|
| Spouse & Children |
| Brothers & Sisters | |
| |
REV. THOS BOYD DIES
Funeral services were set at Hollow Rock for the Rev.
Thomas M. Boyd. 70-year-old Baptist missionary who died at
Memphis after breaking down in Circuit Court during a
hearing in which his two children testified his wife
refused him medical treatment. The hearing, a result of a
petition for writ of habeas corpus filed by the minister's
children. Mrs. Vida Smith of Bruceton, and J. R. Boyd of
Huntingdon was postponed for two weeks Friday when Mr. Boyd
broke down and had to be removed from the courtroom on a
stretcher. Attached to the petition were affidavits from
two physicians stating they had advised Mrs. Boyd her
husband needed hospitalization. Mrs. Smith had testified
that she and her brother would pay for their father's
expenses if only he were allowed proper medical care. She
also testified there had been "some family troubles."
during the eight years her father had been married to the
present Mrs. Boyd.
File Complaint In Chancery To Obtain Property Children of
Rev. Boyd - Charge undue persuasion and coercion.
HUNTINGDON Feb. 13 (Special) A bill of complaint was filed
In Chancery court last week by the children of the late
Rev. T. M. Boyd, former resident of Carroll county, who
died in Baptist Hospital, Memphis, on January 26th against
their stepmother and his widow, Mrs. Sweetie Byrd of
Memphis charging coercion and undue persuasion was used to
induce her late husband to make over to her certain
properties, and to cause him to name her as beneficiary in
his insurance policies amounting to $1500. The bill, which
will be tried before Chancellor Gordon Browning asks that a
portion of land in the 16th District of Carroll County,
which was deeded to Mrs. Boyd on October 8ÙCsupÙDthÙC/supÙD,
1941, shall be returned to the children; also the private
library and other personal possessions of their late
father. The bill is filed by a daughter. Mrs. Lottie Rains,
as executrix of her father's estate: his other children,
children, Mrs. Marie Foster, Mrs. Vilda Smith. Tulious,
Joshua and Spurgeon Boyd are co-signators. It is claimed in
the bill that a will probated in Shelby county on Feb. 6th.
1943, as the last will and testament of the deceased names
Mrs. Rains as executrix without bond, and leaves all
property to his children. The late Rev. Boyd was married to
Mrs. Swettie Byrd Yearney of Memphis in 1935. In September,
1941 while entering Buena Vista Baptist church for regular
services as pastor, suffering a paralytic , stroke of such
severity that he was unable to preach, and that he never
after regained his full strength and faculties. It was on
October 8th following this acute illness that deed was
executed, transfering lands in Carroll county to Mrs Boyd
it is charged. At all times after this deed was executed,
the bill states, his wife was with him constantly, wherever
he went, permitting the children no opportunity to talk
with him or consult with him. It is also charged that he
was denied proper medical attention by his wife, and that
letters received by his children from him told of his being
"coerced, mistreated and improperly fed." The bill further
relates that on last January his children brought their
father into court on habeas corpus proceedings in order to
procure for him proper hospitalization: that competent
physicians stated that he was in a serious condition and in
need of medical attention. He was thereafter removed to
Baptist Hospital Memphis, where he died a few days later.
The bill states that his widow did not attend the funeral
and advances the opinion that she did not visit him at the
funeral home in Memphis to which his body was removed after
his death, and before returning to Carroll county for
burial.7 8
Sources:
- Death Certificate of Thomas M. Boyd
- Last Will & Testament of Thomas Marion Boyd
- The Jackson Sun (Jackson, Tennessee) Mon, Feb 15, 1943
- The Jackson Sun (Jackson, Tennessee) Wed, Feb 10, 1943 Page 1
- Ancestry.com. Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002
- Marriage License - TM Boyd to Byrd Yeary
- The Jackson Sun, 31 Jan 1943, Sun, Page 6
- The Jackson Sun, 15 Feb 1943, Mon, Page 10
