James Boyd (abt. 1706 - 1789)

Born about 1706 in County Tyrone, Ireland [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 30 Jun 1789 at about age 83 in Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Dennis Orr [send private message], Shanna Bernal-Fields [send private message], and Larry Boyd [send private message]

Biography

James was born about 1700 in Ireland. He is the son of James Boyd and Louisa Graham. He came to America with his brothers William and John about 1720. He landed in Boston and settled in the County of York, in what is now the state of Maine. Main was then part of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. All of what is now known as Maine was then known as the County of York. Whether James went there immediately or he settled somewhere else first is not known.

York is but a few miles from Portsmouth, and in the “Point of Graves” Cemetery there is buried Andrew Boyd, son of James and Margaret Boyd, died May 8, 1727, aged 10 years. Also a James and Margaret Boyd are witnesses to a deed dated October 18, 1725, in York. The will of James Boyd, of Portsmouth, dated October 9, 1739, proved November 22, 1739, mentions a brother John, and a son of that brother, also John. There is nothing to identify these Jameses with James (2).

James Boyd (2) finally settled in Berwick, a short distance from York, although in just what year cannot be determined as the records of the town from 1736 to 1748 are lost. The town of Berwick, “alias Newgewanac”, incorporated in 1713 (from which the towns of Berwick North Berwick, and South Berwick are formed), was the upper part of the town of Kittery, in Unity Parish, and was made the Parish of Berwick in 1681, but a division "of the town, for certain purposes, had been made ten years before that, and a church was there as early as 1702. It is in York County, and the town of York is bounded on the northwest by South Berwick, and on the southwest by Kittery, In 1723 Berwick was the most inland town next to Canada; and in 1830 the towns of Berwick, North Berwick, and South Berwick were formed from it.

The site of James’ farm stands in what is now South Berwick, about one mile south of North Berwick railroad station, and has been known as “Boyd’s Corners” as far back as any one can remember. Mr. Elmer Boyd still occupies part of the old place, but the original buildings were burned in 1869, so many valuable records must have been lost.

James Boyd married Mary (or Margaret) Whitten (Whiton?), and they had five children: James (5), William (6), Joseph (7), Sarah (8), and another daughter (9) name unknown. There may have been other children who died at an early age.

Sources

• https://archive.org/stream/boydfamilybyarth00boyd/boydfamilybyarth00boyd_djvu.txt
• First-hand information as remembered by Larry Boyd, Friday, February 6, 2015. Replace this citation if there is another source.
• Ancestry.com

See also:

• U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s

James Boyd

Arrival Year: 1723

Arrival Place: Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Primary Immigrant: Boyd, James

Family Members: Wife Margaret

Source Publication Code: 1294.10

Source Bibliography: COPELY, WILLIAM. "Scotch-Irish Settlers in New Hampshire, 1719-1776." In Historical New Hampshire (New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord), vol. 50:3/4 (Fall/Winter 1995), pp. 213-228.

• New England Historic Genealogical Society; Boston, Massachusetts; Massachusetts Vital Records Image

James Boyd

Birth Place: Ireland

Spouse: Margaret Boyd

Child: Charles B Boyd d. Boston 7 Apr ???? age 30 y 27 d

Research Notes

• Not found on FS, Ancestry, (AmericanAncestors for Middlesex county) Prince-3397 09:28, 18 January 2020 (UTC)

• James Boyd (1783-1824) was linked as a child, but he is born too late to be a child, possibly a grandchild, but no parents are found on any of his sources.

• James was born about 1700. He passed away in 1789.

Acknowledgements

Boyd-7601 was created by Shanna Fields through the import of SBF_DAs.ged on Feb 25, 2017. Thank you to Shanna. This comment and citation should be deleted after a short biography has been added and primary sources have been cited.' Can you add information or sources?