Charles H. Boyd ~ Luvinia Boyd

Boone County, Indiana

Charles H. Boyd, a thrifty and respected farmer of Harrison Township, Boone County, Indiana, springs from sturdy Irish stock. His great-grandfather, the first of the family to come to America, settled in Maryland; his grandfather settled in Franklin County, Virginia, and was a patriot of the Mexican War; William Boyd, the grandfather of Charles H. was born on his father's farm in Maryland, married in Franklin County, Virginia, accumulated a handsome estate, and died a highly respected citizen. Henry Boyd, son of William, and the father of our subject, was also a native of Virginia, in which state he passed his entire life.

Charles H. Boyd was born in Carroll County, Virginia, May 22, 1843, grew up a poor boy and secured his education at home. He lived on his birthplace until the commencement of the Civil War, when he enlisted in Floyd County, Virginia, in March 1862, in Company B, Fifty-fourth Regiment of Confederate Volunteers, Capt. Dobbins, Col. Wade and General Trigg being his officers. From Floyd County the regiment went to Montgomery County, Virginia, to drill for active service, and in Russell County was further prepared for war. His first experience on the field of battle was in a skirmish at Princeton, whence his regiment pursued the Federal cavalry to Kentucky. The next engagement was at Richmond, Kentucky, where sixty Federal and fifteen Confederates were killed - the fight lasting about three hours and the Federals being driven back. The regiment then went to Camp Dick Robinson and joined the army of Braxton Bragg, the Confederate Commander in Chief. Here it was engaged in a twenty-four hours fight with General Buell. Although the Confederates had the better of this battle, they were the next day ordered to fall back, and finally went to Blackwater, near Suffolk, Virginia, and there had another battle in which the Federals were worsted. The next engagement was at Strawberry plains and lasted seven hours; the next was at Cumberland Gap, from which the Confederates withdrew and went to Knoxville, Tennessee, and then to Bridgeport; they next took part in the famous Battle of Chickamauga, which lasted four days. Mr. Boyd was in the thickest of the battle and his regiment was in the last skirmish, in which it captured 700 prisoners. The Confederates also captured eighty pieces of ordnance, many hundred small arms and many prisoners in addition to those mentioned above. The regiment was next marched to Missionary Ridge, and after fighting a day and a half, Mr. Boyd was captured and taken to Nashville, where he was plundered of all his possessions by convict solders. Here, also, a Confederate killed a convict for robbing him of his clothing and blankets. From Nashville the Confederate prisoners of war were transferred to Rock Island and were detained for over fifteen months, suffering severely from cold a portion of the time, and often, too, for want of full rations. When exchanged, Mr. Boyd went to his home in Virginia, where he remained until 1866, when he came to Boone County, Indiana, engaged in farming on rented land, and has been a tenant of the same family for over twenty-five years. February 28, 1869, he married Miss Luvinia (Boyd) Boyd, and has had born to him the following children: Tillman A., Floyd F. and Emma E. Boyd. Mrs. Susanna Dickerson, grandmother of Mrs. Boyd, when thirteen years of age, had the honor of meeting George Washington. She was born and reared in Tennessee, but was visiting in Virginia when this gratifying event took place. Mr. Boyd has a vivid recollection of the famous Humphrey Marshall, under whom he also fought, and whom he describes as having been a Kentucky gentleman of fine appearance. Mr. Boyd is an active supporter of public education, and has given his children every opportunity he could for attending the schools of his district. He is public spirited and has won the esteem of his fellow citizens and is recognized as a gentleman of integrity and worth; is the support of his aged mother, seventy-nine years old; belongs to the Missionary Baptist Church and believes in experimental religion. 

Source: A portrait and biographical record of Boone, Clinton, and Hendricks counties, Ind. : containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Indiana; Chicago : A.W. Bowen, 1895. FHL Film 934898