Martha Boyd Cemetery, Christian County, Kentucky.

George M. Boyd and Margaret, his wife, are buried in the Martha Boyd Cemetery in central Christian County.  It is a small, rural cemetery, located on Old Kelly Road.  George was the son of Francis Boyd and Margaret Story, born November 24, 1858, in Christian County.  George was the couple’s oldest child.  Margaret was the daughter of Redding Long and Mary Ford, born November 14, 1857, in the same county.

George Boyd and Margaret Long were married in 1886 and were the parents of one child, Peter Boyd, born a couple of years after their marriage.  They appear in the 1900 and 1910 Christian County census as a married couple.  In 1900 George is 41, a laborer at a sawmill.  The couple have been married 14 years.  Margaret, 42, has had one child, and that child is still living.  Their son, Peter, is 11.  George’s mother, Margaret Rachel Story Boyd, lives with them, 67.  She is a widow, has born eight children and all are living.  She was born in Tennessee, both parents were born in North Carolina.  Two brothers also live in the household, Oscar, 28, and Francis H., 27.  George Boyd’s brother, John V. Boyd, 37, his wife Mary, 27, and their four children – Virgil, 7; Earl, 5; Edgar, 2; and Rufus, 6/12, are living next door.  Let’s go back a generation or two and pick up more information.

Seventy years earlier, in Christian County, James Boyd and Elizabeth Long were married July 11, 1821.  I have no information about their parents.  In the 1850 census James is 51 and Elizabeth 54.  Children listed in the census were Francis, 26; Serena, 22; James H., 20; George E., 18; William H., 17; Young, 15; John V., 13; and Sarah A, 28.  The eldest son, Francis, married Margaret Redding Boyd, listed as a widow in the 1900 census living with her son George.

In 1860 Francis Boyd and Margaret Story have married and are listed together in the census.  This is just a bit puzzling.  The 1858 birth records for 1858 list G. M. Boyd born November 24, 1858, father Francis Boyd, born Kentucky, mother, Margaret Story, born North Carolina.  But where is little George in the 1860 census – he would have been one year of age.  In the 1858 marriage records Francis Boyd and Margaret Story were married February 9, 1858.  It was his second marriage, a first wife, another Margaret, was born in 1832 and died in 1854.  This was Margaret Story’s first marriage and she was 25 years old.  I did find a G. M. Boyd, aged one year, living with J. E. and M. E. McCord.  James and Elizabeth Boyd, George’s grandparents, are next door to this young couple, and four households up are George’s parents, Francis and Margaret Rachel.  All families in between are McCord’s.  There must have been a logical explanation why George was not with his parents on the day the census taker stopped by – illness perhaps?

Also in the 1860 Christian County census is the family of Redding C. Long and Mary A. Ford, the parents of Margaret Long.  Redding is 47, Mary 37.   Children listed are Asbury H, 8; Gilbert I, 6; Aurora, 4; Margaret Redding, 2; and William E., 9 months.  In 1870 and 1880 most of the children are listed with their parents, in addition to Joan and James, born after 1860.

In 1880 Francis and Margaret Story Boyd have eight children – George Marion, 21; John Virgil, 17; Mildred, 16; Drury, 15; Elizabeth, 13; Oscar Newland, 10, Francis Holland, 7; and Adaline Serena, 5.

Margaret Long Boyd died of tuberculosis March 27, 1916.  Her parents are listed as Redmond Long and Mary Ford on her death certificate.

Less than two months later George Boyd dies of cancer of the liver on May 7, 1916.  His parents, Francis Boyd and Margaret Story are listed on his death certificate.

Hopkinsville Kentuckian, Christian County, Kentucky

Tuesday, May 9, 1916

George M. Boyd, November 24, 1858 – May 7, 1916.  Margaret Boyd, November 14, 1857 – March 26, 1916.