Wayne County Biographies



Part of the Indiana Biographies Project



Samuel Mitchel Boyd

Samuel Mitchel Boyd, eldest son of James and Margaret (Mitchel) Boyd, was born July 10, 1815, near Washington, Wayne Co., Ind. He was reared on a farm experiencing all the phases of pioneer life, and obtained a limited education in the log-cabin schools. He lived on the home farm till he reached the age of twenty-five years, after which he farmed three years on rented land, when he purchased a farm of eighty acres joining New Garden Township. He then bought seventy acres in New Garden Township, where he resided from 1843 till 1865, when he sold it and purchased the farm of 160 acres where he has since followed agricultural pursuits with success. He takes an interest in educational matters and has been a member of the Board of Education a number of years. In politics he affiliates with the Greenback party. March 5, 1840, he was married to Mahala, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Porter) Fox, of German and English descent respectively, who were among the first settlers of Wayne County. Mr. Boyd and wife have had seven children — Leonidas, who died at the age of thirteen months; Arthur, died at the age of twenty-two years; Elizabeth C., wife of James T. Smith, of Green Township; Samantha E., wife of Robert T. Davis, of Richmond, Ind.; William A. of Green Township; Abiram F., deceased, aged thirteen months, and Flora E., wife of Robert F. Clements, of Randolph County.





Our subject's grandfather, Samuel Boyd, was a native of North Carolina, but afterward lived in Ohio. He then moved to Kentucky, where our subject's father was born, and in 1811 he removed with his father's family to Wayne County, Ind., where he was married and had four children — Caroline, widow of Eli Willett; Samuel M., our subject; Philander, of Greenfield, Ind., and Abiram, of Cambridge City, Ind. Our subject's mother died in 1822, and his father was again married to Hester, daughter of Joseph Ruby, by whom he had six children — Joseph P., deceased; Alfred D., of Wayne County; William E., of Hancock County, Ind.; Isabell A., widow of Lewis Lesh, of Illinois; James R., of Illinois, and Amanda, wife of Burns Willett, of Illinois. Mr. Boyd followed farming till an advanced age, when he sold his farm and resided in Richmond till his death, at the age of seventy-four years.

Source:
History of Wayne County, Indiana. Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co. 1884. Volume 2