BIOGRAPHY: Hon. James K. BOYD, Cambria County, PA 

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From Wiley, Samuel T., ed. Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Cambria 
County, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Union Publishing Co., 1896, p. 43-5
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HON. JAMES K. BOYD, ex-Mayor of Johnstown, is a notable example of a man who has 
achieved honorable successes by the force of a strong character. Although we may 
believe that God makes new Adams every day, we cannot but acknowledge the 
powerful influence of heredity and be glad if in our own case we can look back 
upon a line of strong, sturdy ancestors. Mr. Boyd has reason to be especially 
proud of his ancestral stock. In the first place, he has Scotch blood in his 
veins, in the second, his ancestors, as the records show, were among the hardy, 
pioneer settlers of America where no lily-livered man dared live.
     William Boyd, perhaps the great, great grandfather of James K. Boyd, was 
one of the early settlers of Somerset county, Pennsylvania. Among his family 
were two daughters and one son. While he was on a business trip to New York, the 
Indians of the Miami-Ohio region, made a forage into Pennsylvania, capturing the 
two daughters and the son, and tomahawking his wife and an infant son. William 
Boyd did not rest in his pursuit of the Indians until he had recaptured the two 
daughters. The son David was never recaptured but was afterward heard of in 
Canada. William Boyd afterward married a second time, and from this union Hon. 
James K. Boyd is descended. The grandfather, James Boyd, and the father of our 
subject, were born and lived all their lives in Somerset county, Pennsylvania. 
The father, who was born September 23, 1814, was for a time in his early life, 
manager of a section of the Pittsburg pike, from Stoyestown to Ligonier. 
Afterwards he went into the hotel business at what is known as Sliding Rock on 
top of Laurel Hill. Later he moved near Jennertown, Somerset county, where he 
kept hotel until he died September 27, 1854. The latter hotel, owing to the 
affability and good management of the host, was known as a very popular resort.
     William Boyd was a democrat of pronounced views. His family consisted of 
three boys and one girl: our subject; Joshua, deceased; William P., who resides 
in Johnstown, and Missouri J., wife of Daniel Peterson, of Jennerville, Jenner 
township, Somerset county.
     Hon. James K. Boyd was born January 26, 1845, in Jenner township, Somerset 
county, at   the Boyd homestead, situated on the old Pittsburg pike, on the top 
of the Laurel Hill mountains. He was educated in the common schools. After his 
father's death, at the age of eight years, he went on a farm, where he lived for 
nine years, when he went to learn the trade of a carpenter. These facts, simple 
and seemingly small in their importance, are a testimony to his worth, even as a 
young boy. After serving his apprenticeship faithfully, he worked at his trade 
in Somerset county until 1864. Then coming to Johnstown, he was employed by the 
Cambria Coal and Iron company and by the Pennsylvania Railroad company, and 
later by W. J. Rose, for whom he worked for twenty-three years. So efficient and 
enterprising was he in his work that he became Mr. Rose's architectural manager, 
and in this capacity erected many of the finest buildings in the town.
     Mr. Boyd is a republican and a loyal citizen, and, as such, has always 
taken an active part in the affairs of government. His fellow-citizens have 
manifested their confidence in his character and capabilities by electing him to 
various public offices. He was auditor of the borough of Johnstown, prior to its 
incorporation as a city. In 1891 he was elected city treasurer, and 1893, mayor, 
serving one full term. In addition to these positions of public trust, he has 
held or holds important offices in fraternal organizations and business 
corporations. He is ex-Deputy State Counsellor of the O. U. A. M., Past Supreme 
Commander of the A. O. K. of M. C., and ex-Deputy Supreme Archon of the 
Independent Order of Heptasophs. He has been president of the Johnstown Building 
and Loan association for about twenty years. He is vice-president of the Cambria 
Building and Loan association, is a member of the Board of Trade, and during his 
term as mayor, was by reason of his position, a director of the Conemaugh Valley 
Memorial hospital. On December 28, 1871, Mr. Boyd married Miss Lizzie A. 
Shaffer, and to this union have been born five children: Nannie May and Joshua, 
both dead; William F.; Charles A. and James K., Jr. As will be seen by this 
sketch, our subject has had an invaluable inheritance, the blood of a good race, 
and the traits of courageous ancestry. He has had an education which was derived 
from self-directed, independent effort and which is the best education. He is a 
useful man, living among people, knowing them and doing them good.