Who owned the Boynton Road Farm, and when?

More than just the Mystery of Kay's Cross, this blog is about the history of the Boynton Road Farm, those who lived and worked there, and their neighbors. And of course, the farm is vital to the mystery of Kay's Cross, because that's where Kay's Cross is!

Who lived on the farm? Who owned the farm?

The Boynton Road Farm today, looking west (Google Streetview)

This is the chronological list of those who owned, controlled, used, or lived on the farm over time. We will continue to refine this list and the information on it, as we research and present evidence for land ownership of the farm over time.

And yes--we're going w-a-y back:

When	Who
Before ~ 1 AD	Pre-Fremont peoples
~1 AD - ~1300 AD	Fremont people
~1300 AD - ~1860s	Modern Native Americans
Early-mid 1800s	European/American Trappers & Mountain Men
1847 - ~1860s	Open range for early Mormon herders and settlers
~1858?-1860s?	Thomas and Mary Ann Huntsman Green?
~1860s? - 1890s?	Elijah Laycock and family
1890s	Christopher Boynton and family
1910s?-1830s?	Nephi Whitaker and family
Late 1830s?	Early 1940s? - Federal Land Bank of Berkley
1940s? - present?	Davis County Co-op (Kingston Clan) or associates?

Boynton Road Farm, 1953. Location of Kay's Cross is marked.
Mutton Hollow Road is near the top (top left corner), a section of Crestwood Road in the bottom right corner. Boynton Road snakes past the reservoir and through the farm.

Neighbors of the farm from the earliest Mormon settlers and late 1800s/early 1900s include:

• Going southwards down the hollow from the Boynton Road Farm:
• Thomas and Mary Ann Huntsman Green and descendants, including Alford (Fred) Green - just to the south of the farm (just north of Fairfield Road today)
• Thomas Bennett and descendants - just south of the  Green property (generally) south of Fairfield Road today)
• Robert Wall
• Rosel Hyde and descendants (south of Bennett's property; nearer today's Main St/Hwy 273)
  
• Other neighbors:
• John Simmons - S & SE of Boynton Farm
• William Court
• Mark Beazer - NW of the Boynton Farm
• Robert Burton & family - N of Boynton Farm
• Frederick Burton  - NE of Boynton Farm
• William Beesley - SE of Boynton Farm

Until we find some way to rule them out, everyone who lived on, controlled, owned, or lived nearby the farm is potentially someone who could have built Kay's Cross.

As we explore each of these owners and neighbors in turn, we will add links to articles and information about them. We're going to meet a really interesting group of people!

If you have any information that could clarify owners, neighbors, dates,  or other incomplete or incorrect information listed here, please leave a comment below or contact me via my profile page

Kay's Cross

Unsolved Mysteries

As we work to solve some of the mysteries of Kay's Cross, the Holmes Creek Hollow, and Kaysville history, we will encounter more mysteries--mysteries we cannot solve yet.

I know that many of  you out there are very interested in local Kaysville history and many of you may know the answers to some or all of these mysteries--or how to find the answers.

If you know the answers to any of these mysteries, or have any clues, please leave a comment. I hope that many of these mysteries will be the subject of future posts.

Outstanding mysteries:

• When did Elijah Laycock acquire or start farming the Boynton Road Farm? Are there any property records or other records from the 1860s or 1870s showing Laycock's ownership or use of the farm?
• Did any Mormon settlers before Laycock live on the Boynton Road Farm, or farm there?
• Who, if anyone, owned the Thomas and Mary Ann Green farm before the Greens moved there in 1863.
• Did the Greens, who lived just south of the Boynton Road Farm, farm or use the Boynton Road Farm, or sell the northern property to Elijah Laycock?  Generally, who was there first--the Greens or the Laycocks?
• Where there any Mexican Land Grants in Davis County? Miles Goodyear owned a large farm in Weber County prior to 1847. We have reports of prior ownership near Riverton in Salt Lake County.  How about Davis County?
• More to come . . . 

Do you have information, evidence--or even just ideas or theories--about any of the unsolved mysteries above? Or a new mystery to add?

Leave a comment below or contact me via my profile page.

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