Boyd cousins My father and I have been research our Boyd line for about a year and have hit our brick wall, William Boyd b1798 Cumberland PA (?) d1854 Dallas County, Iowa. Married Mary (?) b1795 d 1850 also Dallas County Iowa. Children were Samuel b1823, James b?, Jane b 1825, Nancy b1833, Catherine b1834. The family lived in Parke County IN for some time as the children were all born there and a number were married there prior to the family relocating to Dallas County. James is somewhat of a mystery as he is listed in William's will as if the family were unaware of his whereabouts but he was with the family in 1849 when they relocated to Dallas County Iowa but gone on the 1850 Census. We have been unable to find any further information on Mary. My father did have a 67-marker DNA test performed and we are hoping that may find us some 'close cousins'. Any help would be appreciated. Jonette Boyd Kowalik

Jonette Do you know when and where William and Mary were married? Secondly, do you know when and where their son Samuel was born in 1823. These two events MAY help in finding Mary's surname. When you know where these 2 events took place, it may be possible tosearch for a local Newspaper for those areas to see if the marriage or birth were reported. There could also be Church records available as well? Mike Boyd Historical Committee, HBS ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jonette Kowalik" <jrkowalik@gmail.com> To: <Boyd@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 9:03 PM Subject: [BOYD] Brick Wall - William Boyd - Dallas County Iowa > Boyd cousins > My father and I have been research our Boyd line for about a year and > have hit our brick wall, William Boyd b1798 Cumberland PA (?) d1854 > Dallas County, Iowa. Married Mary (?) b1795 d 1850 also Dallas County > Iowa. Children were Samuel b1823, James b?, Jane b 1825, Nancy b1833, > Catherine b1834. The family lived in Parke County IN for some time as > the children were all born there and a number were married there prior > to the family relocating to Dallas County. James is somewhat of a > mystery as he is listed in William's will as if the family were > unaware of his whereabouts but he was with the family in 1849 when > they relocated to Dallas County Iowa but gone on the 1850 Census. We > have been unable to find any further information on Mary. My father > did have a 67-marker DNA test performed and we are hoping that may > find us some 'close cousins'. Any help would be appreciated. > > Jonette Boyd Kowalik >

I do not know when or where William and Mary were married but I do believe they may have been married in an M.E Church as there are later references to them holidng church services in their home. I know that their son Samuel was born in Park County IN as were all the other children. In a recent trip to Iowa I found amongst old Dallas County Courthouse records an early death notation for William which listed his birthplace as Newton Township, Cumberland Co PA. This new information seems to contradict earlier information a cousin had reported to me. There was another Boyd family living in Dallas County around the same time as my ancestors but I have been unable to find any familiar link with them. William and Mary's second son, James, is quite a dead end. We have made some assumptions from information we do have, Williams's last will states that Samuel is the first son so we know that James was born AFTER Samuel (who is my direct descendant from their children). The will states in such language "if James should ever return" so as to make us believe that no one in the family knew where he had gone to. He could have gone further west, there could have been a family feud or any number of other things. We have located William and Mary's gravesites in Kimrey Cemetary located in Dallas County Iowa. They are the only Boyd ancestors that we have located buried in that area. We do know as I stated that the family came from Parke County IN and were closely associated with a Boyles and a Taylor family both in IN and Dalas County Iowa. The children of these three famiies married each other and all relocated together to Dallas County Iowa. I don't know if any of this additional information helps or sparks any recognition with anyone. Mike, I wll put together the information that you requested from me regarding my Boyd line along with my father's contact information. We are both in this search together. Thank you for your time. Jonette Boyd Kowalik On Thu, Jul 28, 2011 at 7:36 PM, Mike Boyd <mikejboyd@bigpond.com> wrote: > Jonette > Do you know when and where William and Mary were married? > > Secondly, do you know when and where their son Samuel was born in 1823. > > These two events MAY help in finding Mary's surname.  When you know where > these 2 events took place, it may be possible tosearch for a local Newspaper > for those areas to see if the marriage or birth were reported.  There could > also be Church records available as well? > > Mike Boyd > Historical Committee, HBS > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jonette Kowalik" <jrkowalik@gmail.com> > To: <Boyd@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 9:03 PM > Subject: [BOYD] Brick Wall - William Boyd - Dallas County Iowa > > >> Boyd cousins >> My father and I have been research our Boyd line for about a year and >> have hit our brick wall, William Boyd b1798 Cumberland PA (?) d1854 >> Dallas County, Iowa.  Married Mary (?) b1795 d 1850 also Dallas County >> Iowa.  Children were Samuel b1823, James b?, Jane b 1825, Nancy b1833, >> Catherine b1834.  The family lived in Parke County IN for some time as >> the children were all born there and a number were married there prior >> to the family relocating to Dallas County.  James is somewhat of a >> mystery as he is listed in William's will as if the family were >> unaware of his whereabouts but he was with the family in 1849 when >> they relocated to Dallas County Iowa but gone on the 1850 Census.  We >> have been unable to find any further information on Mary.  My father >> did have a 67-marker DNA test performed and we are hoping that may >> find us some 'close cousins'.   Any help would be appreciated. >> >> Jonette Boyd Kowalik >> > >

Sometimes when a family member is written into records as "went west and was never heard from again', isn't quite accurate. He maybe wrote home he'd married an Indian wife, and they 'lost' him that way. In a message dated 08/01/11 11:58:28 Pacific Daylight Time, jrkowalik@gmail.com writes: The will states in such language "if James should ever return" so as to make us believe that no one in the family knew where he had gone to. He could have gone further west, there could have been a family feud or any number of other things.

Jonette What have you done to "serach" for James Boyd, the son, born about 1824? If he moved with the rest of the family in 1849 from Indiana to Dallas County, Iowa - and was not living at home in the 1850 Census - where might he have gone. Could he have talken up a farm some where else in Iowa? Or could he have gone to Oregan or Washington State. Where there any "gold" rushes in that part of the USA. 1850 would be too early for the California gold rush, I think? Mike Boyd Historical Committee, HBS ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jonette Kowalik" <jrkowalik@gmail.com> To: <Boyd@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 9:03 PM Subject: [BOYD] Brick Wall - William Boyd - Dallas County Iowa > Boyd cousins > My father and I have been research our Boyd line for about a year and > have hit our brick wall, William Boyd b1798 Cumberland PA (?) d1854 > Dallas County, Iowa. Married Mary (?) b1795 d 1850 also Dallas County > Iowa. Children were Samuel b1823, James b?, Jane b 1825, Nancy b1833, > Catherine b1834. The family lived in Parke County IN for some time as > the children were all born there and a number were married there prior > to the family relocating to Dallas County. James is somewhat of a > mystery as he is listed in William's will as if the family were > unaware of his whereabouts but he was with the family in 1849 when > they relocated to Dallas County Iowa but gone on the 1850 Census. We > have been unable to find any further information on Mary. My father > did have a 67-marker DNA test performed and we are hoping that may > find us some 'close cousins'. Any help would be appreciated. > > Jonette Boyd Kowalik > > ______________________________________