James Boyd was one of the earliest pre-Loyalist British settlers in the Passamaquoddy region of modern-day Charlotte County in New Brunswick, Canada. His connection to Saint Patrick Parish is that he held a grant of 1000 acres on the Bocabec River, but his main activities were on Indian Island, which is off Deer Island in West Isles Parish, and possibly along the Scoodic River (modern-day St. Croix River).
Good summaries of James Boyd appear in Davis and Howe, and I am indebted to those sources for their excellent bibliographies that made this page possible.
Boyd was sent to America from Kilmarnock, Scotland around 1760, as an agent for his brother William, who was a manufacturer (Rev. Boyd letter, Chalmers Papers). He seems to have spent some time in Newbury or Newburyport and then came to the Passamaquoddy region in 1763 where he established a "store" at Indian Island. In 1767, the Nova Scotia government made him a justice of the peace and granted him 1000 acres on the Bocabec River along with a licence of occupation for Indian Island ("Isle Lutteral" or "Fish Island"). The government also reserved 50 000 acres for him on the eastern side of the Scoodic (modern-day St. Croix) River. The ambitious Boyd began introducing settlers - apparently on Indian Island only. In 1773, William Nesbitt stated that Boyd had introduced 26 families containing 125 individuals and he had "Engaged a great many more to come there this ensuing summer."
Boyd petitioned the Nova Scotia government for a full grant of the lands, but the British government had suspended new grants on 7 Apr 1773 (Brebner; also Nesbitt). Lobbying ensued. James' brother William became involved, along with a "James Earle of Errole" or "Lord Errole". In March 1773, William Gordon informed William Boyd that the matter had been submitted to the Clerk of the (British) Privy Council. In 1815, Rev. William Boyd reported, "From what I have heard the late James Earle of Errole & my Father [William Boyd] say I believe a favourable answer was given _ But the American war breaking out & this Land laying between the Republic & Nova Scotia Territories little could then be made of it & I know not whether the Grant or Confirmation by the British Government was ever executed." In any event, the grant suspension was lifted on 3 February 1774 (Brebner).
In 1777 James Boyd had some sort of dispute with John Curry involving the 1000 acre Bocabec grant, which Curry later bought in a sheriff's sale in 1780. In the meantime, Boyd sympathized with the American Revolution and fled to Boston. Moses Gerrish said that he went in 1778 and this is consistent with the sheriff's sale which describes Boyd as "late of Pasmaquaddy".
In 1815, James Boyd's nephew Rev. William Boyd of Scotland contacted George Chalmers to look into recovering some old debts owed to his father's estate by James. Rev. Boyd's letter is preserved in the Chalmers Papers along with William Nesbitt's letter and some other documents that provide most of the information on Boyd.
James Boyd of Passamaquoddy appears to be the same James Boyd (1732-1798) who headed the The Boyds of Portland, Maine family. The connection between this Boyd and Kilmarnock is uncertain, but there may be a relation of some sort with the Honourable Robert Boyd (1689-1760), who in turn was son of William Boyd, 1st Earl of Kilmarnock. More information on James Boyd's uncertain ancestry may be found in the Robert Boyd entry in the World Connect Project, and in an archived post in the Boyd Mailing List. (Thank you to Mike Boyd for pointing out the need to clarify this.)
Among the 1st Earl's descendents was William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock (1704-1746) who was beheaded for supporting Bonnie Prince Charlie. The 4th Earl had a son, another James Boyd, who was the 15th Earl of Errol and he appears to be the "James Earle of Errole" or "Lord Errole" in Rev. Boyd's letter. The letter said that the Earl and William Boyd (father of Rev. Boyd) both died before the end of the American Revolution, and it referred to the Earl as a "patron" of William and James of Passamaquoddy.
Rev. Boyd's letter also claimed that James of Passamaquoddy had a son, "James Errole Boyd", who was "a General in the American Army & is mentioned as having trained the Canadian Army of the States". This may be a mistake for James' son General John Parker Boyd. In addition, Gerrish's letter claimed that James had a son Robert who was "above twenty years of age when the family moved from Passamaquoddy, and now lives in Portland." This matches the Robert Boyd described as owning a store in Portland.
In regards to Charlotte County genealogy, Boyd is not an uncommon name in the post-Loyalist period. This applies both to the county as a whole and to Saint Patrick Parish in particular. In the 1800s there was even a Boyd family living on or near part of James Boyd's old Bocabec grant. However, there is no known direct connection between these families and the original James Boyd of Passamaquoddy.
The point of land in Passamaquoddy Bay separating Chamcook Harbour from Big Bay is called Kilmarnock Head (map) and one naturally wonders if there is a connection to Boyd. Howe claimed, "He [Boyd] called the rocky headland, near the mouth of Chamcook Harbour, Kilmarnock Head, in honour of his native place in Scotland." Howe gave no reference, and there is actually nothing in the original documents to explicitly support the claim. Nevertheless, it is certainly plausible and if the name could be shown to predate c1780, then it would be almost certain that Boyd did in fact name it.
[Added 6 Oct 2002:] The St. Andrews Parish GenWeb site contains an interesting excerpt from the St. Andrews Beacon, Aug. 10, 1893, about the origins of Kilmarnock Head. The Beacon writer appears to have had a badly garbled account of the James Boyd story.
Documents
(Most of these are referred to in the text above.)
If you have further information on James Boyd, please contact Craig
Walsh.