PORTRAIT
AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
page
345
LUTHER BOYD.
This gentleman is widely known throughout the philanthropic world for his
prominent connection with the abolition movement in ante bellum days, when his
name was the synonym to many of charity, benevolence and goodness, and was held
in reverence by many a poor slave whom he helped to liberty.
He was a co-worker with Garrison, Phillips, Lovejoy and others, and was
very earnest and active in the cause for which he almost staked his life.
He
was for many years engaged in the mercantile business, acquiring a handsome
competence, and in the city of Springfield, of which he has been a resident for
nearly three decades, he has built up a substantial, cozy home, amid whose
comforts he is passing the declining years of a well-spent life, reverenced and
esteemed by all about him.
Our subject was born in this State, in the town
of Steubenville, Jefferson County, February 10, 1817.
His father, Robert Boyd was
born in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Ireland, a son of William Boyd, who is
supposed to have been born in the same county, and to have been of Scotch
antecedents, and there he was reared, married and spent the rest of his life.
Three of his children came to America, and his son John settled in Harrison
County, Ohio, engaged as a farmer and died there. His son William reared a family of twenty-two children, and
coming to this country when he was seventy years old he spent his last years
with them in Coshocton County.
The father of our subject was bred to a
farmer's life, and was twenty-two years old when he came to the
United States, and having received a good education in the old country, he
utilized it by teaching in Eastern Pennsylvania. and later attended college
there. He married in that State,
and moved to Ohio in 1805, the removal being made with teams.
Ohio was a wilderness at that time, the home of the Indian, and deer,
bear, wolves, and other kinds of wild animals were plenty in the primeval
forest. Mr. Boyd became a pioneer
of Steubenville, and soon arose to prominence in the public life of the county,
being elected Clerk of the Court, and also County Recorder, and at the same time
he kept an hotel. He resided there till September, 1817, when he removed to
Coshocton County, and bought a half section of land in Keene Town Ship, and in
the forest wilds erected a log house for the abode of his family.
There were no railways or canals in that section of the country in that
early day, and Coshocton, several miles distant, was the market and depot for
supplies for the people for many miles around.
Mr. Boyd cleared a few acres of his land and made his home there till his
death in December, 1827, at the age of fifty-seven years, deprived that county
of one of its most intelligent and capable pioneers.
The maiden name of his wife was Mary McMasters, and she was born in
County Down, Ireland, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James McMasters.
She spent her last years with her children in Coshocton County until six
months before her death, which occurred in the home of her son Renfrew M., in
Licking County, in 1871, she attaining the remarkable age of ninety-four years.
She reared nine children, namely: Sarah, William, Robert, Algernon S., Hervey,
John C., Luther, Eliza, and Renfrew M. William, Renfrew, Eliza and our subject
are the only representatives of the family now living.
The latter was reared to man's estate in Coshocton
County, receiving his early education in the common school, taught in a log
building, heated by a rude fireplace, of which the chimney was built with a log
foundation and the remainder of clay and sticks; a log removed and the opening
covered with greased paper constituted the window, while the benches were made
of puncheon, without hacks, and with wooden pegs for legs; and
around the sides of the room wooden pins were inserted between the logs, and the
puncheon laid on them served the larger scholars for a writing desk. The school
was conducted on the subscription plan. A
youth of quick, warm impulses, large sympathy and a thoughtful mind, our subject
early became interested in the condition of the slaves, and identified himself
with that noble band of devoted men, the Abolitionists, in 1837, and was with
them an active worker till slavery was abolished.
He was prominently connected with the "underground railroad,"
and, figuratively speaking, laid the tracks and ran the first train on that
famous road from bondage to freedom that ever passed through Coshocton and
Holmes Counties, and he was instrumental in helping many slaves to escape from
their masters. By so doing he
jeopardized his life, on account of the animosity often displayed towards the
Abolitionists, his friend and co-worker, Rev. George Gerden, being incarcerated
in jail, in Cleveland, for aiding slaves to escape, and dying soon after he was
liberated. He remained on the home farm till he was twenty-seven, and then
established himself in the mercantile business in Hayesville, Ashland County,
and later was similarly engaged in Jeromesville, and remained a resident of
Ashland County thirteen years, and from there went to Greene County, where he
lived two and one-half years, and whence he came to Springfield October 23,
1861. He located on North Street,
and in 1872 bought a home on Bowler Street, where he dwelt till 1886, when he
purchased a lot on North Fountain Avenue and erected his present desirable
residence, wherein he enjoys the comforts procured by a substantial income.
In his philanthropic work Mr. Boyd found a
faithful sympathizer and encourager in his devoted wife, formerly Miss Sarah
Taggart, a native of Nova Scotia, to whom he was married September 16, 1844.
They have two children living, Salome Elizabeth and Harry.
This brief life record of our subject is sufficient to show that he possesses a pure, lofty nature that is true to the right whatever betides. His kindly heart still glows with sympathy for the unfortunate, and he is as ready as ever to champion the oppressed and to do battle against wrong in any form. He is a deep thinker and a great reader, and is the author of a famous work that has caused much discussion in the religious world, the book referred to being entitled "The Ten Tribes of Israel," which was issued under the non de plume of Timothy R. Jenkins, and in it is proved conclusively to the intelligent reader that the Indians are descendants of those tribes. Mr. Boyd is a member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, while Mrs. Boyd and her daughter belong to the United Presbyterian Church.
16 Jan 2000