TOMBSTONE TUESDAY: James Boyd

TOMBSTONE TUESDAY (April 22, 2025): James Boyd (1851-1929)

One name that is still familiar in Calhoun County is Boyd. The Boyd descendants still live and contribute much to our community, and through marriages, many other well-known surnames, too. Though they settled here with humble means, they came from the sturdy stock needed to weather the harshness of Texas and come out on top. 

James Boyd is a true example of that. Born in Edinburg, Scotland in 1851 to Walter and Jean Clark Boyd he came to America with his family in 1856 at the age of five. James had two brothers, Thomas his older brother who was born in 1849, and Robert his younger brother who was born in 1853 in New Castle, England. 

The family landed in New Orleans and then came to Indianola from there. Jean’s brother, John Clark had come earlier and bought the homesite land on Chocolate and Agua Dulce Creeks and the family made their home there. Tragically Mrs. Boyd died possibly from yellow fever not long after the family arrived. Thomas, James, and Robert were sent to live with their aunt and uncle, Catherine and John Clark. When the boys were older, they helped their father haul oxen-drawn wagons loaded with cotton from Columbus down to Brownsville. The work was long and tough, but the boys handled it like the strong lads they were. 

In 1862, the three boys watched the Union bombardment of Port Lavaca from the Clark’s home. The Confederate forces were under the command of Major Shay, and they held the Yankees at bay. The residents of Port Lavaca were saved by taking refuge in the Bay southeast of town. That area is known today as “the loop” and the only death was that of a St. Bernard dog.

While the streets bore the pock marks of the cannonballs just a few of the homes and businesses were damaged, one of them was the Clark home which was hit by a cannon ball that was fired at the train. 

After the Hurricane of 1875, James, and his brother Robert were the first outsiders able to reach the ravaged city of Indianola. They found the community wrecked with most of the buildings and homes lost leaving a mountain of wreckage, and the ones standing were severely damaged. Among the wreckage there were furniture and household items, pets, animals, and people that were trapped, injured, and dead among it all. The brothers were able to save many lives and helped to bring them to safety by swimming their horses across the bayou. I imagine that day was one they didn’t ever forget. 

St. Paul’s on the Prairie at Chocolate is where James married Sarah Ann Hatch on November 21, 1878. Together they had five children, three sons and two daughters, one died in childhood, the rest married and had many children. James worked as a foreman for both the Thomas and Traylor ranches. James was known as one of the best cattlemen in the country. The Boyd family lived in a large house at Green Lake on the Traylor Ranch. Sara Ann was a devoted mother and a friendly and hospitable lady. She welcomed many friends and relatives to the Boyd home who came by horseback, buggy, or wagon. Sara Ann was also well known for her hard work promoting St. Paul’s on the Prairie Church. Sara Ann died in 1902, at Green Lake and was buried in the Hatch Cemetery.

In 1886, Walter married Miss Charlotte Brett, but his happiness was short-lived as he passed away in 1887 leaving the boys to look out for themselves. They decided to join the trail drives that herded cattle from Calhoun County up to Abilene and then to Kansas. While it was adventurous for the young men it was a hard way to make a living. They had to endure Indians stealing their horses from campsites and electrical storms that would roll in and scare the cattle into stampedes and scattering causing the cowboys to have to find them and round them up again. Added to the mix, freezing weather, heat and floods all culminated in making the two and a half months journey a formable fight. The beauty of the Texas landscape in all its pristine beauty no doubt solidified the boys in the pride that all Texans are just born with. The landscapes of the newly settled towns, the centuries-old Spanish Missions, and the rich wildlife including Buffalo by the thousands not only offered a feast for the eyes but for the stomach too, as it was the meat they ate on the whole trip.

In 1907 James found love once again and married Miss Annie McCoppin. Annie’s grandfather James McCoppin was the first County Judge. The couple lived at Chocolate until 1912 when they moved to Port Lavaca and settled in a home on Live Oak Street across from the courthouse. In November of 1929, James died, and he was buried next to his first wife Sara Ann in Hatch Cemetery. Although Annie and James never had any children of their union, she was loved by her stepchildren and her grandchildren who called her Grandma Annie. She continued to live in her home on Live Oak and worked at First State Bank for many years. She passed away in June 1967 and is buried in the Port Lavaca Cemetery. 

Taken from the “Shifting Sands of Calhoun County”

Tombstone Tuesday is written and compiled each week by Jody Weaver and Sheryl Cuellar of the Calhoun County Historical Commission, sharing the people and stories behind Calhoun County's history.