Dazzling Daughter
Fidelia Anne “Anna” Maxwell (Hoy) Boyd​
Birth: July 21, 1845, Bowling Green, Kentucky
Death: April 3, 1934, Olympia, Washington
Fidelia Boyd
Fidelia Anne was the daughter of Thomas Jefferson Hoy and Elvira Louise McCurdy of Kentucky. She had the outstanding privilege to be the granddaughter of Revolutionary War Soldier, Private Thomas Hoy of Virginia. Private Hoy passed away one year following Fidelia’s birth.
Upon reaching adulthood, Fidelia married her first husband, Captain Constantine Francis Volney Baker, in Kentucky in 1865. The couple had four children, the first three of which were born in Kentucky; Inez, David Stude, Bush Thomas, and Clara Volney. The Baker family left Kentucky for Missouri about 1877. Captain Baker died in Missouri that same year, only a few months before the birth of their fourth child, Clara.
​​Widow Fidelia continued westward and settled in Thurston County, Washington, where in 1881 she married physician and pharmacist George Gregory Turner. Doctor Turner had arrived in Olympia about 1859 and opened a drug store in that community, being the first licensed pharmacist in the Territory. Doctor Turner died in 1886. Ten years passed before Fidelia married a third time, to Ervin J. Boyd. After only two years of marriage, tragedy hit on February 16, 1898, when her home in Olympia burned to the ground while her husband was hospitalized with a lung condition. One month following the fire, he passed away.
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​Fidelia remained in Olympia and became a member of the Sacajawea Chapter on October 16, 1923. She chose to add a supplemental patriot, this time to honor her maternal great grandfather, Thomas Sharp of Kentucky. Her daughter, Inez Baker Horton, along with her mother, joined the Sacajawea Chapter. Her granddaughter, Gladys Horton Johnston, became a Sacajawea member in 1959, and served as Sacajawea Chapter Recording Secretary. As a chapter member, Fidelia was very active, serving on the Magazine, Patriotic Education, Correct use of Flag, and Hostess Standing Committees.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
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On March 4, 1934, in her final days, Fidelia made a remarkable and selfless donation of priceless George Washington relics to the State of Washington. These had been passed down to her, originally belonging to Major Andrew Billings, who died in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1808. She presented Washington Governor Clarence D. Martin with a steel engraving of George Washington along with a certificate of authenticity, and lock of George Washington’s hair, all of which she requested be placed in the State Capital.​
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In 1935, once authenticated and double framed by conservators, the relics were put on display in Governor Martin’s Office in Olympia, Washington. Fidelia’s donation inspired the members of Sacajawea Chapter to invite members of the American Association of University Women, Woman`s Club, Thurston County Pioneer Association, and Daughters of Pioneers, to join them in a request to the governor and legislature that a Washington Historical Room be dedicated to the care and display of historic books, manuscripts, and relics. In addition, an appropriation of $3,000 was donated for the necessary set-up. It was through these groups` endeavors that the request was granted for the creation of an Historical Room at the State Capital, which by 1943 was known as the State Capital Museum. Today, as a result of the merger of the Washington State Historical Society and State Capital Museum, the Boyd donation is part of the Washington State Historical Society Collection in Tacoma. ​
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Located at Washington State History Center in Tacoma. Picture on left is an engraving of George Washington. Right is a copy of what was written on the back of the engraving. Top right is a lock of his hair.
​Courtesy: Betty A. Lindsay, Sacajawea Historian, Karen Curran, and Diane Whetstone