Our Muskoka BOYDS began with the emigration of JAMES BOYD and his wife ROSANNAH from Northern Ireland in the early 1800�s. James first settled near Hamilton and then moved to Seneca Township. It is not known what happened to him after 1843. We have been trying for years to find some trace of James so that we might find a link back to Ireland. In addition to eternal gratitude for the first information leading to his whereabouts after 1843, we will treat for a dinner for two persons at a favorite restaurant.
We know that between 1850 and 1860 three of James Boyd's sons, John, James (Jr.), and Andrew C., settled in Morrison Township, Muskoka District. By the late 1880�s, the Muskoka BOYDS included John BOYD & Anne MCCLELLAND, James M. BOYD & Isabella ANDERSON, Mary Jane BOYD, David BOYD & Harriet CUYLER, John BOYD, Jr. & Margaret WOODS, Gilman BOYD & Lillian MCIVOR, Joseph BOYD & Mary Ann COX, Andrew BOYD & Margaret HOFFMAN, Ann Elizabeth BOYD & Harold BROWN, Abel BOYD & Eliza MCCLINCHNEY, Melissa Ann BOYD & William MCDONNELL, Mary BOYD & Thomas WOODS, and Hugh BOYD & Elizabeth BROWN. The children of James BOYD (Jr.) and Eliza McClelland, m. 1855, were William BOYD (m. Amelia SEEHAVER), Alonzo G. BOYD (m. Matilda LOCKHART), Albert BOYD (m. Mary Ann ROBINSON), Hugh BOYD (m. Kate Rebecca CLEMMENS), Melissa Ann BOYD (m. Moses ROBINSON), Mary Jane BOYD (m. Donald SMITH), David James BOYD (m. Mary Jane MCMASTER), and Teresa BOYD (m. Vaughn SANDERSON).
Hugh BOYD and Kate R. CLEMMENS settled in South River and had five children: Eva, Charles, Earl, Myrtle, and Lawrence, Sr. Lawrence married Bessie Johnson of Gravenhurst and moved to Detroit, Michigan, where Larry, Gloria, William, and Jack, were born. Eventually, all four wound up in Arizona. Details of this family tree are contained in several locations, below. The World Connect Boyd Page is particularly good for searching and browsing this family tree.