1850 At twenty he was a deputy sheriff of Trigg County, Kentucky, boarding in a house whose other boarders included two lawyers, a physician and a merchant.

work · 1850 U.S. census, Trigg County, Kentucky, p. 379, read on the image

1860 At twenty-nine he was a lawyer in Paducah, newly married to Fannie and living in a hotel, with $4,000 in real estate and $5,500 in personal property.

work · 1860 U.S. census, City of Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky, p. 125, read on the image

Records behind this page

1850 U.S. census, population schedule, Trigg Co., Ky., 1st District, NARA M432 roll 219 (image via FamilySearch)

p. 379 (stamp 291), dwelling 20, enumerated 2 Aug 1850; p. 383 (stamp 293), dwelling 51, 3 Aug 1850

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[Read on the image 26 Oct 2026 (register K1333): name, age, sex, occupation, real estate, birthplace. No relationship column in 1850. FS index line numbers run one off the margin numbers.] p. 379, dwelling 20 (head Alexander Baker; boarders incl. two lawyers, a physician, a merchant): Abraham Boyd, 20, M, Deputy Shff, Kentucky. p. 383, dwelling 51 (head Stanley Thomas; boarders): Alfred Boyd, 47, M, Farmer, real estate 800, Tennessee; Agnes J. Boyd, 17, F, Kentucky; Adaline L. Boyd, 15, F, same; and on the next page Martha A. Boyd, 12, F, Kentucky.

1860 U.S. census, population schedule, McCracken Co., Ky., District No. 2, City of Paducah, NARA M653 (image via FamilySearch)

p. 125, enumerated 30 Jul 1860, lines 13-17; FS image 567 of 664, ark 3:1:33S7-9B9V-WQY; index persona 1:1:MZBY-RRP

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[Read on the image 26 Oct 2026 (register K1337): lines 13-17, columns name, age, sex, occupation, real estate, personal estate, birthplace, married within the year. The dwelling's other lines from the index. No relationship column in 1860.] Hotel dwelling, head Isabella Barbee, keeping hotel. Line 13: E A Marouse, 60, F, real estate 45000, personal 5000, New York. Line 14: Catherine Sanders, 50, F. Line 15: John Smith, 55, M, dealer in coal. Line 16: Abe Boyd, 29, M, Lawyer, real estate 4000, personal 5500, Kentucky, married within the year. Line 17: Fannie, 17, F, [Kentucky], married within the year.

Ancestry.com, Arkansas, Death Certificates, 1914-1969 (Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2019)

Arkansas Department of Vital Records; Little Rock, Arkansas; Death Certificates; Year: 1942; Roll: 2

Ancestry.com, Kentucky, U.S., Birth Records, 1847-1911 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007)

Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives; Frankfort, Kentucky; Kentucky Birth, Marriage and Death Records - Microfilm (1852-1910)

County court order, McCracken Co., Ky., 15 Apr 1863 -- Abe Boyd appointed guardian of 'his infant daughter Eliza Boyd' -- McCracken Court Records 1861-1869, book p. 54; FamilySearch full text, read on the manuscript 17 Aug 2026

County Court orders of McCracken County, Kentucky 1825-1869 (FS catalog koha:434645), Film 301073 / DGS 008192513, image 57 of 264, book p. 54, ark 3:1:3Q9M-CSLX-J6XJ

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Read on the manuscript at zoom 17 Aug 2026 (crop in sources/obannon-maurous-mccracken-2026-08-17/): 'Wednesday April 15th 1863 -- Called Court -- Present Hon G. A. Flournoy Judge -- On motion of Abe Boyd he is appointed Guardian of his infant daughter Eliza Boyd, and being duly sworn he together with H. L. Jones and E. A. Marouse entered into and acknowledged covenant to the Commonwealth of Kentucky as the law requires.' Thirteen months after the 14 Mar 1862 death of Eliza's mother Fannie (O'Bannon) Boyd: a contemporaneous court record of the father-daughter relationship. The sureties tie the record into the family web -- H. L. Jones was surety on the parents' June 1860 marriage bond (DGS 007735455 p. 285), and E. A. Marouse is Eliza A. Maurous, Fannie's own guardian.

Dodd Jordan, comp, Kentucky, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1851-1900 (Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001)

Ewing, Presley K. and Mary Ellen (Williams) Ewing. The Ewing Genealogy with Cognate Branches (Houston: Hercules, 1919)

pp. 45-46

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Presley K. Ewing and Mary Ellen (Williams) Ewing, The Ewing Genealogy with Cognate Branches (Houston, 1919), pp. 45-46; read in the archive.org text (item ewinggenealogywi00ewinrich), personally re-verified 3 Aug 2026 with controls (running heads pp. 45/46; Boyd x12, Ewing x825 in the same file). Verbatim: "SIDNEY ANN EWING, daughter of Robert and Mary (Baker) Ewing, was born in Bedford County, Va.; died prior to the death of her father; married Adam Linn. Issue: (i) Nancy, married Abraham Boyd, 1796. Issue: 1ST. John, born Nashville, Tenn., about 1798; married Betsy McLean ... several times elected to the Congress of the Republic of Texas; he was one of the founders of Trinity University ... 2ND. Linn, born Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 28, 1800, died Paducah, Ky., Dec. 16, 1859 ... Speaker of the House, 1850-4; he was Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky in 1859 ... 4TH. Alfred, married Lucy Harrison, Issue: John, an attorney-at-law, married Sarah Cook; George, a physician, unmarried; Abraham, an attorney-at-law, married Miss O'Bannon; Agnes, married Mr. Grimes, of Paducah, Ky.; Adeline, and Martha, married Mr. Small. 5TH. Rufus, married Eliza Bennett." CORROBORATES the tree's existing chain joint for joint: [1668] Abraham Boyd x [1669] Nancy Linn (m. 1796) -> [1670] John, [1671] Linn (the Speaker), [1632] Alfred x [1633] Lucy Amis Harrison -> [833] Abraham "attorney-at-law" x Miss O'Bannon = [834] Fannie, with siblings Adeline = [1634] Adaline Linn, Agnes [1635] and Martha [1636] (F520/F516/F348 match the printed structure exactly; note [833]'s middle name HARRISON is his mother's maiden name, and [1634]'s middle name LINN her grandmother's). GRADE: compiled secondary — the book's own p. 45 footnote acknowledges reliance on F. M. Cockrell "without opportunity to verify"; treat as corroboration, not proof. CONFLICTS RECORDED, NOT RESOLVED: Ewing prints Linn's birth Nov. 28, 1800 where the tree (cited elsewhere) holds 22 Nov 1800; Ewing's "about 1798" for John vs the tree's 7 Aug 1796 — see the Audited note on [1670]. Working: agent-report-boyd-trigg-2026-08-03.md (agent draft; this passage spot-verified in-session).

Marriage bond, Alfred Boyd and Thomas Haynes, Caldwell Co., Ky., 12 Oct 1824 -- Kentucky, County Marriages, 1786-1965 (image via FamilySearch)

film 'Christian / Caldwell Vital Records 1822-1824', images 550-551 of 716, ark 3:1:3Q9M-C9BX-Z9PH-M; index persona 1:1:Q28Z-SMN5

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[Read on the image 26 Oct 2026 (register K1328), front and back in full.] Know all men by these presents that we Alfred Boyd & Thomas Haynes are held & firmly bound unto the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the penal sum of 50 pounds ... Sealed & dated the 12th October 1824. The condition of this obligation is such, that whereas there is a licence about to issue for a marriage shortly intended to be solemnized between the above bounden Alfred Boyd & Lucy A. Harrison ... Alfred Boyd (seal), [Thos.] Haynes (seal). Back: Boyd to Bond, Com. Ky., Oct. 1824. The within named Boyd is of lawful age -- Tho. [H?] Haynes D.C.

Sheriff's deed, A. J. Ogilvie, sheriff of McCracken Co., to Agnes B. Grimes, 18 Feb 1878 -- McCracken Co., Ky., Land Records 1876-1881 (image via FamilySearch)

pp. 554-555; FS DGS 008525578, image 285 of 980, ark 3:1:3Q9M-C336-P7JS-T

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[Read 26 Oct 2026 (register K1335): the judgment recital on p. 554 and the heirs clause on p. 555 read on the image, which is stamped 'POOR ORIGINAL'; the rest from the FS transcript.] Recites that the McCracken Court of Common Pleas, September term 1875, gave judgment on 8 Jan 1876 for C. H. Adams et al.: ... Costs against Abe Boyd; and thereafter in said Court the said parties each had judgment ... the Costs aforesaid against Lucy Boyd, J. B. Grimes, A. B. Grimes, J. C. [illegible] Small and Martha G. Small, to be made of assets real & personal to them descended from their Ancestor Alfred Boyd deceased ... levied on the One fourth of thirty nine acres of land belonging to the said Abe Boyd ... on the Mayfield road and near the Corporate limits of the City of Paducah [conveyed 9 Apr 1853 by L. Small, Commissioner, to Alfred Boyd, Book C p. 381]. p. 555: ... assets real & personal descended to them from their father Alfred Boyd ... the one fourth thereof descended to Lucy Boyd and one fourth thereof descended to Agnes B. Grimes and one fourth thereof descended to Mattie G. Small, also [that] Abe Boyd were the only children and heirs of Alfred Boyd deceased, the said Alfred Boyd owning said 39 acres land in fee ...

Will of Abraham Boyd, Trigg Co., Ky., dated 6 Feb 1839 -- Trigg Co. Will Books 1835-1843 (image via FamilySearch)

FS DGS 007553216, item 2, images 129-130

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[Read 26 Oct 2026 (register K1334): FS transcript checked against the handwriting at the deciding clauses; the probate certificate's date was not read.] I Abraham Boyd of the County of Trigg & State of Kentucky do make and appoint this my last Will & Testament ... Art 1st I do hereby confirm the gift to my Children John Boyd, Linn Boyd, Alfred Boyd the Heirs of Rufus Boyd decd and my Son in law George H. Gordon ... Art 2nd my Negro girl Jain, being a cripple from her infancy ... I do hereby give sd girl & her present & further increase to my Grand Children the lawfull issue of my son Alfred Boyd by his present wife Lucy A Boyd, reserving to sd Lucy A Boyd the use of sd girl & her increase during her life. Art 3rd I will to my son Alfred Boyd all that part of one hundred & five acres of land upon which the Town of Canton in Trigg County is layed off ... this 6th day of Feby 1839. Abm Boyd. It is further my Will that at my deth my heirs shall set my Negro Woman [name not read] free.

Research notes

Working notes from the research, kept verbatim — what was read, what it proved, what stays open. Many open with a line grading the parentage; what the grades mean.

Research note · 26 Oct 2026

PROOF CLASS: FATHER = DIRECT (Owen, 26 Oct 2026) - McCracken Co. sheriff's deed, 18 Feb 1878: 'Abe Boyd ... the only children and heirs of Alfred Boyd deceased'; identity by the 1860 Paducah census. Register K1335, K1337. PROOF CLASS: MOTHER = ARGUMENT (Owen, 26 Oct 2026) - Alfred Boyd married Lucy A. Harrison in 1824; Abraham Boyd's 1839 will gives Alfred's children as 'by his present wife Lucy A Boyd'; Abram b. about 1830. Register K1328, K1333, K1334. AUDITED 26 Oct 2026 - PARENTS GRADED: [1632] Alfred Boyd and [1633] Lucy A. Harrison. This supersedes the 7 Sep 2026 decline kept below as history, which rested on the Ewing genealogy alone and named an Alfred Boyd record as what would reopen it. Records now state the father and place the mother. THE QUESTION. Were the parents of [833] Abraham (Abram, Abe) Boyd, born about 1830 in Trigg Co., Kentucky, lawyer of Paducah, Alfred Boyd and his wife Lucy A. Harrison? THE EVIDENCE. (1) Sheriff's deed, McCracken Co., 18 Feb 1878, pp. 554-555 (K1335, deciding passages read on the image): it recites a Common Pleas judgment of 8 Jan 1876 against "Abe Boyd" and against "Lucy Boyd, J. B. Grimes, A. B. Grimes, J. C. [illegible] Small and Martha G. Small", to be made of assets "descended from their Ancestor Alfred Boyd deceased", and divides 39 acres near Paducah, deeded to Alfred in 1853, into quarters for Lucy Boyd, Agnes B. Grimes and Mattie G. Small, "also [that] Abe Boyd were the only children and heirs of Alfred Boyd deceased". (2) 1860 census, City of Paducah, p. 125, 30 Jul 1860 (K1337, read on the image): Abe Boyd, 29, lawyer, born Kentucky, and Fannie, 17, both married within the year, in the same hotel dwelling as E A Marouse, 60. (3) McCracken county court, 15 Apr 1863 (citation 7095): Abe Boyd appointed guardian of "his infant daughter Eliza Boyd", E. A. Marouse a surety. (4) Will of Abraham Boyd of Trigg Co., 6 Feb 1839 (K1334, read on the image): a slave girl left to "my Grand Children the lawfull issue of my son Alfred Boyd by his present wife Lucy A Boyd". (5) Caldwell Co. marriage bond, 12 Oct 1824 (K1328, read on the image): Alfred Boyd and Lucy A. Harrison. (6) 1850 census, Trigg Co. (K1333, read on the image): Abraham Boyd, 20, deputy sheriff, born Ky.; in another dwelling Alfred Boyd, 47, farmer, born Tenn., with Agnes J. 17, Adaline L. 15 and Martha A. 12. THE CORRELATION. The deed states the father outright. Its Abe Boyd is this man: [833] married Frances M. (Fannie) O'Bannon in McCracken on 6 Jun 1860; the census shows the McCracken Abe Boyd newly married to a Fannie and living with E. A. Marouse, who is Eliza A. Maurous, Fannie's guardian; and in 1863 Abe Boyd became guardian of his daughter Eliza with Marouse as his surety. His co-heirs are the sisters the Ewing genealogy names (Agnes m. Grimes of Paducah, Martha m. Small). No other Abe or Abraham Boyd is indexed in McCracken 1855-1890, and none of the 30 Boyds indexed there 1869-71 is an Abe (K1338). Mother: Alfred married Lucy A. Harrison in Oct 1824; in Feb 1839 she was still "his present wife" and the mother of his living children; Abram, 20 in Aug 1850 and 29 in Jul 1860, was born about 1830, inside that marriage. Alfred's next recorded marriage, to Elizabeth P. Carloss, was in 1857 (index, K1336). THE CONFLICTS. (a) No record names Lucy as Abram's mother: the will speaks of Alfred's issue as a class. (b) The 1875-76 heirs omit children the Ewing genealogy names (Adaline, John, George), presumably dead before Alfred, who d. 1874; not resolved. (c) The deed is a poor original and one co-heir's given name is illegible. (d) The 1870 census (K1338, index only) shows Abe Boyd, 40, in Prairie Co., Ark., with Eliza, 24, while the tree has him marrying Bettie Jones in Memphis in Mar 1870 - a conflict in his own marriages, not in this filiation. THE CONCLUSION. Father: DIRECT, on the 1878 deed, the identity settled by the 1860 census and the 1863 guardianship. Mother: ARGUMENT. What would overturn it: a record of an earlier wife of Alfred bearing children about 1830, or a second Abe Boyd among Alfred's heirs. What would make the mother DIRECT: the 1875-76 McCracken Court of Common Pleas case file (C. H. Adams et al. v. the Boyd heirs), or any record naming Lucy as his mother. Evidence: sources/boyd-833-trigg-1850-census-2026-10-26/. AUDITED 7 Sep 2026 - ring-5 E2 triage (register K517). This person had NO Audited note; the assessment was already sitting in a CITATION, not in a note. WHAT IS IN HAND. Citation 7008 carries a 2,143-character read of Presley K. and Mary Ellen (Williams) Ewing, The Ewing Genealogy with Cognate Branches (Houston, 1919), pp. 45-46, re-verified with controls 3 Aug 2026. It prints the filiation outright - "4TH. Alfred, married Lucy Harrison, Issue: ... Abraham, an attorney-at-law, married Miss O'Bannon" - and it matches F520/F516/F348 joint for joint across three generations. This person's middle name HARRISON is his mother's maiden name, and his sister [1634] Adaline's middle name LINN is her grandmother's. WHY IT DOES NOT CARRY. The book's own p. 45 footnote acknowledges reliance on F. M. Cockrell "without opportunity to verify" - the grade was written into the citation by whoever read it, and it is the right one. It is ONE compiled source, so no correlation of two independent records is available, and the tree holds no second witness to this filiation. THE PARENTS' OWN SOURCES WERE CHECKED, because for a parentage question the corpus is the child's sources UNION both parents' (K508). [1632] Alfred John Boyd carries a second citation, 6975, from the Biographical Encyclopaedia of Kentucky - but that passage reads "Agnes, daughter of Alfred Boyd, brother of Hon. Lynn Boyd", which is about the generation ABOVE and says nothing about this person. It is agent-read and not personally verified, and it carries an unresolved conflict of its own: Find a Grave's Abraham lists only four children with Alfred not among them. [1633] Lucy Amis Harrison carries only the same Ewing citation. DATA DEFECT, RECORDED AND NOT FIXED HERE. Three of his five citations cannot be about him. Citations 4638 and 4641 are Arkansas death certificates, "Year: 1942", against a death of 10 Mar 1900 - and 4641 hangs on his BIRTH event. Citation 4640 is Kentucky birth microfilm 1852-1910 against a birth of 26 Jan 1830. All three are already reported by research-board.py section D-cov as impossible person-source pairs; they should be detached or re-pointed in a sweep, not here. WHAT WOULD REOPEN THIS: a RECORD rather than a compilation naming him as Alfred's son. Alfred John Boyd's Kentucky estate, guardianship or land papers are the obvious place to look. (was) The head of this note, written 7 Sep 2026, graded both parents informant-class and insufficient on the Ewing genealogy alone, flags 0/0. Superseded 26 Oct 2026 by the records summarised above.

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