Life & Times
Sheriff James Boyd 1836-1838
Deputies at a still, 1940s
Life & Times
Deputies at a still, 1940s
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Posted Jan 18, 2025
| Term | 1836-1838 |
|---|---|
| Notes | Born in Ireland in 1807. He became sheriff of McNairy County, Tennessee, in the 1830s. He fought a two-hours bare-knuckles fight in a horse pasture outside Purdy with a Joel Rowark whom he had wrongfully arrested for horse-stealing and the Rowarks swore vengeance. Their chance came during the Civil War when Boyd, accompanied by two Chickasaw Indians named Ollie and Ossie Feather, rode with the Union colonel, Fielding Hurst, and acquired a reputation for killing and torturing Confederate prisoners of war. |
| Born | 1807 |
| Died | 1/1/1866 |
| Full Name | James Waters Boyd |
A rebel military posse ambushed Boyd near Sweet Lips Creek and hanged his Indians. Boyd escaped. On January 1, 1866, he was at the Jackson railroad depot awaiting the train for Nashville where he expected to sign on as a deputy federal marshal. There Joel Rowarkâs son killed him with a shotgun. Self-defense, the local sheriff decided and rewarded Billy with $500.