The Reverend William [1725,1772-Monreagh] Boyd

GvRevWmBoyd02

The Reverend William was born in 1685.  He died at the age of 87 in 1772.

• Death Notes

  Date of Death - He is featured on the Rootsweb site and the Clan Boyd site.  He is buried at Taughboyne Parish Church where his tombstone gives his age as 87 on his death in 1772.
  
  “Here lyeth the body of the late Revd. Mr. William Boyd who departed this life May 2nd 1772.  Aged 87 He had been Presbyterian Minister in Taughboyne 47 years.  Here also lyes the body of his wife who died June 21st 1764 Aged 68.”

• General Notes

  This man was ordained minister at Macosquin Presbyterian church in 1710.  He was the agent who organised the emigration of hundreds of Ulster Scots Presbyterians from Ulster to New Hampshire in 1718/19 in the famous "Five Ships".  He later became minister at Monreagh Presbyterian Church in Taughboyne, Co Donegal where, coincidentally, he quarrelled with the previous incumbent, a Reverend William Gray!  He is buried in Taughboyne Parish Church.
  
  Mike Boyd: You will notice that Daniel Wilson's quoting from THE PRESBYTERY OF COLERAINE by Julia E. Mullin, 1979, Rev. William Boyd, is thought to have been the son of Rev. Thomas Boyd of Aghadowey (1660-1699).  I think that is wrong, as Rev Thomas Boyd was old during the Siege of 1689.  There is some material on him in the book History of the Boyd Family and its Descendants, etc  W. P. Boyd, 1912.  He made a company from his Church members and marched from Aghadowey to Londonderry City to assist.  I think W. P. Boyd did give an age for him during the siege but I can't just put may hands on it at present.  So it is very unlikely that Rev Thomas Boyd would be having children at an old age in the 1680's.  So we still do not know who his parents might have been.
  
  The following is an entry from the Belfast Newsletter:
  23 May 1755  "Whereas I have been in.....d (1) that lands of the Vow near Ballymoney in the County of Antrim have been advertised to be sold.  As I did once before, so I do once again, .........(2) all persons not to buy said lands on the insufficient Title the Sellers are able to give, or else to stand to their hazard; for as soon as my eldest son will be of Age, which is about a Year hence, he will put in his Claim and recover said Lands.  Dated at Taughboyne May 15 1755.  William Boyd"  This suggests the Rev William Boyd was related to Boyds in Vow, Finvoy and also that he had at least two sons, on of whom was born in 1735 (if "of Age" means 21).
  
  The Vow?  This implies there might be a connection between my two Boyd ancestries as the Boyds on my mother's side are buried in the Vow graveyard.  OR, I am descended from the Reverend William Boyd through my maternal Boyds rather than my paternal Boyds!!
  
  > Excerpts from Charles Knowles Bolton's book: Scotch
  > Irish Pioneers in Ulster and America 1910
  >
  > pages 91 - 93 Chapter entitled Presbyterians in Ulster
  >
  > New England on the other hand received scarcely any
  > immigration before 1718, and there was very little
  > intercourse, unless we except that of a theological and
  > literary nature which existed between leaders of thought in
  > Dublin and Boston.  This was perhaps the chief reason which
  > led to the appointment of an agent by the Bann Valley
  > colonists.  This agent, the Rev. William Boyd, was ordained
  > at Macosquin in January, 1709-10.  The Rev Thomas Boyd,
  > probably his father, was an Episcopal clergyman at the
  > neighboring town of Aghadowey, and although deposed in 1661
  > for non-conformity, continued to preach there until his
  > death in 1699, holding services also at Macosquin for the
  > Last ten years that he lived.
  
  Mike Boyd thinks. probably correctly, that this man had to be the grandfather of The RWB.  If he was preaching in 1661 and died in 1699, and the RWB died in 1772 aged (cant remember but old) then it IS much more likely he was his granddad.
  >
  > When the Rev. William Boyd had fulfilled his mission in
  > Boston and was ready to return to Macosquin, he preached a
  > "return" sermon at the weekly lecture on the 19th
  > of March, 1718-1719.  It was printed in 1719 with the title
  > "God's way the Best way" (Jeremiah vi 16).
  > The introduction by the Rev. Increase Mather tells in rather
  > quaint language so much of interest relating to Mr. Boyd and
  > his mission to New England that it is given in part just as
  > he wrote it: "It was not before the last Summer that he
  > Arrived among us.  He had his Education in the University of
  > Edinburgh in Scotland; and there commenc'd Master of the
  > Arts; and afterwords Read Divinity in the Famous Colledge
  > and University of Glasgow (Among the fasti are William Boyd,
  > 1709, and Adam Boyd, 1711.  References to the Boyds may be
  > found in Miss Leavitt's The Blair Family (1900)) under
  > the care of Mr. Widrow, then Professor of Divinity there.
  > Has been Ordained a Minister of the Gospel, and
  >  Pastor of a Church at Macaskey in Ireland.  Many in that
  > Kingdom having had thoughts of a remove to this part of the
  > World, have considered him as a Person suitably
  > qualify'd to take a Voyage hither, and to make Enquiry
  > what Encouragment or otherwise, they might expect in case
  > they should engage in so weighty and hazardous an
  > Undertaking, as that of Transporting themselves &
  > Families over so vast an Ocean.  The issue of the Affair has
  > a great dependence on the Conduct of this Worthy Author.
  > The  Lord direct him in it.  Since his being in New-England
  > (as well as afore that) by the Exemplary holiness of his
  > Conversation, and the Eminency of his Ministerial Gifts, he
  > has obtained a good Report amongst all Good Men. . . .  It
  > is justly observed in the Sermon Emitted herewith, that
  > Antiquity alone, is not a sufficient Justification of any
  > Practice; Altho' Truth is more Ancient than Error."
  >
  > Cotton Mather with his unfailing kindness sent Mr. Boyd
  > away with a generous letter of commendation:
  > "Boston, N.E.
  > 20 d ii m 1719
  > "It is hereby Certified on Behalf of ye Reverend Mr.
  > William Boyd that which has Commenced among us, he has, as
  > far as we Could know or learn Adorned Ye Doctrines of God or
  > Saviour, with unblemished Conversation, and improved ye
  > Character given him in ye recommendations which he brought
  > hither from Ireland with him.  And that his public Labours
  > in ye ministry of the Gospel, have been Desired and Accepted
  > among the people of God in this Country; with whom he now
  > leaves a very Good Name, & Reputation, At his Departure
  > from us.
  > "Having furnished this Our worthy Brother with such a
  > Testimony, we earnestly Commend him to ye Conduct &
  > Blessing of our glorious Lord, in ye Voyage that is now
  > before him." (Source: American Antiquarian Society
  > Manuscripts)
  >
  > Page 105 -
  >
  > The Rev. William Boyd upon his return to Macosquin
  > continued his work there until 1725, when Monreagh in County
  > Donegal called him.  This parish, on the west bank of the
  > Foyle between Londonderry and Lifford, promised to build a
  > meeting house and to secure him £40per annum.  He was
  > installed April 25, 1725, and died there in service May 2,
  > 1772, leaving children.  He last attended a synod in 1762,
  > when he was probably in feeble health.  His career was a
  > troubled one, on account of a rival minister who built a
  > church at St. Johnstown within his jurisdiction, and
  > alienated many of his people.  The General Synod took his
  > part steadily, but was finally forced to recognize the new
  > organization.
  >
  > Monreagh was in Boyd's time also called Taboin or
  > Taughboyne.  The McClintocks were prominent Presbyterians in
  > Taughboyne, and William McClintock, father of Rev. Samuel of
  > Portsmouth, New Hampshire, may have been of this race.
  >
  > Pages 132 - 133 The Five Ships - August 1718
  >
  > The Newsletter for July 21-28 mentions the arrival from
  > Ireland of the ship "William and Mary," James
  > Montgomery, master; the issue for August 25-September 1
  > states that she had cleared for Dublin.
  >
  > The "William and Mary" brought over the Rev.
  > William Boyd of Macosquin, the leader of the movement; and
  > Cotton Mather writes July 25th: "A minister arrived
  > from Ireland, with Instructions to enquire after ye
  > circumstances of this countrey in order to ye coming of many
  > more, gives me an opportunity for many services."
  > The next day Mather says:
  > "The many Families arriving from Ireland, will afford
  > me many opportunities, for kindness to ye Indigent."
  > Mather here uses "arriving" to mean "about to
  > arrive," having found through conversation with Mr.
  > Boyd that many settlers were on their way from Ireland.
  >
  > page 136 -
  >
  > Cotton Mather's dream of a great migration from Ireland
  > was coming true. . . .  Although these emigrants were viewed
  > with distrust by most New Englanders, the two chief figures
  > in Boston at this time, Mather and Samuel Sewall showed
  > their ministers marked courtesy.  On the 9th of august,
  > Sewall writes in his diary that at seven "Mr. Macgregor
  > and Mr. Boyd dine with me and my son J. S. and James Clark.
  > Gave the Scots Ministers each of them on of my
  > Proposals."
  >
  > pages 165-166 The Scotch Irish in Boston
  >
  > We know little of the feeling towards these Scotch
  > emigrants from Ireland shown by Boston people, although
  > elsewhere they were disliked.  An important incident of the
  > next winter throws some light upon the subject, and for that
  > reason it will be mentioned here.  Benjamin Gray, a
  > bookseller and publisher, offered for sale books on
  > religion, and from time to time published works by Scotch
  > Presbyterians.  Naturally then the Rev. William Boyd became
  > a frequent visitor to Gray's shop. Boyd, as a leader of
  > men, as an able preacher, and as a writer, was for a few
  > months a prominent figure in Boston.  At this period, he was
  > living in Charles town at Captain John Long's hotel, or
  > "the great tavern," as it was called.
  >
  > It happened that Mr. Boyd was in the shop on February 7,
  > 1718-19, a Saturday, talking with friends when Edward Ellis,
  > so of Robert Ellis, a surgeon, entered.  Ellis soon became
  > abusive, and singling out the Rev. Mr. Boyd he said that the
  > Scotch Irish clergyman was an immoral man, and as evidence
  > asserted that Boyd had had improper relations with a
  > maid-servant in Captain Long's employ.  Ellis was at
  > once arrested and his case came before the Court of General
  > Sessions f the Peace for Suffolk County on April 7th.  He
  > was convicted, sentenced to pay twenty pounds, see
  > shillings, and to find sureties to be bound in twenty five
  > pounds each that he would be of good behavior for six
  > months, and he was ordered also to pay all the costs of the
  > prosecution.  The prominence of Ellis is made clear by the
  > fact that the men who came to his assistance as sureties
  > were both well known, Robert Auchmuty, Esq. and Thomas
  > Phillips, Innholder.  Ellis was discharged Novemeber
  >  10, 1719.
  >
  > Over against this incident we may place the following
  > sentence from the Rev. Increase Mather's Preface to
  > Boyd's farewell sermon which was delivered March 19,
  > 1719:  "Since his being in New England(as well as
  > before that) by the Exemplary holiniess of his Conversation,
  > and the Eminency of his Ministerial Gifts, he has obtained
  > good Report amongst all Good Men."
  >
  > At the close of the sermon, mentioned above, the Governor
  > invited Mr. Boyd to dine, the company including the Rev.
  > Cotton Mather, the Rev. James Woodside who had ordained Mr.
  > Boyd in Ireland, Samuel Sewall, and a Mr. Stanton.
  >
  > page 244 - chapter entitled Londonderry N. H.
  >
  > The following paragraph in Sewall's Diary, under date
  > of March 5, 1718-19, refers to news obtained by Boyd,
  > possibly from a letter written by Vaudreuil, although there
  > is not the slightest evidence that it was sent to McGregor.
  > The passage reads: "Mr. Boyd dines with me: he says
  > there is a report in the town that Gov. Vandrel [Vandreuil]
  > has written that he can no longer keep back the Indians from
  > War." (This is evidently to show that Rev. McGregor may
  > have had influence with Gov. Vandreuil keeping away Indians
  > from his settlement because the two attended the same
  > college. - now believed highly unlikely since one was
  > Catholic nobleman and the other a Protestant commoner!)
  
  A History of the Reverend William Boyd
  
  1685    Date of birth, calculated from the Reverend William Boyd’s gravestone in Taughboyne Parish Church, County Donegal.
  
  31st January 1710    The Reverend William Boyd was ordained minister of Macosquin Presbyterian Church by the Coleraine Presbytery.  There is no solid information on whether he was born in or near Macosquin but he may have been the son of the Reverend Thomas Boyd, who was an Episcopalian minister in neighbouring Aghadowey.  The Reverend Thomas Boyd was deposed in 1661 for non-conformity (the year after the restoration of Charles II) but continued to preach in Aghadowey until his death in 1699.  According to the Clan Boyd site, which appears to be using Bolton, and the Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland’s History of Congregations, he also preached at Macosquin.
  
  25th July 1718    The Reverend William Boyd arrived in Boston on board the “William and Mary”.  Acting as their agent, he presented a petition signed by 319 people, including nine other Presbyterian ministers, from the Bann Valley area of Counties Londonderry and Antrim to Governor Shute of Massachussetts, requesting his support for a mass emigration to New England.  These Ulster Scots Presbyterians were eager to leave their homes because of the high rents charged by the local landowner, Richard Jackson, the collapse of the linen trade around Coleraine and increasing persecution by the Established Church after the death of King William III.
  The petition reads, "We whose names are underwritten, Inhabitants of ye North of Ireland, Doe in our own names, and in the names of many others, our Neighbors, Gentlemen, Ministers, Farmers, and Tradesmen, Commissionate and appoint our trusty and well beloved friend, the Reverend Mr. William Boyd, of Macasky, to His Excellency, the Right Honorable Collonel Samuel Suitte, Governour of New England, and to assure His Excellency of our sincere and hearty Inclination to Transport ourselves to that very excellant and renowned Plantation upon our obtaining from His Excellency suitable incouragement. And further to act and Doe in our Names as his prudence shall direct. Given under our hands this 26th day of March, Anno Dom. 1718."
      “The Petition of Ulstermen”, as it has become known, is now hanging in the rooms of the New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord, NH.
      On 4th August 1718, without waiting for Governor Shute’s approval, 600 to 800 Scotch-Irish arrived in Boston in the famous “Five Ships”, led by the Reverend James McGregor of Aghadowey.  He was probably married to a Mary Boyd and later founded, amongst others, the township of Londonderry in New Hampshire.
  Although preceded by other Presbyterian ministers, such as the Reverend Francis Makemie of Ramelton, County Donegal, this was the first large-scale migration of Scotch-Irish to America.
  
  1718/19    The Reverend Boyd spent the winter in Charleston, living at Captain John Long’s hotel.  He frequented the religious bookshop of a Benjamin Gray and became a prominent figure in Boston.
  
  19th March 1719    The Reverend Boyd delivered a farewell sermon before returning to Ireland.            
  
  1721 Subscribed to the Westminster Confession of Faith, which laid down the doctrine to be followed by ministers of the Presbyterian Church.
  
  1724 Drew up the papers for the Presbyterian Church Synod, prosecuting the Non-subscriber, Thomas Nevin.  These “Non-subscribers” were often known as the “New Light” and eventually as “Seceders” when they formed their own “Associate Presbytery”, now known as the United Presbyterian Church.
  
  25th April 1725    Appointed by the Derry Presbytery as the minister of Taughboyne (later called Monreagh) Presbyterian Church, near St Johnston, in County Donegal.  There may be a connection with the fact that a Sir Thomas Boyd had acquired 1500 acres of land in the nearby Barony of Strabane, Co. Tyrone, in 1610 and Sir Thomas’ sister, Marion Boyd, married James Hamilton, Earl of Abercorn, who owned land in East Donegal (and later acquired Sir Thomas Boyd’s land in Tyrone). 
  The Reverend Boyd became involved in a bitter conflict with the previous incumbent of Monreagh, the Reverend William Gray, when the latter returned from Dublin to set up a rival congregation in nearby St Johnston.
  
  1730 The General Synod elected The Reverend Boyd Moderator at Dungannon.
  
  1731    Published “A Good Conscience A Necessary Qualification of a Gospel Minister. A Sermon (Heb. Xiii 18) preached at Antrim on 15th June 1731, at a General Synod of the Protestants of the Presbyterian Persuasion in the North of Ireland”, Derry 1731.  The sermon, with which he concluded his term of office, was directed specifically against a famous discourse by the non-subscribing minister, John Abernethy, M.A., whose “Religious Obedience founded on Personal Persuasion” was preached at Belfast in 1719.  Boyd decided that, “conscience is not the supreme lawgiver,” and that it had no judicial authority except in so far as it administered “the law of god,” an expression which, to him, was synonymous with the Presbyterian interpretation of scripture.
  
  1734 Unsuccessful candidate for the clerkship of the General Synod.
  
  1739    Preached against the Reverend Richard Aprichard, who had criticised the Westminster Confession and who subsequently became a Non-subscriber.
  
  16th June 1747    Appointed by the General Synod to draw up a “Serious Warning” to be read from the pulpits, condemning the teachings of the Non-subscribers.
  
  1762    Attended the synod for probably the last time – very frail.
  
  2nd May 1772    Died, his body buried in Taughboyne (Church of Ireland) Parish Church, St Johnston, County Donegal, where his gravestone has the inscription, “Here lyeth the body of the late Revd. Mr. William Boyd who departed this life May 2nd 1772.  Aged 87 He had been Presbyterian Minister in Taughboyne 47 years.  Here also lyes the body of his wife who died June 21st 1764 Aged 68.”
      The Clan Boyd site claims that he died “in service, 2nd May 1772, leaving children.”
  
  1796    While there is no firm evidence that the Reverend William Boyd had any children, a Samuel Boyd is mentioned under Taughboyne in the “1796 Flax Seed Premium Lists” copied by a Gloria Baudouin from a microfilm in the Linen Hall Library, Belfast.
  
  1834    Again, although is no real evidence that the Reverend William Boyd had any children, a Reverend William Boyd did hold land in the 1834 Tithe Applotment Book for Letterkenny.
  
  
  Sources:
  James McConnell and S. G. McConnell, “FASTI of the Presbyterian Church”, Genealogical Magazine, 1936 – extract supplied by The Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland, Belfast.
  The Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland: “A History of Congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland” – extract supplied by the Society, Belfast.
  Charles A Hanna, “The Scotch Irish” Vol. II – extracts supplied by Barbara Braswell, Austin, Texas.
  The Reverend Thomas Hamilton, “History of Presbyterianism in Ulster”, Mourne Missionary Trust, 1982.
  The Clan Boyd internet site at www.clanboyd.info
  Linda Merle, Dan Wilson, John McCutcheon, Roberta Fulton Hirth et al on the Scotch Irish list at Scotch-Irish-l@rootsweb.com, who quote from Hanna, Bolton and McCaughan.
  Bertie Roulston, “A History of Monreagh Presbyterian Church 1644 - 1994”, loaned by Elizabeth Craig, Drumcrow, Co. Donegal.
  The Reverend William Boyd’s gravestone in Taughboyne Parish Church, St Johnston, Co. Donegal.
  
  Sources still to be researched:
  Charles Bolton, “Scotch Irish Pioneers in Ulster and America”.
  The Dictionary Of National Biography
  Alison A McCaughan, “Heath, Hearth and Heart” (A History of 1st Dunboe PC, Articlave.)
  Parker, “The History of Londonderry, New Hampshire”
  The Rev. John C. Clyde, “Genealogies, Necrology and Reminiscences of the Irish Settlement”, 1879.
  Billy, “Faith and Freedom: The Scotch Irish in America”.
  Linda Lawhorn has a lot of Boyd data on her two websites: http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=llawhon http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~clanboyd/mo8.htm
  
  Aim of this research:
  To try to discover if the Reverend William Boyd is related to any of the Boyds recorded in the records of Macosquin Presbyterian Church, which begin in 1823.  These Boyds may or may not be married into my Grays of Macosquin.
  
  

Details of The Reverend William's family with ???? ????