John Boyd (1796–1873) was an American settler and politician. He served as a Congressman for the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

and as a member of the

Texas State Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

Early life

John Boyd was born on August 7, 1796 in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

.Cecil Harper, Jr., "BOYD, JOHN," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbo59), accessed October 26, 2014. Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Modified on June 15, 2010. Published by the

Texas State Historical Association The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is a non-profit educational organization, dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, on March 2, 1897. , TSHA moved their offices from Austin to the University of N ...

.''Biographical Directory of the Texan Conventions and Congresses, 1832-1845'', 1942. , pp. 54-5

/ref>Legislative Reference Library: Texas Legislators: Past & Present: John Boyd
/ref> His father was Abraham Boyd and his mother, Nancy Linn.Judge Prestley Kettedge Ewing and Mary Ellen (Williams) Ewing,
The Ewing genealogy with cognate branches: a survey of the Ewings and their kin in America
' His brother,

Linn Boyd Linn Boyd (November 22, 1800 – December 17, 1859) (also spelled "Lynn") was a prominent US politician of the 1840s and 1850s, and served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1851 to 1855. Boyd was elected to the Hou ...

, went on to serve as the

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U. ...

from 1851 to 1855.

Career

By 1835, Boyd settled in

Sabine County, Texas Sabine County is a county located on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 9,894. The county was organized on December 14, 1837, and named for the Sabine River, which forms its easter ...

with his wife and children. He then served in the Texas Revolution. Boyd served as a member of the

Congress of the Republic of Texas : ''For the current Texas legislative body, see Texas Legislature.'' The Congress of the Republic of Texas was the national legislature of the Republic of Texas established by the Constitution of the Republic of Texas in 1836. It was a bicameral l ...

from 1836 to 1845. In 1845, he moved to

Limestone County, Texas Limestone County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 22,146. Its county seat is Groesbeck. The county was created in 1846. History Native Americans Indians friendly to the settlers resided in Ea ...

, where he staked a claim near the Tehuacana Hills, northwest of Tehuacana. From 1862 to 1863, Boyd served in the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

. By then, he had become a secessionist, in favor of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

. Boyd was also a landowner in Nashville. He donated 1,100 acres of land as well as financial assistance for the establishment of Trinity University.

Personal life, death and legacy

Boyd married Elizabeth McLean. They had nine children, but only three reached adulthood. He was a member of the

Cumberland Presbyterian Church The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian denomination spawned by the Second Great Awakening.Matthew H. Gore, The History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky to 1988, (Memphis, Tennessee: Joint Heritage Committee, 2000). ...

. Boyd died on May 4, 1873. After his death, the land he owned in Nashville, Tennessee was inherited by his granddaughter, Rachel Douglas Boyd Smiley, the wife of Senator

Henry S. Foote Henry Stuart Foote (February 28, 1804May 19, 1880) was a United States Senator from Mississippi and the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 1847 to 1852. He was a Unionist Governor of Mississippi from 1852 to ...

. They built a house, Old Central, which was later acquired by

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, on whose campus it still stands today.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, John Republic of Texas politicians 1st Congress of the Republic of Texas 1796 births 1873 deaths Politicians from Nashville, Tennessee People from Sabine County, Texas American Presbyterians Philanthropists from Texas People from Limestone County, Texas 19th-century American philanthropists