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Leander Davis Boyd ~ Josephine Lyon

Carroll County, IN

There are individuals in nearly every community who, by reason of their pronounced abilities and force of character, rise above the heads of the masses and win for themselves an unbounded measure of popular esteem. Such men always make their presence felt. The vigor of their strong personalities serves as a stimulus and an incentive to young men who model their lives after them. To the energetic and enterprising class of self-made men, who have made the great Hoosier state what it is today, Leander Davis Boyd, a member of the firm of Boyd & Julien, lawyers of Delphi, Indiana, very properly belongs. Because of Mr. Boyd's personal worth and accomplishments he is entitled to rank as one of the representative lawyers and citizens of Carroll county.

Leander Davis Boyd was born near Stilesville, Hendricks county, Indiana, June 12, 1853. His parents, William T. and Elizabeth A. (Boswell) Boyd, were natives of Ohio and North Carolina, respectively. Although William T. Boyd was engaged in driving a stage coach, when a young man, on the old National road from Indianapolis to Stilesville, he later settled in Morgan county, now a part of Hendricks county, purchasing a farm of eighty acres, where he died on January 2, 1865, at the age of forty-five years. His son, Leander D. Boyd , who was then a lad of twelve years, grew up in the healthful and wholesome environment of the farm, sharing both the advantages and disadvantages of life in the country. The mother died on March 9, 1889, at the age of sixty-three years. Both William T. and Elizabeth A. (Boswell) Boyd were devout members of the Baptist church and Leander D. Boyd was fortunate in having been reared in a home of deeply religious parents.

Mr. Boyd's paternal grandfather, Thomas Boyd, was a native of Pennsylvania and an early settler in Ohio. Both he and his wife died near Lewis Center, Ohio, comparatively early in life. The paternal grandmother, however, survived her husband for several years and married again, her second husband also being a Mr. Boyd. She had one child

by the first union and five by the second. Those born to the second union were David Boyd, William Boyd, Luther Boyd, Margaret Boyd and Dyene Boyd.

The maternal grandparents of Mr. Boyd were Davis and Catherine (Westmoreland) Boswell, who immigrated from North Carolina to Salem, Washington county, Indiana, in pioneer times and from Washington county to Stilesville, Hendricks county, Indiana, where they were early settlers. Davis Boswell was a blacksmith by trade but afterward engaged in the mercantile business. He died at Stileville in Hendricks county at an advanced age, after having reared a number of children, among whom were Elizabeth A., Catherine Cosner, William, Charity, Ellen, Davis, Margaret and several who died early in life. The maternal great-grandfather of Mr. Boyd, William Westmoreland, whose wife was Catherine Westmoreland, was a native of North Carolina and a farmer. He and his wife immigrated to Indiana and were pioneers in Morgan and Hendricks counties.

Reared on his father's farm in Hendricks county, Indiana, Leander D. Boyd was educated in the common schools of the county and in the Indiana State Normal, at Terre Haute, which he attended about two years. Mr. Boyd then taught school for about three years, when he took up the study of law, being admitted to the bar in 1880. He began practicing at Delphi in 1881 and, for three years, was engaged in the practice with N. J. Howe. The next seventeen years he practiced alone and, since 1901, Mr. Boyd has been associated with George W. Julien. They have a large legal business in the county court. In fact, their practice frequently extends to the state and federal courts.

On November 27, 1889, Leander D. Boyd was married to Josephine Lyon, the daughter of John L. and Sarah A. (Cox) Lyon, and who was born near Delphi, August 4, 1868. Mrs. Boyd's parents were early settlers in Carroll county and reared a family of four children, Lillie, Belle, Frank, and Josephine. Lillie married George Robbins. Belle married Dr. Stacey T. Nolan, and both are now deceased. Josephine is the wife of Mr. Boyd. Mrs. Boyd's maternal grandfather, Joseph Cox, was a native of Kentucky, who settled in Carroll county, Indiana, in 1829. He was a farmer by occupation and died well advanced in years.

To Mr. and Mrs. L. D. Boyd have been born two children: Mary Frances Boyd and Josephine Boyd. The former married Frederick C. Martin and now lives in Delphi, and the latter is a graduate of the Delphi high school as was also her sister, Mary Frances. Josephine enjoys the honor of having been the youngest member of the freshman class in Franklin College.

Mr. and Mrs. Boyd are members of the Baptist, church, of which Mr. Boyd is a trustee. Fraternally, he is a member of Delphi Lodge No. 516, Free and Accepted Masons; of Delphi Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Delphi Commandery No. 40, Knights Templar. He is also a member of Carroll Lodge No. 174, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically, Mr. Boyd is a Republican. In addition to the practice of law, until a year ago, Mr. Boyd operated a farm in Carroll county.
 

 
Source: History of Carroll County, Indiana : its people, industries and institutions, with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families by John C Odell; Indianapolis : B. F. Bowen, 1915. FHL Film 924485

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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