Oct 18, 2001
There appear to be several marriages between the
Boyd and Leech families:
1. Sarah Boyd of Lancaster Co. PA married Thomas Leech about 1745.
2. William Boyd of Rowan Co. NC married Isabel Leech in 1780.
3. John Boyd, William's brother, married Elizabeth, Isabel's sister.
4. Syrena Leech of Chester Co. SC married David Boyd about 1825.
The fourth of these marriages is the one most directly related to my family. Syrena was the daughter of Dr. David and Eleanor Leech of Chester Co. SC. Eleanor was the daughter of David Leech, Esq. of York Co.; she married her cousin, David Leech, son of William Leech. Syrena is thus a Leech on both sides of her family, the child of first cousins.
The family of Dr. David Leech of Chester Co. and his wife Eleanor
Leech is obliquely revealed in Chester Co. SC Court Minutes Record
Book O page 28. A complaint dated Feb. 1824 concerned the
guardianship of the minor children of Dr. David Leech, listed as
Syrene Leech
John N. Leech
James H. Leech
William D.
Leech, minors under 21 years
The Boyds have been a noted family of Presbyterian ministers.
The relationship between BOYD and LEECH is complicated by a third surname which the two have in common, namely MOORE. Study of the Leech family history suggests they had a close, likely familial connection with the Moores in York Co. SC: they exchanged property on Fishing Creek in the 18th century and others of both families were buried together in Bethel Presbyterian Cemetery in southwestern York.
Around 1750 Walter Moore lived on Pennypack Cr., two miles from White Marsh Church and 15 miles from Philadelphia. One of his daughters, Elizabeth, married a Leech (unfortunately I haven't been able to determine her father's first name). Another daughter, Sarah, married Rev. John Cuthbertson, pastor of Octoraro Presbyterian Church (which appears to be the church that Rev. Adam Boyd had served, perhaps a bit earlier).
Rev. Cuthbertson also performed the wedding ceremony of John Moore and Margaret Ayres. The minister had an intimate relationship with his sister-in-law's husband and referred to him as Brother Leech. (These data found in Rev. Cuthbertson's journal, published as Register of Marriages and Baptisms. Mr Jesse O. McWhirter informs us that he was ordained at Braehead in 1747, immigrated to PA in 1751 and died in 1791.)
The above information is significant for this Boyd study because BOYD and MOORE were most definitely allied families in the old country and later in PA (and probably other states as well):
William Moore of Antrim, Ireland married Mary Elizabeth Boyd about 1735. Their children were William, Elizabeth, Andrew, Samuel, Margaret, and Mary. Members of this family moved to PA. (This from Joe Tynsdale in the Moore Family Gen. Forum).
From another researcher, Peter Peacock, we're told that the above family lived in Ballymoney with the Boyds, Knoxes, Pollocks and other Scotch Irish folk, which suggests that William Moore's wife may have been related to the Rev. Adam Boyds and/or Rev. William Boyd of the petition of 1718.
Ballymoney appears to be the
original home of
Rev. William Boyd of the petition of 1718,
Rev. Adam Boyd of Upper Octoraro,
William and Mary Elizabeth Boyd Moore, and John Boyd
of SC.
The story begins in 1718 with a petition which Rev. William Boyd of Ireland got up for a considerable number of Scotch-Irish families requesting authorization and/or encouragement to move to New England. (Cf.History of Dauplin Co., PA, Vol. 1, page 23 by Luther Reily Kelker.)
Many of Rev. Boyd's congregation may have settled in New England. Nevertheless a great many of the surnames on this petition were soon found in Maryland and Pennsylvania--among them Boyd and Leech. In the earlier part of the 18th century many Scotch-Irish pastors came with large numbers of their congregations to various parts of the New World.
This from Mike Boyd:
The Rev William Boyd, who went to New England to see Governor
Shute in 1718, came from Aghadewey on the road from Limavady to
Ballymoney in County Antrim. Aghadewey is about 6 miles due south of
Coleraine and about 10 miles east south east of Limavady.
From Leighanne Boyd, writing to the Boyd mailing list 18 Oct 2001
we learn that Rev Adam Boyd (1666), also from Ballymoney, and wife
Mary Norton had two sons:
1. John Boyd
2. Rev. Adam Boyd (1692-1758) of Ballymoney, Co. Antrim served
Upper Octorara Presbyterian Church in Lancaster Co. PA and married
Jane Craighead, daughter of Rev. Thomas and Margaret Wallace Craighead
of White Clay.
Leighanne also writes of another John Boyd, born 1656 in Ireland). In 1686 he married Mary? Moore, dau
of James Moore, Sr. of Ireland. Among their children were:
Samuel Boyd, (1689-1770); In 1720 he married
Margaret Campbell. He is believed to have come to PA and had a son
named John Boyd (cf 1999 submission of Susan Gillim in the Boyd
mailing list)
These data are most significant in relation to the family of
Syrena Leech Boyd of SC; James Moore of Fishing Creek in York Co. SC
was an intimate and likely relative of her grandfather, David Leech, Esq.
Sarah Boyd of Lancaster Co. PA was the wife of Thomas Leech and the mother of another Thomas Leech. In 1747 Thomas Leech claimed land in Lancaster PA. - two tracts for 50 acres and 215 acres in Warrington TWP. This Thomas Leech appeared to be a Quaker. He was the son of Thomas Leech Sr, and Sarah Boyd. His son Thomas, b. 1747, md Phebe Penrose in 1766.
The daughter of Thomas and Sarah Boyd Leech, Quakers, married Christopher King, a Baptist and was removed from the Quaker membership role. (The relationship of Thomas, if any with your writer's Leech family is unclear. However a Thomas Leech was a carpenter at the building of the Tinkling Springs Presbyterian Church in Augusta Co, VA. A Thomas Leech also appears in SC records a bit later.)
Here is a Boyd listing on Robert Boyd of PA from V. Boyd in the
Boyd mailing list. He married Eleanor in 1752 in PA (probably
Lancaster). They died in Iredel Co. NC. They had the following
children:
1. William (1754) married Isabel Leach in NC in 1780. (V.Boyd
descends from their third child John Boyd, who married Martha
Witherspoon in TN.
2. Robert (1757)
3. Thomas (1761)
4. John (1764) was said to be born in Va, his elder siblings in PA
and his younger ones in NC. John married Elizabeth Leach.
5. Moses (1767)
6. Aaron (1770)
7. Joseph (1773)
Linda Lawhorn, another Leech cousin in this line, has a lot of Boyd data on her two websites: http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=llawhon http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~clanboyd/mo8.htm
John Boyd I was born in 1747 in County Antrim in Ireland. His son, John Boyd II married Agnes Moore. They are said to have had 11 sons. (This from Carolyn L. Boyd in Boyd mailing list.)
In 1780 Alexander Boyd of of West Nottingham in Cecil Co. made his will. He named his widow, Margaret, a daughter, Margaret, and sons, Robert, Hugh, Francis, and Alexander. (This from the Clan Web Society webpage.)
Elizabeth and Isabel, two daughters of John Leach (Leech) of Rowan Co. NC each married a Boyd; Isabel married a man named William Boyd, and Elizabeth married William's brother, John.
This from Gary Cash in
http://genforum.genealogy.com/boyd/messages/3018.html:
William Boyd, born 1754 in PA?; died in TN. He was the son of
Robert Boyd and Eleanor McCullouch. In NC in 1780 he married Isabel
Leach, daughter of John Leech of Rowan Co. Isabel was born in 1760 in
Rowan Co., NC and died in 1830 in Rutherford Co., TN. It appears that
William Boyd and his father-in-law, John Leech may have both moved to
Wilson Co. TN.
William Boyd and Isabel Leach had five sons:
Robert Boyd, born 1780 in PA; died 1825 in MS.
William Boyd, born 1787 in Burke Co., NC; died April 01, 1844 in
Wilson Co., TN.
James Henderson Boyd, born 1798 in TN; died 1860 in Ellis Co., TX.
Thomas Boyd, born 1800 in TN.
Joseph Joel Boyd, born ca 1802 in TN.
This from the Leach Family Genealogy Forum, posted by Linda Boyd
Lawhon:
In 1805 in Wilson Co. TN the will of John Leach mentions
640 acres in Iredell Co. NC. John Leach was born circa 1730. He is
said to have married Margaret Courtney and lived in an area which was
successively in Rowan, Wilkes, Iredel, and Burke Counties. At some
time after 1790 he moved to Wilson Co. TN. His will suggests that at
least some of his children may have remained in NC, but that is only a
surmise. He left his property to his children: two sons named William
and Thomas and five daughters, Jean Bogal, Martha Witherspoon,
Margaret Cross, and Elizabeth and Isabel Boyd! He also included
legacies to grandchildren, among them John Boyd, son of Isabel. The
will of John Leech was probated in 1809 and recorded in Bk. B:146.
Linda Lawhorn has data on the life of John Leech of Rowan Co: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~clanboyd/index.htm. The 640 acres which John Leech acquired was adjacent to land owned by Robert Boyd, father of Leech's two sons-in-law. It lies just north of Taylorsville in Alexander Co. NC, but at that time was part of Rowan Co.
Syrena Leech was the daughter of Dr. David Leech of Chester Co. SC. His wife was Eleanor Leech, daughter of his uncle, David Leech, Esq. of York Co. SC. (For evidence of this look at the above.
They had the following children:
1. Prudence Araminta Boyd B 1826 In Newberry Co. S.C. ( my line)
2. Lemuel Milton Boyd 1827 in S.C.
3. David Albert Boyd B. 1829 in S.C.
4. Samuel Clark Boyd B. 1831 in Georgia
5. Elias Irving Boyd B 1833 In Georgia
6. Mary Louisa Boyd B. 1835 In Georgia
7. Eliza Ellen Boyd B. 1837 in Georgia B. 1839
8. Antoinette Lucretia Boyd B. 1840 In Alabama
9. Martha Victoria Boyd B. 1844 in Alabama
10.Joseph Leech Boyd B. 1845 in Alabama
Note that Prudence was most likely named for her grandmother, Prudence McElhenny Leech, and that Joseph Leech was surely named after an uncle who had that name.
There were many Boyds in upstate SC in the early 19th century--several in York and Chester Counties where Syrena Leech lived, others in Union Co. immediately to the southwest, and yet others in Newberry Co., yet further southwest. Which one Syrena's husband belonged to is as yet unclear. A will was found in Union County of John Boyd, dated 1815. He had a wife Jane (Bernardo?) and sons Nathan and David, who got 1$ each and John, Joseph , and Samuel Boyd and Nancy Kesler, wife of Abraham Kesler received the rest of his estate, after his wife. (David Boyd, Syrena Leech's husband, was thought to be the son of Joseph and grandson of John.) But another John Boyd, Jr., from Ballymena Ireland died in 1827 in Newberry and was assigned the same wife, Jane Bernardo, by other researchers.
This John Boyd of Ballymena must be related to Rev. William Boyd of the 1718 petition and to Rev. John Boyd of Ballymoney and Octoraro.
In York Co. in 1786 William Boyd witnessed a deed from Elizabeth Riggs to David Leech Esq of a tract on Turkey Creek adjoining other property owned by Leech. Other witnesses were William Brown and Hugh Simpson. The price was 10 shillings.
Mr. Joseph Hart, the acknowledged authority on York Co. families, lists a great number of Boyds in his famous notebooks. I noted two families in particular:
I. the Salem Churchyard group:
1. John Boyd b. 1774 died 1825 in Bethel Chyd. York Co.
md Jane Johnston, who died 1847-49. She was probably the daughter
of David Johnston, who also died at Bethel.
The children of John and Jane Johnston Boyd were:
Eliza 1801-70 md Wm Glenn, died Bethel Chyd York Co.
David Johnston Boyd 1802-45, died at Bethel, md Eliz simrill in 1822
Sarah Neal Boyd 1804-85 in Union Chyd,Gaston Co. md robert Henry Craig
Thomas md Tirzah Clarke Faris
Jane md William Wood
Pamela 1814 md Rich Mason Bethel
Mary Margaret 1817
Clarissa H md James Smith Bethel
Margaret md James Smith
2.Thomas Boyd 1779-1838 in Family Burial Ground near Lake Wylie md
Elizabeth.
The children of Thomas and Eliz Boyd were:
John D. md Nancy Wilson in 1823 (Bethel congregation)
Thomas Jefferson Boyd
Robert N. md Eliz Rhyne
James Boyd 1807 died at 59; Flint Hill Chyd, York; md Eliz Jane Smith
William F Boyd
Jane
Nancy C
Eliz
Bennett
Mary Ann
Louisa
Another Boyd is said to have come from Ireland to York and had two
sons:
William
David, born 1738.
Rev. John Boyd was pastor of Fishing Creek Church, Chester Dist. SC.
Leander Downing b ca 1794 is said to have married Rachel Boyd; they joined Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church in Chester Dist. SC in 1814. Leander died young and left Rachel with a number of children. One of them was Leander (this data from M. Price at http://genforum.genealogy.com/alexander/messages/5519.html.
Joseph Boyd (ca 1775) married Sarah Boyd. They belonged to the Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church in Chester Co. SC. They later moved to York Co. SC. Their son, James L. Boyd Sr. and daughter Jane Clark Boyd Corry Roberts died in AL. (this from Vicki Corrick at http://genforum.genealogy.com/boyd/messages/1982.html
James L. Boyd b. 2-8-1801 York Co., SC d. 8-14-1882 Blount Co., AL. Married Hannah James. They had these children Sarah Narcissa, Doctor T., Elizabeth Ann., Tlitha Lee, Samuel, Tilman, James L., Margaret, Martha, Mary Mattie.(this from http://genforum.genealogy.com/boyd/messages/264.html)
Lawrence Co. AL 1830 census:
"Boyd, Ephraim",0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
"Boyd, John",0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0
"Boyd, William",0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,,1,1,1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
Creative correction, comment, suggestion, criticism or whatever from you, dear reader, is welcome. Send such to
Larry Clayton
or slomail to Larry Clayton, 1906 SE 8th St., Ocala, FL 34471
