CHIEF:  Alastair Ivor Gilbert Boyd 7th Baron Kilmarnock

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BOYD CANNING JAR LIDS and ENCLOSURES

   LEWIS R. BOYD

                      
The name of  Lewis R. Boyd is almost as commonly associated with fruit jars as is Mason's, for his name is generic with the "Boyds Porcelain Lined Caps" that closed fruit jars for many years. Yet very little is known of the man personally. * According to the 1870 U.S. Census Schedule for Brooklyn,
New York, he was born in 1832 in Connecticut, and was married to Connecticut- born Ellen, who bore him two sons, Ralph B. Boyd and James H. Boyd.     *See more below.

Photo of Boyd Jar above courtesy Elizabeth Doolittle, Roanoke, VA.

His name appears on the fruit jar scene in New York City in 1862, when he and two other men gained control of the patent rights for screw caps and jars originally owned by John L. Mason.  Boyd was listed in the 1863/1864 New York City Directory as a "manufacturer" at 139 Elm Street, and as "treasurer" at 214 Pearl Street, address of the Sheet Metal Screw Company who sold Mason's Patent jars and screw caps for the next eight years. On January 21, 1868, Boyd was issued a patent for an Improved Locking-Ring for fruit jars, that contain- ed as one of its features an iron stud soldered vertically onto the side. This vertical wrench lug was to be used on most of the caps and bands made by the Sheet Metal Screw Company and the Consolidated Fruit Jar Company for two decades.

Boyd's most famous patent was granted on March 30, 1869, for an Improved Mode of Preventing Corrosion in Metallic Caps.  The patent text called for a glass lining-plate to be inserted in the "well-known cap used with the so called
"Mason Jar," for the purpose of preventing the disagreeable flavor imparted to the jar contents if the food came into contact with the zinc cap. The earliest known application of the is patent was a zinc cap lettered on top TRADE MARK COMMON SENSE PATD JUNE 2 57 OCT 27 57 JUNE 9 63 MAR 30 69. These caps had a 1/16" thick clear  glass liner, rather than the later milk glass liners.

The first three patent dates on the cap were those of John L. Mason and John K. Chase respectively, while the last date was for Boyd's liner patent.

Another of Boyd's patents, issued on May 11, 1869, called for a zinc screw nozzle (or band) with a permanently-attached glass plate spun into an aperture on top of the band, in order to form a screw  cap.  This cap, with patent date embossed on the glass, is known to exist, but is quite rare. Boyd was assigned the July 18, 1871 patent of Taylor & Hodgetts that called for a glass or porcelain lined cap.

On December 12, 1871, Boyd's Sheet Metal Screw Co. was merged with several others to form the Consolidated Fruit Jar Company whose early offices were located at the same address as Boyd's old company, 66 Warren Street, New York City.  In 1872 city directories, Boyd was listed as the president of the new company, and he also served as a trustee during its early days. By 1873, Boyd's name was no longer listed in directories as an officer of the company, and it would seem that his association with Consolidated Fruit Jar Co. was as short-lived as John L. Mason's.

Boyd's porcelain lining patent of Mar 30, 1869, was reissued on Oct 25 1881 to the Consolidated Fruit Jar Company, assignee of the late Lewis R. Boyd, de- ceased.  From this, we assume that Boyd died prior to 1881, but the exact date is not yet known.  [He died at age 42 in 1874-- RG Boyd]

Louis was born in Connecticut in 1832 [1870 US Census] and he married Ellen A., maiden name unknown, in 1865. Their son, Ralph B. Boyd was born in New York in 1866 and son James H. Boyd was born in Jan, 1870. On the 1870 U.S 
census Louis was listed as age 38, his wife Ellen age 29, his son Ralph age 4, and James at 5 months.

Louis Boyd was issued a number of patents not at all related to the fruit jar business. He was issued patent #134,842 for an Oil Can Stopper, and #135,072 for an Oil Dripping Can.  Boyd never produced any jars, but, rather his name was so synonymous with the fruit jar industry that after his patents ran out, other jar makers put his name on their jars just because they knew they would sell very well.

[Standard Fruit Jar Reference, Dick Roller, 607 Driskell St., Paris, IL 61944   Dick would appreciate any data on Louis R. Boyd.

                    Boyd Mason Canning Jars in my collection.
 

As we can see from the above article Louis Boyd never produced any canning jars. His name was so well known in the canning jar industry that some companies just plagiarized his name.

Three different companies have produced the Boyd/Boyds canning jars.

1. Illinois-Pacific Glass Company, San Francisco, CA 1900-1930.

2. Illinois Glass Company at Acton, Illinois 1873-1929.

3. Greenfield Fruit Jar and Bottle Company, Greenfield, Indiana, 1890-1909. Sold to Ball in 1909 and resold in 1917.

Dates given are the dates the companies were in operation and not necessarily when the jars were made. Both “Boyd Perfect Mason”  and “Boyds (written in cursive) Perfect Mason” were made.  Most Boyd/Boyds jars were made between 1900 and 1909 at Greenfield, Indiana.

Most jars are green as shown above. They are a different green than Ball or other jars. I can tell a Boyd jar at a distance just by the unique green color. The jars produced in California are clear.  A friend in California has a clear jar. I had never seen a clear Boyd jar and tried to swap for a green one but she wouldn’t have any part of it.

Most Boyd canning jars, or fruit jars as they are commonly called, are relatively inexpensive as collector items. My wife Jerri Lynn and I have about 2 dozen of these jars. She found one at a yard sale just down the street from our home for .25 cents. I have purchased others from $5.00  to as much as $22.00. Jerri Lynn uses the half gallon size as cannisters for coffee, sugar, etc., etc. We once drove down to Indiana on a quest to find Boyd jars. We went to garage sales, flea markets, antique shops but didn’t find a single jar.  Back home a day or so later we found two Boyd jars just a few miles from our home at a flea market in Chesaning, Michigan.

                Found-New information on Lewis Boyd

 James Boyd was born about 1705 married twice and had 11 children. One son

Samuel Boyd m. Elizabeth McDoel. Samuel born in Ireland in 1731. Their son James Boyd married Jane Munro. They had four children:

1. Alexander Munro Boyd, born in Winsted, CT. July 2, 1823, died at same place June 12, 1824.

2. Janet Boyd, born at same place May 16, 1825, died there April 18??.

3. Elizabeth Boyd, born at Winsted, CT. October 23, 1827, married Stephen H. Hubbard at same place June 1, 1859. Her husband was the managing editor of the Hartford Covenant for several years.

4. Lewis Boyd, born at Winsted, CT. August 15, 1831, married Helen A. Peck in Fairfield County, CT. November 6, 1862, died at New Brunswick, NJ., the date we have not. His occupation was that of a manufacturer. His first business was the manufacture of planters' hoes at Winsted from 1852 to 1860. Then to New York and to New Brunswick, NJ., and here entered into the manufacturing of Mason Fruit Jars until he died. His wife was an adopted child and went by the name of Helen Annetta Wooster, while her parental parents were Edward and Mary Ann Peck and was born in Winsted, CT. April 18, 1840. They had five children, (record of 1884) namely:

First, Anna Boyd born in New York, June 30, 1864, died at same place July 2, 1864. Second, still born son in Brooklyn, July 6, 1865. Third, Ralph Booth Boyd, born in Brooklyn, June 4, 1866. Fourth, Louis Roland Boyd, born December 10, 1867, died August 17, 1870. Fifth, James Hubbell Boyd, born Brooklyn, November 13, 1869, died August 17, 1870.  History of the Boyd Family and Descendants, 1912, Pages 360-372
 

Douglas M. Leyburne’s book “The Collector’s Guide to Old Fruit Jars, Red Book #7” lists a number of Boyd/Boyds jars. In fact 17 different types are listed in the book and prices range from $2.00 to as much as $50.00.  The book can be ordered from the author: D.M. Leyburne, P.O. Box 5417, N. Muskegon, MI 49445. Price was $22.00 several years ago.

http://www.fruitjars.com 
http://www.glassjunkie.com

http://www.fohbc.com

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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