John Boyd (March 17, 1799 – December 1, 1881) was an American politician who served as a Connecticut state legislator and the

Secretary of State of Connecticut The secretary of the State of Connecticut is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Connecticut. (The definite article is part of the legal job title.) It is an elected position in the state government and has a term length of four ...

. Boyd, son of James and Mary (Munro) Boyd, of the borough of Winsted, in the town of

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, Conn., was born March 17, 1799. After graduating from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1821, he studied law in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, with Messrs. Staples and

Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

, and was admitted to the bar in 1825. He settled in his native town as an iron manufacturer, retiring from business in 1853, and was also largely occupied with public trusts. He was a representative in the

Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Th ...

of the State in 1830 and 1835, and a member of the

Connecticut State Senate The Connecticut State Senate is the upper house of the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The state senate comprises 36 members, each representing a district with around 99,280 inhabitants. Sena ...

in 1854. For fifteen years he was Judge of Probate, and for twenty-six years Town Clerk of his native town. He was Secretary of State in 1859, 1860, and 1861. In 1873 he published the ''Annals and Family Records of Winchester'' (

octavo Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...

, pp. 632), a laborious work. He was married, in New Haven, May 17, 1831, to Emily W., daughter of Elias Beers, who died November 25, 1842, at the age of 37, leaving three children, of whom one daughter only survived him. He next married, December 10, 1843, Jerusha, daughter of Solomon Rockwell, and widow of the Hon. Theodore Hinsdale, of Winsted, who died March 11, 1875, aged 72 years. He died in West Winsted, in Winchester, December 1, 1881, in his 83rd year.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:boyd, john 1799 births 1881 deaths People from Winsted, Connecticut Yale College alumni Connecticut state senators American male writers Connecticut lawyers Connecticut local politicians Secretaries of the State of Connecticut Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Presidents pro tempore of the Connecticut Senate Connecticut state court judges 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers