History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties. Page: 419

JIUSTORY OF TEXAS. 419~~~

the largest and most prosperous enterprises
of the kind in central Texas, to which he has
since given his time and attention.
Captain McCord married, in Thomaston,
Georgia, March 12, 1867, Marianna J. May,
a native of Crawford county, Georgia, and a
daughter of Rev. P. L. J. May, an able minister
of the Methodist Episcopal Church of
his State. To this union nine children have
been born, all but one of whom are living.
To his business and his family Captain McCord
is devoted without reservation, never
having held office of any kind, and never
having sought any employment or diversion
inconsistent with his duties to these. He is
an ardent Democrat and a thoughtful observer
of political matters, a Mason, a member
of the American Legion of Honor and of
the Knights of Honor.
i ARON F. AND WILLIAM BOYCE,
farmers on Gilliand's creek, Travis
county, twelve miles from Austin, are
representatives of one of the pioneer
families of the county, and both are nativeb)orn
Texans. They are sons of Aaron F. and
Elizabeth (Ely) Boyce. The latter was the
daughter of Isaac Ely, a native of Kentucky,
and the former was born in Tennessee, February
21, 1800. When a young man he
went to Ralls county, Miseouri, and was
there married, at New London, in 1822.
They lived but a short time in that State,
having been attracted to Wisconsin by the
development of the lead-mining industry.
Mr. Boyce invested in mining property at
Prairie du Chien and Galena, and was be.
coming quite wealthy when the severity of
the winters caused him to come to Texas.
They landed in Bastrop county in the fall of

1837, and about one year later bought a
league of land on (illiand's creek, a part of
which our subject still owns. Mr. Boyce
had been accustomed to pioneer life 1,efore,
had taken an active part in the famous Black
Hawk war in Wisconsin, and was therefore
well qualified to occupy an advanced position
on the Texas frontier. The Indians, however,
became so troulesome in a short time
that it became necessary to their safety to
move nearer a settlement, and they therefore
spent some time in the Ilornsby Bend neighborhood,
on the river, returning to their home
in 1842. Mr. and Mrs. Boyce had ten children,
namiely: Mary Ann, deceased Octolwr
30, 1866, was the wife of Mark Moss; Isaac
Ely married and raised a family, and (lied
January 17, 1883; James, deceased; Stephen,
who raised a family, and died September 25,
1865; Elizabeth, deceased March 11, 1870,
was the wife of Dr. R. B. Pumuphrey; Elvira,
widow of A. W. Morrow, and a resident
of Taylor, Texas; Harriet, deceased in infancy;
Melvinia A., wife of De Witt C.
Booth, of Taylor; Aaron F. and William,
subjects of this sketch; and Jf'hn, who enlisted
for the late war in Ford's cavalry regiment,
and died of yellow fever at Brownsville,
Texas, August 21, 186-. James Boyce,
the third son, was a young man when lie
moved with his father to Travis county, and
was noted as an Indian fighter. One day he
started from home to Austin, hut had gone
only three miles when he was attacked, while
crossing Walnut creek, by a band of Lipan
Indians. He turned toward home, and led
them a brave chase for two miles, when he
was overtaken, killed and scalped, in sight of
home. This occurred in 1842. Mr. Boyce,
the father of these children, met a violent
death while deer-hunting near his home.
While chasing a deer about dusk, September

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419