Daniel D. Boyce was born in 1832 in Harrison County, Kentucky, to Noah and Matilda Boyce. His father was a farmer who owned $3,000 of real estate by 1850. The family eventually moved to Morgan County, Illinois, and by 1850, he was working as a farmer. He moved to Sherman, Missouri, in the 1850s, and he married Sarah Catherine Maddox on May 20, 1857. Their daughter Ida was born around 1858. His wife died on January 17, 1862, and he married Nancy Josephine Baldwin on April 28, 1863. They had at least two children: Lilla, born around 1864; and Etta, born around 1868.
He remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War, and he served in the Missouri State Militia. In September 1864, he received a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in Company E of the 43rd Missouri Infantry. The regiment served in northern Missouri. Confederate forces captured him on October 15, 1864, and he received a parole the following day. He was eventually exchanged, and he rejoined the regiment. He mustered out on June 30, 1865.
He returned to Sherman after the war, and he earned a living as a farmer. By 1870, he owned $6,400 of real estate and $3,000 of personal property. He served as a county judge and a justice of the peace. He applied for a federal pension in March 1888 and eventually secured one. He died in Blue Ridge, Missouri, on October 31, 1901.
Image: Daniel D. Boyce (History of Harrison County, Missouri