William Boydstun, an enterprising farmer of Lauderdale County, was born
in Campbell County, December 1, 1816. His father, Thomas Boydstun, was
born in North Carolina, and came to Tennessee before the organization of
the State, settling in the eastern part. He was married in North Carolina
to Elizabeth Newport, daughter of Rev. Richard Newport, a farmer and a native
of Virginia. Five sons and six daughters were born to this marriage. our
subject being the tenth child. He is of English-Irish descent. His mother was
born in Virginia, and died in Lauderdale County, March 6, 1862; his father
was a Democrat and a farmer, and died March 21, 1835.  Our subject was raised
on a farm, and received only a limited education in the country schools, but
by persistent application has since acquired a great deal of general information.
Mr. Boydstun was married in this county, August 29, 1838, to Mary Lusk, a
daughter of James Lusk, a farmer and school teacher. Two sons and three daughters
were born to this marriage; only one is living now Priscilla E. (Monroe).  Mrs.
Boydstun was born in Warren County September 1, 1820, and died at the present
homestead, December 21, 1853, and Mr. Boydstun married again, in the same county,
September 21, 1862, Mrs. Eliza P. Pierce, a daughter of J. N. Medder, and one
son and two daughters were born to this marriage; only one is now living. Martha
P. (Moore).  The mother of this family was born in Williamson County, January 11,
1839.  Our subject is a State's rights Democrat, and used his influence to aid
the Confederacy.  He enlisted in H. C. King's battalion (infantry), afterward in
the First Regiment of Cavalry, as First lieutenant, and was in the battle of
Paris, Tenn., and after a service of one year, resigned on account of ill health.
The Boydstun family was represented in the Confederate Army by ten members in
active service. Our subject has a farm of 312 acres, four miles north of Ripley,
and is an enterprising progressive farmer.
   Benjamin F. Boydstun, a farmer in the northern part of Lauderdale County, was
born in Campbell County, Tenn., and is a son of Thomas Boydstun.  Our subject
was raised on a farm, and received a limited education in the subscription schools
of the county, and has always been a farmer. He married in this county, August 30,
1843, Mary Wood, daughter of Armstead Wood, a farmer, and to them were born three
sons and one daughter.   The latter died in infancy, and the sons were named
James K. Polk, Armstead Wood and Thomas Jefferson. The mother of this family was
born in Alabama in 1823, and died June 6, 1875, and our subject was again married
in the home where he now lives, December 28, 1882, to Mrs. Martha F. Ledbetter,
daughter of Jasper Meadow, a merchant and farmer. She was born in Williamson County
September 25, 1842, and by this marriage one daughter was born, who died in infancy.
Our subject was in the Confederate Army in the First Regiment of Cavalry under
Col. H. C. King, and was in the battles of Perryville, Ky., and Murfreesboro, and
served seventeen months. He had three sons in active service; one served through the
entire war, one a less period, and one was wounded near Pulaski, Tenn., from the
effects of which he died October 15, 1864. Mr. Boydstun is a Democrat, and cast his
first presidential vote for James K. Polk. Mr. and Mrs. Boydstun belong to the
Missionary Baptist Church. He is a kind, generous man, of strict integrity, and owns
140 acres of Land five miles north of Ripley.

*History of Tennessee, with Biographical Sketches of Lauderdale, Tipton, Haywood,
and Crockett Counties, Illustrated, 1887, Pages 848 and 849

Wm. Boydsdon (William Boydstun) was a Trustee of Lauderdale County, 1874-78.

*History of Tennessee, with Biographical Sketches of Lauderdale, Tipton, Haywood,
and Crockett Counties, Illustrated, 1887, Page 801