Nevada Genealogy Trails Washoe County John W. Boynton Biography

JOHN W. BOYNTON, a prominent stock farmer of Truckee meadows has the distinction of having crossed the plains to California in 1855. He is a native of Connecticut, having been born in Tolland county on the 1st of March, 1837. In both the paternal and maternal lines be comes of old English families, and the ancestry in the mother country can be traced back to 1000, a castle having been built at that early date by representatives of the Boynton name. The members of the family belonged to the nobility of England and possessed a coat of arms. Mr. Boynton has a picture of the old castle and a facsimile of the coat of arms. Two of the Boynton brother, John and William, leaving their native land in 1638 braved the dangers incident to an ocean voyage at that period and established homes in Connecticut, thus becoming the progenitors of the family in the new world. Their descendants now number several thousands in America, and annual meetings of the relatives are held in Connecticut, at which usually several thousand representatives of the name and their kindred gather.

George Boynton. the father of John W. Boynton, was born in Connecticut in 1803. and there wedded Miss Cynthia Whitman, also a native of that state. Under the parental roof John W. Boynton spent the days of his childhood, and in 1855, when eighteen years of age, he bade adieu to friends and family and started westward, his destination being the state of Missouri. He then joined a freight train that was going to Salt Lake City, and on reaching that place, in connection with fourteen others, he purchased three yoke of cattle and a wagon, after which the journey was resumed with Hangtown, California, now Placerville, as their destination. When almost nine miles from Hangtown, however, Mr. Boynton secured a situation and worked for two weeks before continuing his journey to Placerville. At a later date he went to Sacramento, where he spent about three days, proceeding thence to the American river, where be secured a position at placer mining, receiving two dollars per day. He was also paid one dollar a day for his board. His next removal took him to Folsom, Sacramento county, where with others he worked in a hydraulic mine. He and his partner got one-third of what they made. In the spring of 1861 Mr. Boynton came to Truckee meadows in Washoe county, and that fall located a ranch of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he has since resided. His labors have wrought a great change in its appearance, for he has placed many improvements on the land, and has also added to it from time to time until he now owns eight hundred acres of choice grass land. On this ranch he raises hay and cattle, feeding all of his hay to his cattle. His is one of the rich farms of the valley, and it is splendidly equipped with good buildings, including a nice residence. He keeps as high as three hundred head of cattle at a time. In 1872 he went to Oregon and purchased seven hundred head of cattle which he wintered at Lost river in that state, being associated in the enterprise with a partner by the name of Pete Young. That was just prior to the Modoc war, and they were fortunate in managing to leave that country alive.

Mr. Boynton has been an interested witness of the political progress of the country, and for many years supported the Republican party, in fact, still endorses its principles on many subjects, although he is a bimetallist. He has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for over thirty years, and has passed all of the chairs in the subordinate lodge. The neat appearance of his farm indicates him to be a man of industry and business enterprises, ami is the visible evidence of his active and useful career.