William Boyd and Martha Bales

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Husband William Boyd ¹

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           Born: 1751 or 1752 - Cumberland Twp, York (later Adams) Co, PA 1
     Christened: 
           Died: 10 May 1846 - Huntingdon Twp, Westmoreland Co, PA 1
         Buried:  - Old Sewickley (later Old Dick) Church Cemetery, near West Newton, Westmoreland Co, PA

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         Father: William Boyd (Abt 1726-1785) 2
         Mother: Catherine McGrew (1724-1828/1828) 3

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       Marriage:  - Cadiz, Harrison Co, OH

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   Other Spouse: Margaret [Unk] (1757-1814) 1 - 1778 - York (later Adams) Co, PA 1

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Wife Martha Bales ⁴

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            AKA: Martha Bails 4
           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried:  - Old Cemetery, Cadiz, Harrison Co, OH

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Children

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• They had no children.

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General Notes: Husband - William Boyd

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He moved to Huntington County, Pennsylvania, and about 1793-94 to Westmoreland County, where he joined his brothers, John, Benjamin and Robert Boyd.
He served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War.

The following article was prepared by Katherine Cox Gottschalk, the genealogist on these records:
This William Boyd was born on the old farm which his grandfather had taken up when he first came from Ireland in 1734-36 \emdash the same home that he so stoutly protected in his resistance to the surveyors sent out by the Proprietors of the Colony to lay out this and the adjacent lands into the "Manor of Maske." This farm is on a branch of Marsh Creek not far from Gettysburg. William Boyd did not stay so closely at home as his father and uncles had done. Probably the stories he heard from the travelers around the tavern inspired him to try new fields. His father had already invested in new lands some distance from his home, near Gettysburg. Pa. These lands were all located in Bedford County, Pa., but are now in Bedford and Huntington County, Pa. The lands in Huntington County, Pa., evidently held the prospects of some mining development, but the "Juniata Lands" were farm lands. The rents from the "Sinking Valley" (Huntington County) lands were to provide some support for Catherine, the widow of William Boyd, the mother of William Boyd. William Boyd, after the death of his father, went up to Huntington County, and lived on and looked after these "Sinking Valley" lands.
He bought and sold some land there, and started on a career of land investment, which he continued to follow when he moved to Westmoreland County, Pa., from Huntington County. Pa. In Westmoreland County, we find him buying farms, and selling them, lending money for their purchase, and collecting these notes, and from these records we would call him a farmer, and also a real estate man. He also bought land in Ohio, considered a land of great promise, as did so many Pennsylvanians, who bought for investment.
This William Boyd married first Margaret whose last name is not known.
After her death, and when an old man. he married a second time, when on a trip or a visit to Ohio, a Miss Martha Bales, who was of the Quaker faith, and brought her back to Pennsylvania to a farm that he owned and had let out on terms to his son, John Boyd. Here he and Martha lived, and he died at the advanced age of 95 years. In his will he requested that he be buried in the old United Presbyterian Church yard.
From this simple request written into this old document, much of the character of William Boyd is shown. He was still a staunch follower of the faith of his forefathers, who had carried their faith into new homes in Ireland and again across the seas into the hills of Pennsylvania. He wanted to rest near his first wife and his brothers, who were buried in this old burying ground, but how tactful not to stress that point. So it would seem that he was a very considerate old fellow even at the age of ninety-five. He was laid to rest beside his first wife Margaret, and their graves are marked.
After his death, his widow, Martha, who was considerably younger, went back to Ohio among friends and relatives, where she died.
Some of the children of William Boyd continued to live in Westmoreland County, Pa., where their descendants still live today.
Others of his family removed to Ohio, and went on further west in the next generation.
All of the brothers of William Boyd left Adams County, Pa., with the exception of Archibald, who died in Adams County, and is buried there in the Lower Marsh Creek Presbyterian Church yard.
All of these four brothers, John, William, Robert, Benjamin, are buried and have markers in the Old Sewickley (now Old Dick) Church yard, near West Newton, Pa.

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General Notes: Wife - Martha Bales

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After the death of her husband, she, who was considerably younger than him, went back to Ohio among friends and relatives, where she died.

1 Scott Lee Boyd, The Boyd Family (Santa Barbara, CA: Self-published, 1935), Pg 32.

2 Scott Lee Boyd, The Boyd Family (Santa Barbara, CA: Self-published, 1935), Pg 47.

3 Scott Lee Boyd, The Boyd Family (Santa Barbara, CA: Self-published, 1935), Pg 30.

4 Scott Lee Boyd, The Boyd Family (Santa Barbara, CA: Self-published, 1935), Pg 36.