a jigsaw puzzle.

The father of Grady's William would probably be born about 1800 or so, give or take a few years. So I started assembling pieces of the puzzle. Let me say first, you can't do genealogy without learning a little history on the side. You have to know that Meriwether County was formed in 1827 from Troup County. Troup was formed in 1825 from Indian lands. So, if you go back to the beginning, you go back to Troup.

Using what I had at home and what I could find on the net, I started gathering information. Luckily, I had a copy of volume 5 of the series, "The History of LaGrange and Troup County, Georgia" which I had purchased on one of my trips to the Troup County Archives last fall.

From this book I gleaned the following facts: (1)There were two Boyds who were fortunate winners in the 1827 land lottery for Troup County: Hambelton Boyd of Burke County won land in land lot 163 in the 4th District, and James Boyd of Jackson County won land in land lot 36 in the 6th District. (2) Boyds making land purchases or transfers in Troup County between 1828 and 1832 were named Alston, Elias, Henry, John and Joseph N. (This is from the index of deed books A and B, page numbers are included.)

(3) There were three Boyds listed in the 1830 Troup county census: Elias, three males, two females; Henry, seven males, two females, 11 slaves; and Joseph, two males, three females and nine slaves. (4) There were three Boyds listed in the 1840 Troup county census: Henry, eight males, five females, 19 slaves; John Sr., two males, two females; and Joseph, one male, one female and nine slaves.

Six Boyds were listed as heads of household in the 1850 Troup county census: (1)John, 74, b. S.C. and wife, Christana, 66, b. S.C.; (2)Joseph N., 64, b. SC, wife Mary, 54, b. S.C., and children William and And rew. Also living there were Mary Corbin, 10, and Edward P. Corbin, 8, and Henry W. Owens, 28, and Eliza Owens, 17; (3)Richard C., 24, b. Ga., and wife Elizabeth M., 20, b, Ga.; (4)Susan, 50, b. Ga., and children Herbert, Nancy, Susannah F., John L., Henry F., and Madora; (5)T. (no full name given) 26, b. Ga., Elizabeth, 21, b. S.C., and unnamed infant female; (6)William 28, b. Ga. and Mary R. 20 b. Ga.

Moving into Meriwether County I found the following information on the Meriwether County GenWeb site: The 1830 census lists Boyds on pages 150, 151, 152 and 158. The 1840 census lists Boyds on pages 99, 100, 136, 138, 139, 140 and 145. The 1850 census lists Boyds on pages 318A, 331A, 380B, 398B, 400B, 401A, and 402A. Since these in 1850 were actually enumerated, I found several Boyds who could be candidates for William's father if he was in Meriwether County (remember, he's going to be 50-ish).

All the Boyd household heads are from South Carolina. On page 318A are John Boyd, 39, and Sarah, 50. On page 331A are John Boyd, 45, wife Edny, 44, and children Nancy (who is blind), Martha Jane, Mary E., Joseph, Lolly A., Lisa P., Sarah C., Midy, Lecretia and John (whew!).

On page 380B is Milton Boyd, 46, wife Jane, 46, and children Margaret, unnamed male, Mary E., John W., and Joseph D. On page 398B is Hugh 50 (my GGGgrandfather), wife Nancy, 46, and children John, Emily, Marion, Wesley, George and Dudley. On the same page is Joseph Boyd, 59, wife Jane, 50, and children Mary, David, Richard, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Robert and Eliza.

On page 401A is Robert H, 58, wife Martha L., 32, and children Augustus, Martha J., and McDuffe C. (Hang on ... one more) On page 402A is William Boyd, 60, and wife, Rosanna 52. Whew!

Now ... there are the pieces. Pardon me while I shuffle them around and try to make some sense of it all. I hope I've given you (and the Stones) some helpful information. It will certainly help me too as I still haven't finished sorting my own Boyds.

Got a puzzler in your family tree? I'd love to hear about it. Send mail to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; e-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!