James Kerr Boyd ~ (1) Margaret Gray (2) Mrs. John Venning

James Kerr Boyd, an employee of the Union Switch & Signal Company, Swissvale, Pennsylvania, was born February 7, 1855, in Edgewood, Pennsylvania, a son of Thomas Boyd. He received a common school education, and in 1874 commenced the moulders' trade with the I. G. McFarland Foundry Company, at Brushton, Pennsylvania, and after that worked for eleven years with the Bradley Foundry Company, of Pittsburg. In 1887 he went into the employ of the Union Switch & Signal Company, where he is still engaged. In 1882 he was married to Margaret Gray, to whom two sons were born: Herbert Spencer Boyd, born January 3, 1885, and Oliver Gray Boyd, born January 1, 1888. Mrs. Boyd died in 1895. In 1907 Mr. Boyd was again married to Mrs. John Venning.

Thomas Boyd, the subject's father, was born in 1805 in Stoystown, Pennsylvania, and at the age of fifteen years commenced driving a stage coach between Pittsburg and Philadelphia. In 1825, when General Lafayette came to Pittsburg, he was one of Mr. Boyd's passengers. Mr. Boyd married Elizabeth Giliam, and they had children as follows:

William Oliver Boyd, born in 1838. He was engaged in the war of 1854 to 1856 with the Indians. He is now residing in Grafton, West Virginia, of which town he was Mayor for six consecutive years.

Samuel T. Boyd, born February 2, 1840. He enlisted in the Union Army in 1861 as a member of the First Maryland Cavalry, and served for three years, and was honorably discharged in 1864. He then went to railroading on the Pennsylvania Railroad, where at the time of the Pittsburg riot in 1877 he was detailed to haul the burned engines to the sidetracks outside the city. The depot was burned at that time. He was killed on the railroad September 21, 1877.

Mary Jane Boyd was born June 11, 1842. During the time of the Civil war she was employed at the Pittsburg Arsenal, and was engaged there at the time of the explosion, but escaped uninjured. She died March 12, 1868.

Catharine Virginia Boyd was born January 26, 1844. She married Henry Snyder, of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania.

Amanda P. Boyd, born November 26, 1847, died January 4, 1873.

The father died March 30, 1884, and the mother November 6, 1863.

James K. Boyd is now residing at 7930 Tioga Street, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

Source: A Century and a half of Pittsburg and her people by John Newton Boucher;Pub. New York :Lewis Pub. Co., c1908. - FHL Film 1425643 Items 1-4

NOTE: Use this data 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.

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