Monday, April 15, 2019

James Boyd Mystery...!

Far too often it seems that people just disappear without a trace. In this case from Listverse, it seems that this case was different than most because of the history surrounding the man himself, James W. Boyd.

James William Boyd



Photo credit: Wikipedia

In 1865, Captain James William Boyd, an officer of the Confederacy, was released after having been captured by the Union. He was due to meet his son and travel to Mexico when he vanished without trace. Boyd’s disappearance is the subject of a conspiracy theory that he was killed after being mistaken for John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln. Boyd was said to somewhat resemble Booth and shared the same initials, none of which seems to be hard evidence, and the theory has been proposed, discounted, ridiculed, and fictionalized by a whole host of historians and writers, most of whom relegate Captain Boyd to a subplot in someone else’s drama.

What is known is that Boyd was held as a prisoner of war by the Union until February 1865, when he was released so that he could return home to take care of his seven children, his wife having died while he was incarcerated. His son is said to have received a letter telling him to meet Boyd in Brownsville, Texas, but Boyd never showed up for the rendezvous, and no further word was ever received from him.

No matter what the reason, Boyd seems to have made good on the disappearing act. I'm fairly certain that the truth of his disappearance will never be known to us.

Coffee out on the sunny patio this morning. Did ya miss me?

6 comments:

linda m said...

Hope you enjoyed your time off. Good mystery for today.

Rob said...

My great great grandmother was a Boyd, but she was from Ohio.
Brownsville is a long ways from anywhere let alone some POW camp in the north...

Mamahen said...

Yes we you! As for Boyd, I guess we will never know. I'ii bring some brownies to go with our morning cuppa in honor of your return:))

HermitJim said...

Hey Linda...
Glad you enjoyed this little mystery.
Thanks for stopping by today!


Hey Rob...
Since he was headed to Mexico, Brownsville makes sense to me.
Thanks for coming over this morning!


Hey Mamahen...
One more unexplained mystery added to the pot, I reckon.
Thanks for the visit today!

JO said...

Of course you were missed! Hope you enjoyed your time off.

No we will never know the truth about this guy. Even if some one murdered him because they thought he was someone else you would think his body would have been found. I think the thought of him raising 7 kids was more than he could handle and just vanished

HermitJim said...

Hey Jo...
I think you are probably right about it being a personal choice to vanish, sad as it seems. Guess we will never really know.
Many thanks, dear, for dropping by today!