The Mystery of John Boyd

[ScotDescendant]

Hello Everyone,

My great great grandfather's name was John Boyd and, according to his death certificate and other documentation, he was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1814. 

In America he lived most of his life in Philadelphia with his wife Rose and had many children.  He was involved in the textile business as were his sons. 

The mystery is that it seems that there is no information about John or any of his relatives during his time growing up in Glasgow or any other places in Scotland where he may have lived.  I have done quite a bit of research and yet have been able to find other information about this time in his life.

I would appreciate any help in this matter as I would like to know about my ancestor.  Hopefully, this would allow me to reconnect with members of the Boyd family who might still be in Scotland.

[DonM]

I see no John b 1814 in Glasgow from the Parish registers searching 1812-1816.
https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

There is one b 1813 son of William and Mary Adam.

That being said, his baptism may not have happened or recorded and of course the records may be lost.

Do you know who his parents were or any of his siblings?  Did he marry in Scotland? And when did he leave or arrive in the USA?

Don

[ScotDescendant]

Hi Don,

Thank you for your help.  I should have added this information on my first post so here is some more information.

John was 68 when he died in 1882.  I am attaching the death certificate

I do not know if he had any siblings but I assume he did. 

His wife was Jean Clark who was born on March 8, 1818 and was baptized on March 29, 1819 at High Church, Paisley, Renfrew, Scotland.  Her father was Robert Clark and her mother was Ann Cumming.

They emigrated to America and arrived in New York on the ship Kentucky on July 17, 1843.  Jean was Jane on the manifest but a descendant of the Clark's let me know that Jean and Jane were interchangeable.

They had a daughter named Mary who was born in 1839.  Her place of birth has been given both as Scotland or USA.  They had other children; Cornelius, Robert, Richard, John, and Sarah. 

John Boyd in America was a manufacturer.  He dealt with textile products (shirts) and cotton.  He was successful and his son Cornelius, who went by Neal, went into business with him.  I assume he learned his trade while in Scotland.

Any help is greatly appreciated, Don.

Robert

[DonM]

Well no luck.

But, Robert Clark/Ann Cummings had only two children registered both daughters one is Janet and the other Jean.

CLARK JANET ROBERT CLARK/ANN CUMMINGS  26/08/1813
CLARK JEAN ROBERT CLARK/ANN CUMMING 29/03/1818

The only marriages of a John Boyd to a Clark between 1820-1843 yields only 2 hits:

BOYD JOHN MARY CLARK 06/08/1834 Glasgow
BOYD JOHN MARGARET CLARK 23/06/1843 Carstairs

Their marriage may be lost or they may have married outside the Church of Scotland.  I did see a number of John Boyd;s with a Jane, Janet and a Jean in 1841 Scottish Census but did not look at all of them.  The ones I did look at had multiple children.

I also looked for a possible birth of their daughter and didn't see any candidates worth listing.

Don

[ScotDescendant]

Hello Don,

Thank you so much for trying.  When I started looking for him and other Boyd's I thought it would be easy but I fear this is a bridge too far.  I will keep trying.

If you have any suggestions on other places to look please let me know.

Thanks again.  I truly appreciate it.

Robert