Finding Your Folks: Robert H. and Chloeretta Gray Boyd, Part 2

Recapping our story, Robert H. Boyd, son of Hugh and Jennett Boyd, grew up in Newberry County, S.C. and married Chloeretta D. Gray, probably in Abbeville, in 1815, as that's where Chloeretta's father moved his family after his second marriage. Robert and Chloeretta are found in the 1820 and 1830 Abbeville Dist., S.C., census in the same neighborhood as Chloeretta's father, Fredrick Gray, and some of her brothers.

In 1816, Chloeretta gave birth to the couple's first son whom they named Fredrick G. Boyd. I have never seen it specifically stated anywhere but I would be willing to bet that Fredrick's middle name was "Gray." Fredrick was followed in 1823 by his sister Mary E. Boyd, then a brother, William H.B. Boyd, in 1829. In 1831 they were joined by sister Julia A. Boyd, in 1833 by another sister Amanda Boyd, and, finally, in 1836, the last son, McDuffie C. Boyd. I have never been able to figure out where McDuffie's name came from, but there was a McDuffie Carwile in Meriwether County. Could that be what the "C" stands for?

As I said, I believe all the children were born in South Carolina and that Robert and Chloeretta didn't leave the state until they had her inheritance from her father's estate well in hand. They also more than likely had Robert's own money from his brother's estate and possibly money from the sale of land he inherited from his father. This would have occurred about 1837 and coincides with Robert's first official appearance in Meriwether in 1838. I also believe Robert was following the lead set by his cousins who had moved to Meriwether in the late 1820s. He and Chloeretta plopped themselves down right in the middle of them.

On 18 Oct. 1838, Robert filed a deed in the Meriwether Courthouse showing the purchase of 202.5 acres in Land Lot 270 and 277 of the Upper Ninth District from one John Palmer. The very next day, he filed another deed showing the purchase of 25 acres in Land Lot 228 of the Upper Ninth District from Robert Vardeman.

The next month, on Nov. 7, 1838, he filed a deed showing the purchase of 112.5 more acres in Land Lot 228, this time from Henry G. Orrick (see the Tidwell-Orrick column published last fall), and on Nov. 29, 1838, he purchased 50 acres in Land Lot 227 of the Upper Ninth District from Hugh Boyd, son of Robert Boyd and Rosannah Stewart Boyd (these are my Boyds).

For the time being, Robert was through, but he had amassed some 390 acres of land in a little over one month. That's almost two entire land lots. By the time of the 1840 census, Robert and Chloeretta were living very comfortably on their "plantation" in Meriwether County near Line Creek and the Flint River. Their neighbors were the Tidwells (John J., Mark and Benjamin) and the Boyds (Robert, Hugh, William and David) and they were in the Mt. Carmel church area on what is now Sullivan Mill Road at Dolly Harris Road. Sullivan Mill Road bisected Robert's land just about right down the middle. Just down Mt. Carmel Road to the south was another cousin, John "Waggoner Jack" Boyd, who owned Land Lot 265. They all were within a stone's throw of Pike County.

And then the bad stuff started. Chloeretta, only 49, died Jan. 22, 1848, leaving a husband and six children, McDuffie being the youngest, only 12. As was customary, Robert remarried quite quickly and in May of 1848 took as his new wife [according to Ancestry's database she was a Mrs.] Martha Wagner of Pike County. In the 1850 Meriwether census, two Wagner children are in the home with Martha and Robert (Augustus and Martha J.) and I'm not really sure they're Martha's. Martha's age was given as 32 and the children are 17 and 18, making her only 14-15 when she had them, if they are hers. This is mystery no. 1. Shortly after his marriage to Martha, Robert lost another daughter, Mary E. Boyd White, in October of 1848. I have checked Meriwether, Pike, Coweta and Fayette and I have not been able to find Mary's husband's given name. He is mystery no. 2.

In February of 1850, Amanda Boyd died, decreasing the number of living Boyd children to four - Fredrick, William, Julia and McDuffie. Julia had married Benjamin H. White in 1845 and Fredrick and William had already flown the nest. So that just left McDuffie at home to contend with his stepsiblings. In 1851, Fredrick Boyd popped over the Pike County line and took a wife, Elizabeth Irvin.

Now this is when things start to really get weird. Robert and Martha apparently were both independently wealthy and had discussed a marriage contract before and after their marriage. Martha owned several lots and houses in Zebulon and Robert, in addition to owning all his land, was completely out of debt. And so, they wrote a marriage contract and attached it to a deed, with Ignatius Terrell of Pike County as trustee. This was filed in December of 1851.

The happy marriage must have gone south quickly, for the next thing we know, in 1852, Amanda Emfinger of Pike County is appointed the administrator of the estate of one Martha T. Boyd of Meriwether. Robert's name is not mentioned anywhere in the estate settlement. Were it not for the mention of the 100 acres in trust with Ignatius Terrell used in conjunction with the name "McD. Boyd," one would not even know this was our Martha. Were they divorced? I don't know, but McDuffie kept the land. Mystery no. 3.

Next week: More mysteries as Robert remarries again.

Stories and family histories about your ancestors who lived on Atlanta's south side are always welcome. Send them to jkilgore@thecitizen.com or JodieK444@aol.com. Mail to The Citizen, P.O. Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214. All letters and e-mails I receive are subject to being used in the column.