Old Judge Charles Boyd
 

For the Old Judge fans out there, I would like to introduce Charles Boyd, identified with the Chicago Maroons of the 1888 Western Association. Boyd was signed in February, 1888 and was last mentioned in a writeup in the Chicago newspapers in March. He never played with the Maroons, but did play with Danville later in 1888 (boyd--001---). No biographical information is known for Boyd (that I am aware of)... until now.

Charles Newton Boyd played baseball for the University in Champaign, IL in 1880, graduating in 1881. He later was signed by the Champaign Clippers in 1887 (identified as C.N. Boyd in the Champaign papers), but didn't end up playing because his father got ill. In 1899, the Champaign Daily News related how Lieut.-Col. James E. Barnett, brother of Mrs. C.N. Boyd, escaped death in the Philippines when a bullet struck his bible. From James E. Barnett, we get to Agnes Barnett Boyd, wife of Charles Newton Boyd.

There's a photo of Charles Newton Boyd on his FindaGrave page. Here it is compared to the Old Judge card.

Boyd may also have played for Leavenworth in 1886. Baseball-reference identifies Botd as the player, but box scores and articles identify the player as Boyd, playing first base, the same position Boyd played in college.

Now I just need to find Fisher...

Edited to correct "Nelson" to "Newton"...

Awesome digging. No doubt there was a Charles(C.N.) Boyd connected to the Maroons in 1888. He was signed to play short stop, but it's still probably the same fellow.

Hopefully this helps with your research:
-Charles Newton Boyd was a druggist in Pennsylvania from the 1870’s on and he was later in real estate and insurance
-Charles Newton Boyd lived his entire life in Pennsylvania from what I can tell
-Agnes Barnett Boyd and James Barnett are both connected to Charles Newton Boyd in Pennsylvania
-The Champaign article that mentions James Barnett was simply a telegram message sent from Butler, PA to many news outlets throughout the country

Where does the Nelson middle name come from? Either way, I don’t think Charles Newton Boyd was connected to Charles Boyd in Illinois.

A few of the clippings that have been mentioned that certainly show a Charles Boyd with the Maroons:

Nelson came from being late at night and having seen an old Match Game re-run with Charles Nelson Riley...

The moral of the story is not to post anything after midnight. At least I have now Charles N Boyd, class of 81. Can't be too hard to find that.

I believe all of the above is incorrect....

C. N. Boyd of Sheffield, Illinois and the baseball player whom is featured on the card is most likely Commodore Nathaniel Boyd.

Numerous searches for any Boyd of Sheffield, Ill that played baseball and a 1881 graduate of the Univ. of Ill. lead to Comma Boyd(as he was known locally) He was Captain of the University team as well.

He was born Jan 17, 1861 in Sheffield, Illinois and died May 25, 1934. Buried in Sheffield as well.

Where Charles comes from, I have no idea, and is probably the reason for the dead ends and confusion.

That looks like a bingo!

I see the listing where Illinois University stated all of it's 1881 graduates and Comma N. Boyd was listed from Sheffield. It was a whopping class of 46, the largest ever for the school at the time.

"Charles" Boyd that signed with the Maroons was probably just an error by the newspaper. Interesting.

There is also an image of the class, he is in the second row down, second from the left. Very small image and did not enlarge well with paint, but not my strong suit...

Great research and great history thanks.

Amazing History that can be found and shared

It’s neat to see those images of the class members.

Below is a mention of Commodore Nathaniel Boyd’s role in the founding of the baseball team at the university. He may not have turned into a star, but his contributions are historically significant. (Bureau County Tribune 6/8/1934)

Commodore’s grave marker
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/...commadore-boyd

For the history folks, Commodore’s grandfather was a very interesting man. His story can be seen at the link.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/...charles-s-boyd

I love it when a story comes together! Thanks for correcting my mistakes.