Genealogy: Finding Your Folks

More responses on McIntosh, Ware, Boyd

By Judy Fowler Kilgore
Genealogy Columnist

Judy Fowler Kilgore is the religion editor and genealogy columnist for The Citizen. She regrets that time does not permit her to do personal family research for others. She may be reached at jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

In response to last week’s questions on General Ware’s connection to Chief McIntosh and Peachtree City, Clarence Leathers wrote and included a wonderful Web site where information on events leading to McIntosh’s murder, the massacre
itself, and the aftermath may be found, as related in actual letters written
to Governor Troup by Benjamin Hawkins, Samuel Hawkins, Alexander Ware and others. This Web site is maintained by Lance Hall, Creek Indian researcher, and may be found at http://users3.ev1.net/~lancehall/serialset/doc249/doc249b2.htm.
It is most interesting.

Clarence also states, “Gen. Ware was a Revolutionary War veteran (and a)
large Fayette landowner. He had a role in the treaty. His house is where a
McIntosh’s wife and some of their children went after the assassination. Early maps have Ware's Store as the locale. It was adjoining Line Creek at Hwy. 54 now. You can e-mail me at clarenc917@aol.com.”

Clarence e-mailed the letter both to me and to Max Moody of Peachtree City. I assume Max is on his way to further research. Thank you, Clarence, for your help.

Charlene Fullerton wrote some time ago about my “Boyds, from Ballymena to Bethany” columns and wanted to know where she could obtain a copy of the book by George Hugh Boyd and Rosalie Brown Boyd, “Our Boyd Family, Allied Families, deGraffenried, Tidwell, Milam, Patton,” which was the basis for those columns.

Charlene’s connection to that family is through Jane Boyd (sister of James
Boyd of Fayette County) who married Ira Corbin and settled in Gwinnett County.

Earlier this week, Lamar McEachern with the Fayette County Historical society sent me a short note stating that this very book is now available at the historical society’s facility in Fayetteville. I don’t think it is in print
anymore, since it was published in the 1960s.

So, Charlene, if you can get to Fayetteville, the book is available there.

All this Boyd flurry is ironic, since for years I have agonized over
connecting my Boyds of Meriwether and Carroll County to the Fayette Boyds, who also we re in Meriwether County. I even did a 2000-word “essay” to be included in the upcoming Meriwether Heritage Book, stating the known facts on all the Meriwether Boyds, and pointing out that they were all probably cousins to some degree. But the direct link escaped me, as it has many others, for decades.

Last week, I believe the “break in the case” came when I received an e-mail from longtime Boyd researcher Robert Wells, stating he thought he had found the father of my Robert Boyd and tied all (well, most all) of the Meriwether Boyds together.

The key lies back in South Carolina in the 1770s, with one John Boyd, known to be the earliest ancestor in America of the Fayette Boyds, who was called John Boyd of Ballymena. John first appeared before the South Carolina Council in 1772, “recently arrived from Ireland,” requesting a grant of land. Through history books written by noted South Carolinians and other available records, we can only be certain of the names of three of John’s sons, Hugh, David, and John Jr. (known as “Johnny Buckles”), who was the ancestor of the Fayette Boyds.

John Sr. died in 1806 and left no will, but he did leave a considerable
estate, which was administered by a Robert Boyd, John Sr.’s widow, Mary Boyd, and William Hopper and John Kinnard, as bondsmen. (Detailed records of this estate and the ensuing sale were sent to me by Dick Stewart of Arizona.)

Here is where researchers, for years, may have all made a mistake, saying
this Robert Boyd, the administrator, was a grandson of John Sr., the son of
John’s deceased son, Hugh.

But nobody bothered to do the math.

It is true that Hugh, son of John Sr., had a son named Robert. But this
Robert was “under age” according to statements made in his father’s will in 1798. That means he was under 16. We do not know Robert’s birth year, but we can assume from this statement that he was born no earlier than 1783.

When John Sr.’s estate was administered in 1806, his son Hugh had died and John Jr. was in Kentucky. David was the only known son still alive and living in the area.

Robert the grandson would have been at most 23. Logic asks, why would an important thing such as administering an estate be left to a barely-out-of-his-teens grandson, when an older son was still alive and living in the area (David)?

The only logical answer is that Robert, the administrator must have been a
son of John Sr. — one we didn’t know about — and not a grandson.

Other positive evidence shows that of all the estate purchasers, Mary, the
widow, purchased 38 items and Robert, the administrator, purchased 15 items. No one else purchased as many — not even close. In addition, the surnames of three of the purchasers carried surnames of those who married Robert’s children— Hopper, Blackburn and McMullan (McMillan).

After hearing Robert (Wells’) arguments, and confirming his research facts, I am convinced that this Robert was a son of John Sr., and that he was the
ancestor of the Meriwether Boyds who moved to Carroll County — which happen to be mine. If we are right, this connects the Fayette Boyds and gives me a whole bunch of new cousins — right in my own back yard. Wow!

I welcome arguments on this theory but hope we have settled a decades-old puzzle. Concrete proof may never be found, but this sure satisfies me!

I appreciate and welcome all letters and e-mails about genealogy and info on south metro Atlanta families. Send them to The Citizen, Drawer 1719,
Fayetteville, GA 30214; E-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com. Any letters and/or e-mails I receive are subject to being used in the column.

Until next week, happy hunting!