Can any of the Ayrshire list tell me who this Abraham Boyd is a blood relative of Poet Robert Burns? Even though it is mid morning, I must be still half a sleep, as I have just noticed that his mother was a Burns. So the question still stands and I will be able to do an article that this part of Clan Boyd might have a “good turn of phrase”. This Boyd family appears to have come from Ireland – most likely Ulster – and his grandfather is said to be born about 1700 which would mean that Martha Burns and Robert Burns might be cousins or Aunty and nephew or even a more distant relative. Thank you Mike Boyd Historical committee, HBS From: Lauren Boyd McLachlan Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 9:47 PM To: Mike Boyd Subject: Re: [BOYD] Lynn Boyd of KY Abraham Boyd (b. 01 Oct 1765, d. 01 Apr 1839) Abraham Boyd (son of James Boyd and Martha Burns)10 was born 01 Oct 1765 in Bedford Co., VA, and died 01 Apr 1839 in Canton, Trigg Co., KY11. He married Nancy Agnes Linn on 01 Apr 1794 in Nashville, Davidson, TN, daughter of Adam Linn and Sidney Ann Ewing. Notes for Abraham Boyd: >From Boyd Trees ABRAHAM (or Abram) BOYD married Nancy/Agnes Linn/Lynn and had five sons and one daughter that lived to be grown: John, Martha, Lynn, Alfred and Rufus, and Putnam. Rufus died when about twenty-two years of age. The others all lived to be from fifty-nine to seventy-five years of age. The sons, like the father, were all over six feet in height, broad shouldered, well made, strong, blond and handsome, every one. (Source: Kris Oleson, P.O. Box 1113, Monroe, WA 98272) Abraham moved from NC to Nashville, TN. In 1800, he settled in Trigg County, KY, at what is now Canton. John Boyd, the eldest son went to Texas while it was still a Mexican province and was several times elected to the lower House of Congress in the Republic of Texas before it was annexed to the United States. He fought in the war for Mexican Independence. Linn Boyd served sixteen consecutive years in the lower House of Congress from the 1st Congressional District in Kentucky, the last four of which he was speaker of the house. Alfred Boyd served in the legislature of Kentucky one or two terms, and also was a member of the state convention to amend or frame a new constitution. (THE UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY on William A. Gordon, M.D.) Abraham Boyd, of Scotch descent, came from North Carolina and settled on the banks of the Cumberland River in West Kentucky, in 1785. His wife Nancy Agnes Lynn was of Irish extraction. Her mother was a Mill Ewing who ran away and married against her parents wishes to an Irishman named Lynn. The Ewings were a fine family, from which have sprung many distinguished men. They settled in Tennessee and Ohio. ABRAHAM/ABRAM had Boyd's Landing on the Cumberland River in Kentucky, and donated the land for the town of Canton, Trigg County, KY, and was original settler of Canton. He also served as Magistrate on 15 May, 1820, in the Kentucky Court of Appeals. "The settlement of CANTON Precinct dates back prior to the dawning of the present Century, though at what year the first pioneers made their appearance is a matter of mere conjecture. Traces of rude log cabins were found in many places along the Cumberland River when the first permanent settlers came, and the belief is current that families of trappers and adventurers made this a rendezvous many years before any effort was made to open up and improve the country. 'As early as 1799, a party of emigrants called a halt on the river at a point where now is situated the town of Canton, who were destined to leave a record in the public archives of this Commonwealth that has been and will continue to be read from the beginning to the ending of the present Century. We allude to the family of ABRAHAM BOYD -- he was a native of North Carolina but had been a resident of Tennessee in the neighborhood of Nashville for a number of years, and removed thence to the point above stated. The trip must have been made in flat-boats, for there were no roads, and an old settler remarked that he assisted them in cutting a road through and it took several days to complete it. He erected his first dwelling on the ground where the present church stands. His father-in-law, ADAM LINN, accompanied him and made a settlement three miles out from the river on the Luster place. He (ABRAHAM) was a native of Scotland, and a blood relation to the Poet Robert Burns. Abrham Boyd was a man of remarkably fine intellect, and for that day a man of considerable culture. He represented the people a number of times in the Legislature when this was a portion of Christian County and afterward when Trigg was formed into a distinct division. He has been represented as the superior of his afterward distinguished son, HONORABLE LINN BOYD, upon the stump, was a man of very thorough business training, and the presiding Justice of the County Court in the organization and formation of the County . . . . . Abraham Boyd fought in the Revolutionary War; crossed the mountains into Tennessee with Andrew Jackson. He died April 1839 (no stone) and is buried in Atwood Cemetery, Trigg Co., KY, with his wife Nancy Agnes (Linn) Boyd where there is no stone. Abraham and Nancy Linn had marriage license issued but not returned April 1, 1794. (Source: Collins, History of Kentucky, 2:731; Family correspondence -- Kris Oleson, Monroe, WA) More About Abraham Boyd and Nancy Agnes Linn: Marriage: 01 Apr 1794, Nashville, Davidson, TN. Children of Abraham Boyd and Nancy Agnes Linn are: 1.. Lynn Boyd, d. date unknown. 2.. Alfred Boyd, d. date unknown. 3.. Rufus Boyd, d. date unknown. 4.. Putnam Boyd, d. date unknown. 5.. John Boyd, b. Bef. 1798, d. date unknown. 6.. +Martha Boyd, b. 25 Feb 1799, Nashville TN, d. 25 Aug 1858, Lexington, Lafayette Co., MO. On Tue, Apr 30, 2013 at 4:46 AM, Lauren Boyd McLachlan <[email protected]> wrote: James Boyd (b. 1729, d. 1778) James Boyd (son of William Boyd and ??? Elizabeth) was born 1729 in Bedford Co., Virginia, and died 1778 in Tory Prision Camp, Christian CO, South Carolina. He married Martha Burns on 1754 in Bedford Co., VA, daughter of Laird I. Burns and Ann Mann. Notes for James Boyd: JAMES BOYD enlisted in the 1st South Carolina regiment in 1775, and the Revolutionary War. (Birth place could be Halifax Co., VA) He was a native of Virginia. From "The Boyd Family quoting from a pamphlet of 14 pages, published in 1852 during the political career of Lynn Boyd, son of Abram/Abraham Boyd, titled BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HON. LYNN BOYD OF KENTUCKY, the Present Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States, by A Virginian". Printed at the Congressional Globe Office in 1852. "James Boyd, the grandfather of Lynn Boyd, a Virginian by birth, moved to the state of South Carolina, where he was an active and vigilant friend of his country, and a determined asserter of its independence. Constant and unyielding in the support of the War of the Revolution, he and his family suffered severely for their well-tried patriotism. Twice their habitation was burnt to the ground by the Tories; twice their hearth was made desolate, and he and his family went forth without shelter and raiment, yet they never lost faith in God and the good cause of their country. One son (Samuel) was shot diagonally through the eye and temple. Another son, of the tender age of sixteen years, bore arms by the side of his father and brother in the war of freedom." (See Page 4 of "The Boyd Family" biographical sketch) JAMES BOYD Came to Craven Co., SC from VA. He enlisted in the 1st South Carolina regiment in 1775, and the Revolutionary War. (Birth place could be Halifax Co., VA) He was a native of Virginia. More About James Boyd: Military service: 1775, South Carolina. More About James Boyd and Martha Burns: Marriage: 1754, Bedford Co., VA. Children of James Boyd and Martha Burns are: 1.. +Abraham Boyd, b. 01 Oct 1765, Bedford Co., VA, d. 01 Apr 1839, Canton, Trigg Co., KY11.