Marcus M. Boyd

Marcus M Boyd, son of William G Boyd and Martha EDMISTON Boyd was born into a large family of 11 children, he being the 5th child. His life spanned some of the best and some of the worst years that our country has ever experienced.

Marcus moved his family from Tennessee to Missouri in 1840, settling on a farm near Springfield, Greene County. He was married twice, first to Eliza H Hamilton on Feb 15, 1825 in Williamson Co TN. They were parents of nine children, six were born in Tennessee and the last three in Missouri. Eliza gave birth to 8 sons and one daughter, she died the day her daughter was born on Sep 15 1845. The child was named Martha Tennessee Eliza Boyd, for her mother and grandmother.

Sons of Marcus and Eliza were:

Sempronius Hamilton Boyd m. Margaret Muse McElhaney

Rufus King Boyd m. Amanda Jane Greenwood

Erastus Halloday Boyd m. 1st Mary Sophia Waddill

2nd Harriett Smith, 3rd Sarah Smith

Audley Shanklin Hamilton Boyd m. Araminta Threlkeld

Marcus M Boyd Jr m. Mary Elizabeth Stephenson

William Gibbon Boyd

Robert Boyd

Theodorick Joseph Boyd

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http://www.looktothepast.com/greeneobits.html#13

From the Springfield Advertiser, 20 September 1845

"Mrs. Marcus Boyd Died - Near this place, on the 15th of September, of Fever, Mrs. Boyd, consort of Col. Marcus Boyd, leaving behind her an affectionate husband and nine children to lament her loss.

Mrs. Boyd was greatly esteemed by all who knew her; she was a pious and affectionate mother, an obliging friend, an ornament to society, and has left a large number of sympathizing friends and acquaintances, and judging from her deportment whilst here on earth, has gone to a better and a happier world than this - to her Father's house, where the weary are at rest."

When the Civil War broke out in Missouri, only Marcus and Sempronius were Union soldiers, the other boys joined the Confederate side and the family was deeply divided and never healed.

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Marcus married a second time on May 28, 1846, to Dorinda Cecil Price, daughter of Crabtree Price and Luvinia (Linnie)CECIL.

They were the parents of seven children:

Mary Louisa "Lula" Boyd m Daniel Curran Kennedy

Joseph Crabtree Boyd

Eliza Ann Boyd m. J E Little

Thomas Henry Boyd m. Sarah Ann Lyles

Charles Lee Boyd

Clara Virginia Boyd m. Orlando Fickland Calhoun

John Bell Boyd never married

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After Marcus died in 1866, Dorinda married a widower who lived in Springfield named Sylvester Blackwell, his wife Martha GRIGG Blackwell had died on Aug 27, 1876. The Blackwells had come to Springfield from North Carolina and had nine children. Sylvester and Martha are buried in Clear Creek Cemetery, near Willard, Greene Co Missouri.

Sylvester and Dorinda married around 1880 and after his death in 1888, she left Springfield and went out West with her step-grandson Lawson Blackwell. Two of her children, John Boyd and Clara Boyd Calhoun were living in the West and she joined them. Dorinda died on Oct 31 1913 and is buried on the John Boyd Ranch, Twin Falls Co Idaho.

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More about Marcus Boyd:

History Of Missouri, A COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY FOR READY REFERENCE. EDITED BY HOWARD L. CONARD.

New-York, Louisville, St. Louis: THE SOUTHERN HISTORY COMPANY. Halde.wan. Conard & Co.. Proprietors.

VOL. I. 1901. pp. 249-350

New-York, Louisville, St. Louis: THE SOUTHERN HISTORY COMPANY. Halde.wan. Conard & Co.. Proprietors.

VOL. I. 1901. pp. 249-350

"Marcus Boyd, one of the most distinguished citizens of Greene County, was born in 1805, in Virginia, descended from Scotch ancestors who settled in that State during the colonial period. In young manhood he removed to Tennessee, where he interested himself in various public improvements, notably the inauguration of the Nashville & Tuscumbia turnpike.

In 1840 he removed to Missouri, and settled on a farm near Springfield. He was a Whig in politics, and became conspicuous in public concerns. In 1850 he was appointed receiver of the United States Land Office in Springfield. In 1854 he was elected to the Legislature, and he was again elected in 1858 and in 1860, being in the last two contests the candidate of the "Union Party," which denounced the intemperate politicians of all parties, pronouncing their schemes as ''entering wedges for the detestable plot of severing the American Union." His last legislative term was during the exciting period which preceded the Civil War.

The Legislature was dominated by the secessionists, and when the vote was taken on the Jackson Military Bill, purposed to aid the State in withdrawing from the Union, his was one of but nine opposing votes, and he was leader of the loyal little band. When war became imminent, he was the friend and confidant of General Lyon, in the operations preceding the battle of Wilson's Creek. He assisted in the organization of a regiment of Home Guards, of which he was elected lieutenant colonel. This command held possession of Springfield during the battle of Wilson's Creek, and was desirous of marching to the field when the conflict began, but remained at its post in obedience to orders. The regiment having been disbanded, the majority of its men enlisting in other organizations, Colonel Boyd assisted in the formation of the Seventy-fourth Regiment Enrolled Missouri Militia, of which he became commander, and which he led in the battle of Springfield, January 8, 1863.

In 1865 he was appointed postmaster at Springfield, and occupied that position at the time of his death, which took place November 30th of the same year. He was married in early life to Miss Eliza Hamilton, a native of Tennessee, who died shortly after their removal to Missouri, and he contracted another marriage at a later day. He was the father of fifteen children. Of his sons, Colonel S. H. Boyd engaged in the Union service, with one other, General Marcus ; the others were Confederates. E. H. Boyd became a surgeon in a Texas Regiment; William and Theodoric served under General Cabell in Texas; Audley was a sergeant in Campbell's Regiment, and Rufus served under General Lee, and became Secretary of State of Alabama. A daughter, Lulu, became the wife of Daniel C. Kennedy.

Colonel Boyd was a man of handsome appearance, six feet high, of massive physique, with dark brown hair, broad forehead, and a complexion fair almost to womanliness. Of great strength of character, he allowed no personal considerations to swerve him from the path of duty, and as a slave owner the war worked the destruction of his personal fortune."