James Boyd

Background

James Boyd was born on July 2, 1888, into a wealthy coal and oil family. He was the son of John Yeomans Boyd and Eleanor Gilmore Herr Boyd, who were from North Carolina.

Education

James Boyd attended The Hill School. He studied at Princeton University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1910.

Career

James Boyd served overseas with the Army Ambulance Service in World War I. After World War I, he began to work as a teacher at Harrisburg Academy. Health problems kept Boyd from pursuing a career in education. After one term as an English and French teacher at the Harrisburg Academy, his health was so poor that he was forced to retire to one of his grandfather’s estates. There, Boyd spent much of his time resting, reading, and fox hunting. After two years, full of ambition and a desire to make a name for himself, Boyd left his grandfather’s estate in search of meaningful employment.

Boyd's first book, Drums, was set in Edenton, North Carolina, and has been called the best novel written about the American Revolution. Boyd continued writing novels throughout the late 1920s, and well into the 1930s. He wrote five historical novels, including Bitter Creek, which were thought to have elevated the genre through greater historical accuracy, psychological and sociological awareness, and formal craftsmanship.

In 1940, Boyd organized the Free Company of Players, a group of American writers. This was a coalition of talent that, despite the powerful opposition of right-wing conservative interests, produced a series of original radio plays in response to what they saw as antidemocratic attitudes prevalent in America due to the growing war in Europe. In 1941, Boyd bought The Pilot, a regional newspaper.

Boyd breathed new life into the weekly paper. During this time, he also wrote poetry for various publications, and returned to his beloved sport, fox hunting. He spent his remaining years in this vein, enjoying a more relaxed work and home environment. Boyd died of a heart attack in February of 1944.

Achievements

• James Boyd was known as an American writer, most famous for his Revolutionary War novel Drums, which was illustrated by N.C. Wyeth.
  
  James Boyd was awarded the Mayflower Award in 1935, for Roll River.
  
  

Works

More photos

• book

  • Drums

    (North Carolina-born Johnny Fraser is torn between his lif...)

    1925
  • Bitter Creek

    (His fifth book The story of a man running away from Illin...)

    1939
  • Eighteen Poems

    (Boyd's last book of poems. Dust jacket design by Daniel B...)

    1944
  • Roll River

    (By James Boyd.)

    1935
  • Marching on 1927

Membership

• The American Academy of Arts and Letters , United States

  1939 - 1944

Interests

• Fox hunting

Connections

James Boyd married Katharine Lamont in 1917. They had three children.

Father:

John Yeomans Boyd

Mother:

Eleanor Gilmore Herr Boyd

Wife:

Katharine Lamont