Local History Website of the SMSU Department of History

Mary Waddill Boyd

Mary Waddill Boyd was one of the first public school teachers in Springfield. Boyd School was named after her. 

Mary Sophia Waddill was born in 1835 in Tennessee.  When she was a little girl, her family moved to Springfield, Missouri. Her father became one of Springfield’s first lawyers. Mary got married when she was eighteen to Dr. Erastus Boyd. They started a family. 

The next part of Mary Waddill Boyd’s life was sad. All three of her children died from childhood disease. Her husband died in the Civil War.

Mary Boyd supported herself by taking in students. She became a teacher. She ran a small school from her father’s law office. In 1867, she joined the new public school built in Springfield. The city’s only public school was Central School. She taught the elementary school grades. She devoted herself to her teaching and to her students.  She was well liked by her students.

       Mary Boyd (center) with her students  

Mary Boyd taught at Central to 1908. A new school, Boyd School, was named in her honor. She became the assistant principal at that school. She also became the school librarian.  

After Mary Boyd retired from being a teacher and a principal, she continued to be the librarian. She ran the Boyd School library until just before her death in 1918. She was 83 years old.    

Source: Information supplied by Julie March, Curator, The History Museum for Springfield-Greene County
Image, Mary Boyd with her students, Courtesy of The History Museum for Springfield-Greene County
(For use in conjunction with the SMSU Campus Compact/WorldCom grant project. You must request permission from the History Museum for Springfield-Greene County to print, copy, or download this image for any other use.)