Grapeland Texas
Queen City Of The Sand Flats
Starley Napoleon Boykin came to Leon County, Texas from Alabama and Mississippi in the 1850s. He married Nancy Elizabeth (Muddle) Meador and lived on a farm west of Grapeland.
Grapeland Texas
Starley N. Boykin
Starley Napoleon Boykin came to Leon County, Texas
from Alabama and Mississippi in the 1850s. He married Nancy
Elizabeth (Muddle) Meador and lived on a farm west of
Grapeland. They had two sons, Albert Sidney and Starley
Napoleon Jr. S. N. Boykin died in 1872 before the birth of his
second son, S. N. Boykin Jr... Nancy Elizabeth Boykin then
married Andrew J. Spence who lived inLeon County at that time
and the Spence family moved to Grapeland in 1878. Nancy and
Andrew Spence had two sons, Bob and Bee Spence. After the
death of Andrew Jackson Spence, Sidney Boykin, Robert (Bob)
Spence and Nancy E. Spence moved to westTexas for a while, but
returned to Grapeland and lived on a farm that Starley N.
Boykin Jr. had bought. Sidney Boykin worked for Kennedy Bros.
and later went into the drug business with Murdock D.
Murchison. (See Andrew J. Spence history for additional
information on the Spence family). Starley Napoleon Boykin Jr.
moved into Grapeland from the farm and went to work at Geo. E.
Darsey & Co... He worked there until 1913 and then 'went on
the road' as a shoe salesman. According to the supervisor of
the shoe company that he worked for, he was the only salesman
he ever had to talk to because his expense account was too
small. After five years, Starley Boykin returned to work at
Darsey's Store and worked there the rest of his life. He sold
many thousands of dollars worth of merchandise and there were
few days that had ever missed because of illness. He began at
a small salary and advanced to a good salary, and through the
years saved and eventually became a partner in the business.
He had the reputation of being the best of salesmen. S. N.
Boykin preferred to walk to and from his work. The Grapeland
Messenger commented that he was one of the few who were able
to own an automobile who did not indulge in that luxury. The
paper stated that during the years that he walked to and from
work (over thirty years) that he had traveled more than 10,000
miles and despite the many miles he walked, his step was still
quick. Starley Napoleon Boykin Jr. married Fannie Arabella
Murchison, daughter of Murdock K. Murchison. They had two
children, Mable Arabella (b. 1900) and Starley N. Boykin HI
(b. 1907). The Boykin families were members of
the First MethodistChurch and gave many hours of service to
that church. Fannie Belle Boykin was one of the organizers of
the Women's Society of Christian Service. Mable, Miss Mable to
hundreds of children, ran a nursery school and taught piano in
Grapeland from the early thirties until illness forced her
retirement in the early seventies. Mable Boykin was very
talented musically and attended music school in Rochester, N.
Y. She volunteered her time as the church pianist at the early
age of sixteen and served in that capacity for fifty-six
years. When the church purchased an organ, she
attended Berkley University in California for organ lessons.
She paid her own expenses in California by teaching in their
nursery school. It was a familiar sight around town to see
Miss Mable with her car loaded with nursery school children.
Starley N. Boykin III attended John Tarlton College in
Stephenville for two years after completing his schooling in
Grapeland. This was to prepare him for entrance for school in
A. & M as the schooling in Grapeland at that time was not
advanced for college entrance. He received a degree in
mechanical engineering from A. & M. and returned to Grapeland.
After working in Grapeland for a while, he joined the U. S.
Army until 1948 when he retired with a medical disability as
an It. colonel. After retiring from the army, he taught school
for three years in the Crockett Public Schools. He then taught
at Marion Institute for five years and at Victoria College for
nine years before again retiring and moving back to Grapeland.
Starley N. Boykin III married Lynn Hendon (McGuyre) and has
one stepson, Lewis Neal McGuyre. Lewis Neal McGuyre married
Beth Wasson. They have two children, Starley Laurence and
Christine Elizabeth. Starley Laurence married Kay Ramsey and
had two children, Heather and Glenn. Christine McGuyre married
Tom Frank. Christine and Tom Frank have three children, Amanda
Beth, Candace Christine and Megan Ellen. Lewis Neal McGuyre
served in the U. S. Army in Korea and Viet Nam. He retired as
a colonel and now lives on his farm in Grapeland.