James Boyd (bef. 1738 - 1784)

Born before 1738 in Bedford County, Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Martha E. (Burns) Boyd — married 1760 in Bedford, Virginia Colony

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Shanna Bernal-Fields [send private message] and Loren Lacy [send private message]

Biography

James Boyd is an NSSAR Patriot Ancestor.
NSSAR Ancestor #: P118876
Rank: Private

James Boyd served with 1st South Carolina Regiment, Continental Army during the American Revolution.

James Boyd is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A013341.

Important note on this particular Boyd Line: James Boyd line is A1b1-M118 and not R like the majority of Boyds (the ones that have the official Boyd society). Y-DNA provided by two male descendants (the great Uncle and a male cousin of A Grotta) of this James Boyd.

James Boyd enlisted, 1775, in the 1st South Carolina regiment, commanded by Col. C Pinckney. He was born in Bedford County, VA.; died in a Tory prison camp in South Carolina. Source Citation Book Title: Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the DAR Vol 084 Description Title: Lineage Book of the Charter Members of the DAR Vol 084

(Notes on Col. Pinckney: he did take command as Colonel of 1st South Carolina Regiment, (commanded by Col. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. (History of Wayne County, page 238 & DAR page Vol. 57, Pg 81, Number 56235.) until after June 1776, later in 1776, (So, after he took command is when James Boyd and his father, William Boyd enlisted in the 1st South Carolina Regiment):

"He (Col Pinckney) participated in the successful defense of Charleston in the Battle of Sullivan's Island in June 1776, when British forces under General Sir Henry Clinton staged an amphibious attack on the state capital. Later in 1776 Pinckney took command of the regiment, with the rank of colonel, a position he retained to the end of the war.

After this, the British Army shifted its focus to the Northern and Mid-Atlantic states. Pinckney led his regiment north to join General Washington's troops near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pinckney and his regiment participated in the Battle of Brandywine and the Battle of Germantown. Around this time he first met fellow officers Alexander Hamilton and James McHenry, who became future Federalist statesmen.

In 1778, Pinckney and his regiment, returning to the South, took part in a failed American expedition attempting to seize British East Florida. The expedition ended due to severe logistical difficulties and a British victory in the Battle of Alligator Bridge. Later that year, the British Army shifted its focus to the Southern theater, capturing Savannah, Georgia, in December 1778. In October 1779, the Southern army of Major General Benjamin Lincoln, with Pinckney leading one of its brigades, attempted to re-take the city in the Siege of Savannah. This attack was disaster for the Americans, who suffered numerous casualties.

Pinckney participated in the 1780 defense of Charleston against British siege but the city fell. Major General Lincoln surrendered his 5,000 men to the British on May 12, 1780, and Pinckney became a prisoner of war. As such, he demonstrated leadership, playing a major role in maintaining the troops' loyalty to the Patriots' cause. During this time, he said, "If I had a vein that did not beat with the love of my Country, I myself would open it. If I had a drop of blood that could flow dishonorable, I myself would let it out." He was kept in close confinement until his release in 1782. In November 1783, he was commissioned a brevet Brigadier General in the Continental Army shortly before the southern regiments were disbanded.[1] He was promoted to Major General during his subsequent service in the South Carolina militia.[4]) source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Cotesworth_Pinckney )

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 severly for thei r well-tried patriotism. Twice their habitation was burned to the ground by the Tories; twice their hearth was made desolated and he and his family went forth without shelter and without raiment, yet they never lost faith in God and the good cause of their country. The grandfather and his three sons were soldiers of that war. 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.

Military

• Revolutionary War Veteran
• Death Place: Killed In Revolution (died in a Tory Prison Camp)
• Spouse: Martha Burns Boyd
• Children: Samuel Boyd

James Boyd. ^[1][2]

Residence USA^[3]

Research Notes

Conflicting birth information in a merge 4/2023:

• Born 1720 in Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland
• Born before 1738 in Bedford County, Colony of Virgini

Sources

1. ↑ Source: #S53 Residence date: Residence place: United States
2. ↑ Source: #S9 Ancestry Family Trees http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=22600210&pid=1146
3. ↑ Source: #S53 Residence date: Residence place: United States

• Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 19 Feb 2024), "Record of James Boyd", Ancestor # A013341.

Personal notes from my mother had collected in the family bible See also:

• Source Citation- Book Title: Lineage Book : NSDAR : Volume 057 : 1906

• Source Information-Ancestry.com. North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.,

• Reference: Historical reg. Of Virginians in the Revolution., soldiers, sailors and marines, 1775-1783. Ed. By John H. Gwathmey. Richmond, Va. 1938. (13, 872p.):84

• Source Information- Ancestry.com. U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.Original data: Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls.
• Source: S-162757008 Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.Ancestry Family Tree Ancestry Family Tree 78007239
• From History of Wayne County, page 238

died in a Tory prison camp. Killed in the Revolution. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_South_Carolina_Regiment

enlisted in the 1st South Carolina Regiment, commanded by Col. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. (History of Wayne County, page 238 & DAR page Vol. 57, Pg 81, Number 56235

"Pioneer History of the Boyd Family"

Other sources are saved in my ancestry profile of him: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/8662761/person/130188983883/gallery

• Source: S53 Ancestry.com U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 Publication: Name: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.Original data - Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508; Repository: #R1
• Repository: R1 Ancestry.com
• Source: S9 Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Name: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.;; Repository: #R1 NOTEThis information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created.

Acknowledgements

First-hand information as remembered by Loren Lacy, Sunday, September 14, 2014.