Person Page - 119

John Boyd [The Printer]¹

• Father: John Boyd [Bard]^2,3,4 b. 1794, d. 2 Oct 1877
• Mother: Mary MacDonald^2,5,4 b. c 1800

• Relationships: Great-grandson of Dougald MacFarlane, Great-grandson of Margaret MacDonell, 2nd cousin 2 times removed of Donald James MacFarlane
• Charts: Descendants of John Boyd & Catherine MacPherson, Descendants of Hugh Boyd & Mary MacFarlane

The ancestry chart of Archibald MacFarlane (ID # 34) is presented because he unites the ancestry of both his parents. If an individual appears more than once in Archibald's chart this indicates descent from the individual in more than one line. By clicking on the each instance (i.e. Ancestry of Archibald MacFarlane (#5)) each line of descent will be shown.

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• Birth*: John was born in 1823 in South River, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada.^1,3,6,4
• Marriage*: He married Ann MacDonald, daughter of Alexander MacDonald [Sandy the Carpenter], on 27 July 1857 in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada.^7,3,8,6
• Death*: John Boyd [The Printer] died on 28 December 1880 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA.^9,3,4
• Biography*: From Drummer on Foot:
  
  “I have referred above to his eldest son, John (the printer). Just here, I was shown, and I viewed with interest, the foundation of the house where this inventive genius worked out of wood the first type, and did the first printing done, not only in Antigonish County, but, I believe, in Eastern Nova Scotia. He got a neighbor, Big Angus McGillivray, Carpenter, to make a press, rude perhaps, but yet the Press – the first Printing Press here.
  
  Mentally arrested at this spot, I was drawn by an irrisistible (sic) and pleasing fancy back to the time. I could almost see the old cottage as it then stood; see the room in which this brilliant and progressive young mind shaped and perfected his invention: I could almost hear him exclaim “Eureka” (I have found it) as he rushed to father with the “proof sheet,” bearing in plain print the words in Gaelic, - An Teggaeg Chriostail. For the first time whilst standing here, I realized that the beginning of The Casket was at this spot, not in Antigonish or any other town or hamlet, but just at this spot, now marked by a Cairn, made by this one event alone, a most interestingly historical print.
  
  Encouraged by the result of his experiment in his father’s home, by which he had the title, - “The printer,” conferred upon him, he proceeded to establish The Casket in the town of Antigonish. On the 24^th of June, 1852, when it was finally launched upon the sea of journalism, had the following in its brief “salutation”:
  “We fondly cherish the hope that, sooner or later, the day will arrive when our friends will have the gratification to admire its onward progress in the march of improvement, and when the value of its contents will entitle it to the name it has assumed.”
  
  Need I say that this hope of nearly sixty one years ago has been realized? Need I ask its thousands of readers all over the Continent to join me in recalling the memory of its departed founder, and paying him at least this tribute of respect. Owing to his natural endowments and mental capacity, he was far in advance of the age in which he lived, in truth he was one in a thousand in any age. He was the inventor of several convenient appliances, but being so open-minded and confiding, other sharpers gaining access to his experiments, and having means, by adding some improvements to his discoveries, managed to forestall him and secure the patents that should be his. It is believed that the works of his brain have made made (sic) money for others, but little for himself.
  
  He was married to a daughter of the late Alexander McDonald, carpenter, of Antigonish, who predeceased him some years. He died in Boston, Mass., a number of years ago. A daughter of his is married to Mr. Donald McDougall at Judidue (sic), C.B.¹⁰