Abraham Boyd was the son of John Boyd who married Hannah Hill in Upton, Mass in 1762 and came to Wilmington in early 1770s. John Boyd married Margaret (Ginny) Long in Boston 11 April 1731. They moved to Upton/Hopkinton, Mass area for a few years and then moved to Shelburn Falls where they ended their days. Massachusetts Vital Records Suffolk County, Worcestor County and Franklin County. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abraham Boyd of Upton, Massachusetts married Hannah HILL of Hopkinton, MA soon after their intentions were published 24 June 1766. She was born 12 July 1742, daughter of Ralph and Sarah HILL. Abraham and Hannah came to Wilmington in 1770s. No dates of their deaths have been found. The last record of Abraham was on September 3, 1818 when he deeded land to Robert Boyd (Land records book 6 page 154 Wilmington, Vermont).(see also book 6, page 113) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Abraham and Hannah Hill were early settlers of Wilmington, Vermont. They and several children settled on land alongside the Deerfield river which he had purchased before the War of Rebellion, 1776. The river flowed through the southwest part of town. Through the years more and more land was purchased until the Boyd family, children, grandchildren, and even the great grandchildren, eventually owned many of the farms along that river valley which, in the 1920's were to be abandoned and flooded when the New England Power Company constructed the Harriman dam at Whittingham". (see "Wilmington Reunions 1890-1970 "by Margaret C. Greene and Barbara H. Look). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Abraham was a soldier in the War of the Revolution. He fought at the Battle of Bunker (Breeds) Hill and at the Battle of Bennington. He is listed in the Patriots Index of the DAR. DAR national number 602081. Computer code 1-034-MA: "Private, Capt. Stephan Sadler's Company, Col. Wheelock's regt. which marched 20 Apr 1775 in response to the alarm of April 19, 1775 to Roxbury, Ma". "Abraham Boyd, receipts for wages for service in Capt. Henry Leland's company, Col. Willis regt. dated Hopkinton" Feb 5, 1776. "Abraham Boyd was a Minute Man in the defense of Boston, 1776 He was from Upton, Mass., removed during the war to Wilmington, Vermont, where he died". DAR lineage book, page 349, under #29975 Mary J. Castle. Abraham Boyd is mentioned in Dr. John Long's Diary as traveling up and down the Deerfield river from Shelburne, Mass to Wilmington, Vt. in the 1770's. Sources: Soldier, Sailors and Patriots of the Revolutionary War - Vermont. Carleton E. and Sue G. Fisher. Camden, Maine: Picton Press, 1992. Volume 2. Page 358 Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution. Hopkinton, Massachusetts Vital Records Wilmington, Vermont Vital Records 1790 Vermont census ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM BOYD AND HANNAH HILL BOYD 1. Abraham Boyd Jr. was baptised 16 October 1768 in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. He married Elizabeth TAYLOR McKINSTRY of West Springfield, Mass. Their intentions were published 6 October 1792. (V.R. of West Springfield, Mass.) Elizabeth was born 19 Jne 1764 at Gilsum, New Hampshire. Try as I might I have never been able to fnd any more data on Abraham Jr. 2. Robert Boyd was baptised 22 October 17692 in Hopkinton, Mass. He married Susannah WHEELER 10 September 1798. She was born in 1782, daughter of Deliverance and Mary WHITMAN WHEELER. Susannah died 31 Jan 1854 and Robert died 16 Feb 1845, both in Wilmington, Vermont. 3. Levi Boyd was baptised 8 November 1772 in Hopkinton, Ma. He married Sally STEVENS 4 December 1800 in Wilmington, Vt. Sally was born in 1778 and died 25 Dec 1864. Levi died in Wilmington on 7 June 1839. 4. Simeon Boyd was baptised 23 October 1774 in Hopkinton, Ma. He married Ruth CLARK 14 December 1802. She was born in 1787 and died 3 July 1844. Simeon died 25 July 1856 in Wilmington. 5. Stephan Boyd was baptised 21 September 1777 in Hopkinton, Mass. He married Lucy CUSHMAN 9 December 1802. Stephan was killed by a falling tree sometime in 1813. Lucy married 2nd William WILDER 19 March 1815. She died 21 Sept 1855 in Wilmington. 6. Luther Boyd was born in Wilmington, Vermont 17 Oct 1781. He married Elizabeth (Betsy) WHEELER, 29 May 1803. Betsy and Susannah (who married Robert Boyd) were sisters. They were the daughters of Deliverance and Mary WHITMAN Wheeler who were early settlers of Wilmington. Betsy died in Wilmington 28 Feb 1873. Luther died3 at Columbus, Ohio 12 January 1867. 1. Sources: Vital Records of Wilmington and Whitingham, Vermont. Vital Records of Hopkinton, Mass. Land Records Wilmington, Vt. 2. Cemetery stone says Robert was born in 1771. 3. See below. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wilmington, Vermont, The Times Press, 1900 "Abraham Boyd was a soldier of the Revolution and came to Wilmington as one of the earliest settlers just before the outbreak of the war. He came in with two companions from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, by the guide of marked trees. He cleared a small patch of land from the dense forest and built a crude log hut. His sons were Robert, Levi, Stephan, and Simeon. Robert the eldest2 son married Susannah WHEELER and settled in the south part of town. He started in life with "an axe and one lousy calf" but reared a family of seven children and aquired a handsome fortune. [Abraham was the eldest son, not Robert. Abraham Jr., was already married when Abe Sr. went to Vermont. They also had a son named Luther who left for Ohio around 1813. Luther was the only child born in Vermont. Othersd were born in Massachusetts.] James Manning Boyd, eldest son of Robert, when he was twenty years of age, went to live with his aged grandparents, remained with them the rest of their lives, and suceeded to their estate, a fine 200 acre farm on the Deerfield river. James Manning Boyd married Phoebe Drury MOORE, a niece of Zephaniah MOORE, the first president of Amherst College. A family of thirteen children were born to them. Seven members of this family are now living, the three brothers, Ransome M., Warren R., and Edmund M. in this town and Ansel N. of Whitingham, and two daughters. James Manning Boyd and his wife were substantial and worthy people and passed their lives on the old Boyd homestead where he died at the age of sixty-eight and she at the age of eighty-nine. Warren Robert Boyd was born in 1837 and was educated in the public schools. He married Lucy Ann RICH in 1861 and settled on the south part of the old farm, which he conducted with industry and success until he removed to the village of Whitingham in 1894. He erected a good set of buildings on the farm which he sold to lawyer Davenport. In 1895 Mr. Boyd built his present commodius residence on School street, where he is passing the latter years of an active and useful life. The two children of Warren and Lucy are Leslie W., born in 1866, a farmer and selectmen of Wilmington, and Della B., Mrs. Perry M. Davis. Warren R. Boyd was an early and prominent member of the grange. He has served his town capably as selectman, justice of the peace, and many years as a lister, and is a highly esteemed citizen. 1. From the book "Wilmington, Vermont" published in 1900 by the Deerfield Times Press. END............... It is Luther and his 2nd wife from whom I descend. Luther disappeared for 9 years between 1813 when he left Vermont and until 1822 when I found him in Franklin County, Columbus, Ohio marrying Easther English (1822). They had several childen most named after his Parents and siblings. It is not known whether he ever went back or corresponded with his family in Vermont. When Luther's first wife Betsy died in 1873 in Wilmington "widow of Luther Boyd" was marked on her headstone. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~confido/book3.htm Some of these Boyds are buried in the Old Boyd Cemetery on the old Jasper Boyd farm between Wilmington and Whitingham. I visited this cemetery in 1990 and again in 1995. The last Boyd buried there was a Linden Boyd, 1961. Richard G. Boyd http://clanboyd.info/index.htm 568 W. Friedrich St. Rogers City, Michigan 49779