Harry Roberts Boyd / Margaret Baird

No member of the Memphis bar is better known or more highly esteemed than
Harry R. Boyd, who for thirty-two years has successfully followed his profession in this city, and his ability has won for him an enviable reputation as a corporation lawyer. He was born in Ottawa, Illinois, November 11, 1860, of the marriage of Joseph and Elvira (McMillan) Boyd, the former of Irish descent and the latter of Scotch lineage. The father was born at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and devoted his life to the occupation of farming. The mother was a native of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Both are now deceased. Mrs. Boyd's father owned the historic peach orchard where was fought a part of the memorable battle of Gettysburg, one of the most notable engagements of the Civil war. The paternal grandfather, Robert Boyd, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war.

Harry Roberts Boyd was reared at Ottawa, Illinois, and after his graduation from high school he became a student at Wabash College of Indiana, from which he won the A. B. degree in 1885, while later he received the Master of Arts degree from that institution. He entered the office of Hon. Joseph E. McDonald, one of the prominent attorneys of Indianapolis, Indiana, and a former United States senator. There he met Albert J. Beveridge, who was also studying for the law, in which he was destined to gain a position of leadership, while as a member of the upper house of the national legislature he proved himself to be a statesmen of the highest rank. In 1886 Mr. Boyd was admitted to the bar at Indianapolis, where he engaged in the practice of his profession for four years, and in 1890 he came to Memphis, which has since been his home. He has proven his ability to handle important litigated interests and has built up a large clientele, being retained as counsel by many of the leading corporations of the city. He has always been an indefatigable worker, and notwithstanding the breadth and exactness of his legal learning and his facility in applying the same, he has never been known to present a case before court or jury without preparation as thorough as time and means rendered possible.

On the 11th of November, 1889, Mr. Boyd was married to Miss Margaret Baird, a native of Chicago, Illinois. She is a member of the Nineteenth Century Club and is also active in social and religious circles of Memphis. The 11th of November, Armistice Day, will ever be a memorable date in the history of this nation, and is a particularly significant one in the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Boyd, for both were born on this date, chose this date on which to begin their married life, and it was also the birthday of the minister who performed the ceremony. They have become the parents of a daughter, Margaret, a graduate of Vassar College, who is now the wife of George Gunther, a prominent cotton buyer and a member of the firm of M. H. Gunther & Company of Memphis.

Mr. Boyd is fond of hunting and is an expert marksman, bringing down many ducks, geese and quail during the season. His leisure hours are spent chiefly in the open and he is a member of the Memphis Country Club and also of several other outing clubs, while he is likewise connected with the University Club of Chicago. He is a Knights Templar Mason and in the consistory he has taken the thirty-second degree, while he has also crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a past Noble Grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the First Presbyterian church of this city. His professional ability led to his selection for the office of president of the Memphis Bar Association, in which capacity he was retained for five years, and he is also identified with the Tennessee State and American Bar associations. He gives his best efforts to his profession, in which he has steadily progressed, making good use of his time, talents and opportunities, and he is conceded to be one of the most talented members of the Memphis bar.

Tennessee The Volunteer State Vol 4, Biographies of professional individuals ( including but not limited to finance, medicine, teaching, law and politics) residing in Tenessee from 1769-1923

Source: Moore, John Trotwood and Austin P. Foster. Tennessee, The
Volunteer State, 1769-1923, Vol. 4. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.,1923

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