My brick wall is my 2nd great-grandfather, James F. Boyd, d. 3 April 1899 in St. Louis, Missouri.  From his stated age at death, I have a calculated birth date of 11 Feb 1817.  He first appears in the 1850 Census in McDonough County, Illinois (age 38, b. Tennessee) with his wife "Catherine", age 34, b. Kentucky, and two children, William, age 3, and Mary, age 2, both born in Illinois. William is my great-grandfather. James and his family moved to St. Louis by 1860, where he worked as a saddler or harness maker until his death.  They also appear in Caldwell County, KY in 1857 where their daughter Kate was born.  Her birth record identifies the mother as Kittora J Hanson.  The remaining children were born in Missouri (presumably St. Louis): Charles E., 1852; James A., 1861; and Lucy P., 1864. Only William and Mary are known to have living descendants. Census records from 1850 through 1880 list James's birth state variously as Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama.  His death certificate says he was born in Alabama, but does not identify his parents.  James's wife is listed as Catherine, Kittora, K.J., Ketina, and Keturah on various records.  It is not clear whether Catherine listed on the 1850 Census is the same person as Keturah (from 1857 on).   Keturah is also a brick wall, as I have no specifics about her place of birth, birth date, or parents. I have autosomal DNA matches with several people who have Boyd roots in Hawkins County, Tennesee.  I also have matches with Boyds currently living in Craighead County, Arkansas.  They have roots in South Carolina in the 1700s.  I have not been able to find a genealogical connection to any of these people.  I speculate that the Hawkins County Boyds are related to Boyds in Newberry County, SC who came there from County Antrim -- but I have no evidence of this conjecture. My Y-DNA haplogroup is in the R1b-FGC12774 Boyd line.  My terminal SNP is R-BY132251 (FTDNA Big Y-700), where I have only one known match.  We have not yet found a genealogical connection. I am aware of a male Boyd surname descendant in Hawkins County, but I have not been able to get him to do a YDNA test. I am very interested in communicating with anyone who may have knowledge of Boyd history in Hawkins County, TN before the Civil War.  I have done research at the Hawkins County archives and public library in Rogersville.  Unfortunately, many records were destroyed during the Civil War.  My earliest Boyd known in Hawkins County (1830) is William Boyd (b1786 in VA, d1855 in TN), but little is known about him.  Family trees claim that he may have had 3 sons, Claiborn, William Reuben, and James (!), and 3 daughters, Mary, Susan, and Lucy.  These connections need verification. Regards, Bruce Boyd St. Louis, Missouri

Bruce A very nice puzzle for us for Xmas. 1) Would your local Library have any of the County Histories for the locations that you mentioned? 2) Caldwell County, KY joins Christian and Trigg Counties, where at least three separate Boyd families settled in the early 1800's 3) But I am aware that the family of a John Boyd, whom, if I recall died in Barren County, KY, also moved to this County. And there were "several" Boyd families in Barren County, KY as well. So, some of these other Boyd families may have moved to Caldwell County, KY as well. 4) Hawkins County, Tennesee, in in the NE corner of TN, but it does not jump out at me at present, so I will have to do some searching for any connections to this County. But that will take a few days 5) I do have several Boyd families from Newberry County, SC - but then moving north to Hawkins Co., TN, seems a bit strange. You would expect them to have migrated to GA, AL and perhaps then up to the Tennessee River and gone down it to Caldwell County, KY. What other Boyd's appear in the County Censes in 1850 and 1860, etc Hear I am thinking that James, may have had other siblings in the area. I have a few projects to finish before I can start on this for you, but hopefully others can supply data to in the mean time. Mike Boyd Brisbane, Aust. -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Boyd Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2019 3:03 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [CLANBOYD] My Brick Wall - James F Boyd d1899 in St Louis, Missouri My brick wall is my 2nd great-grandfather, James F. Boyd, d. 3 April 1899 in St. Louis, Missouri. From his stated age at death, I have a calculated birth date of 11 Feb 1817. He first appears in the 1850 Census in McDonough County, Illinois (age 38, b. Tennessee) with his wife "Catherine", age 34, b. Kentucky, and two children, William, age 3, and Mary, age 2, both born in Illinois. William is my great-grandfather. James and his family moved to St. Louis by 1860, where he worked as a saddler or harness maker until his death. They also appear in Caldwell County, KY in 1857 where their daughter Kate was born. Her birth record identifies the mother as Kittora J Hanson. The remaining children were born in Missouri (presumably St. Louis): Charles E., 1852; James A., 1861; and Lucy P., 1864. Only William and Mary are known to have living descendants. Census records from 1850 through 1880 list James's birth state variously as Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. His death certificate says he was born in Alabama, but does not identify his parents. James's wife is listed as Catherine, Kittora, K.J., Ketina, and Keturah on various records. It is not clear whether Catherine listed on the 1850 Census is the same person as Keturah (from 1857 on). Keturah is also a brick wall, as I have no specifics about her place of birth, birth date, or parents. I have autosomal DNA matches with several people who have Boyd roots in Hawkins County, Tennesee. I also have matches with Boyds currently living in Craighead County, Arkansas. They have roots in South Carolina in the 1700s. I have not been able to find a genealogical connection to any of these people. I speculate that the Hawkins County Boyds are related to Boyds in Newberry County, SC who came there from County Antrim -- but I have no evidence of this conjecture. My Y-DNA haplogroup is in the R1b-FGC12774 Boyd line. My terminal SNP is R-BY132251 (FTDNA Big Y-700), where I have only one known match. We have not yet found a genealogical connection. I am aware of a male Boyd surname descendant in Hawkins County, but I have not been able to get him to do a YDNA test. I am very interested in communicating with anyone who may have knowledge of Boyd history in Hawkins County, TN before the Civil War. I have done research at the Hawkins County archives and public library in Rogersville. Unfortunately, many records were destroyed during the Civil War. My earliest Boyd known in Hawkins County (1830) is William Boyd (b1786 in VA, d1855 in TN), but little is known about him. Family trees claim that he may have had 3 sons, Claiborn, William Reuben, and James (!), and 3 daughters, Mary, Susan, and Lucy. These connections need verification. Regards, Bruce Boyd St. Louis, Missouri _______________________________________________ ___________________________________ NOTE: Use the data on this list as a finding tool, just as you would any other secondary source. When you find the name of an ancestor listed confirm the facts in original sources. Clan Boyd Society, International (The Clan Boyd Web site is down, I am trying to get it back up and working. _______________________________________________ Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.com/postorius/lists/[email protected] Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community