James Edmund Boyd

Who was James Edmund Boyd?

James Edmund Boyd was a United States federal judge.

Boyd was born in Alamance County, North Carolina, a child of Archibald J. Boyd and Margaret Wetherly Brannock. He served in the Civil War as a private in the Confederate States Army. Boyd attended Davidson College and read law in 1868. He was in private practice of law in North Carolina from 1868 to 1880. He was a Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1874 to 1875 and was a Delegate to the North Carolina State Constitutional Convention in 1875. He was the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina from 1880 to 1885. He was again in private practice of law in North Carolina from 1885 to 1897. He was an Assistant U.S. Attorney General from 1897 to 1900.

Boyd was a federal judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Boyd received a recess appointment from William McKinley on July 11, 1900, to a seat vacated by Hamilton G. Ewart. Nominated on December 15, 1900, he was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 9, 1901, and received his commission the same day. Boyd served until his death on August 21, 1935, in Greensboro, North Carolina.