Born 8 February 1801, died 14 August 1882 - the oldest confirmed burial in Sulphur Spring Cemetery, anchoring a real, rooted Boyd family spanning five generations and the years 1801 to 1915, including two Confederate/Civil War-era veterans.
Appears in: Sulphur Spring Cemetery.
Notable descendants:
- Sarah Narcissa Boyd Ramey (1826-1915), Rutha Jane A. Boyd Rice (1826-?), Doctor Tandy Boyd (1829-1908), Elizabeth Ann Boyd Ward (1831-1923), Tlithia Boyd Dean (1833-1932), Samuel Boyd (1835-1912), Tillman S. Boyd (1842-1915), James Lee Boyd (1844-1913), Margrette C. Boyd Parker (1846-1924), Martha “Mattie” Boyd Johnson (1850-1919), Mary Mattie Boyd Stewart (1852-1939) - his documented children, confirmed via Find a Grave.
- Grandchildren: 41 documented across 8 of these lines, the great majority born after 1850 - the generation this project’s pre-1850 cemetery research systematically missed. Selected: Elizabeth Jane Ramey Acton (1845-1918); Ezekiel Bushrod “Zeke” Ramey (1850-1930); Claiborne Amasiah Ramey (1854-1924); James Monroe Rice (1844-1917); William Houston Rice (1848-1930); John Daniel “J. D.” Rice (1853-1915); John Daniel “Dan” Boyd (1854-1936); James Westford Boyd (1855-1938); Martha Jane Boyd Clemons (1860-1943); Samuel Ward Dean (1870-1928); Daniel “Dandy” Tillman Dean (1872-1915); Charles Pinkney Dean (1874-1972). Because the list runs to 41 names, the full grandchild list is recorded in the vault research note rather than here.
- Identity note: two men named James Lee Boyd are buried at Sulphur Springs. The patriarch is the elder (1801-1882); the younger James Lee Boyd (1844-1913) is his son, whose own five children and nine grandchildren are documented separately.
His son Doctor Tandy Boyd fought for the Union. Doctor Tandy Boyd (1829-1908) served in the 1st Alabama Cavalry, USV - a Union regiment raised in Alabama. In 1862 he and three of his brothers were locked in the Walker County Courthouse until they would agree to join the Confederate army. After refusing twice he agreed to shoe horses for a Confederate captain, stayed five or six days, and escaped. He then recruited men across Walker, Winston and Morgan counties for the 1st Alabama Cavalry, and in December 1863 he and his brother Tillman walked 150 miles from Walker County to Camp Davies, Mississippi, to enlist. On the way, a gun mainspring flew out and blinded his left eye. He was taken prisoner in March 1864 and held without shelter or sufficient food, and drew a disability pension of $20 a month afterwards. He married Sarah Reid in 1852.
His eleven children are now documented, confirming the “likely sons” above: Sarah Narcissa Boyd Ramey, Rutha Jane A. Boyd Rice, Doctor Tandy Boyd, Elizabeth Ann Boyd Ward, Tlithia Boyd Dean, Samuel Boyd, Tillman S. Boyd, James Lee Boyd, Margrette C. Boyd Parker, Martha “Mattie” Boyd Johnson and Mary Mattie Boyd Stewart.