Chicago family of scholars, real estate moguls, and pharmacy entrepreneurs.
The Boyce family (once the DuBois or Boies family) fled France in 1685 when the Edict of Nantes was revoked by Louis XIV, limiting the rights of Huguenots. They settled briefly in Scotland and Ireland, eventually landing in Massachusetts in 1727, where David DuBois raised his son Samuel Boies with his wife, until David's death in 1752. The Boies family eventually migrated to Cortland, New York, where Le Roy Merrick Boyce was born in 1810. Le Roy worked in drugstores throughout his teenage years, both in Cortland and Lockport, New York. Le Roy took great pride in his work and began managing employees from a young age. Boyce moved to Chicago and started the city's fifth pharmacy on Lake Street in 1837. He married Helen Maria Williams in 1845. The couple spent much of their marriage separated by distance due to Le Roy's constant traveling in New York and Canada to maintain the inventory of his store. When Le Roy was back in Chicago, his wife and children fled the city for upstate New York in order to avoid the cholera epidemic that would claim Le Roy's life in 1849. Charles Williams Boyce, born 1846, struggled with illness throughout his infancy, but recovered in his boyhood and lived until 1889. His brother, John Le Roy, died in infancy in 1849. Simeon Leonard Boyce was born in 1850, shortly after his father Le Roy Boyce's death. He attended Yale University and kept extensive records of his time there, including details of societies, regattas, tutorials, and Yale traditions. Boyce struggled with his decision to attend college instead of immediately entering the business world. As a college sophomore, Boyce had his first foray into business. He demolished the family home in Chicago in order to construct a commercial building in its place at State and Madison. However, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed all construction on this building, and Simeon took a leave of absence from Yale to consider his options. Simeon Boyce married Helen Isabel Adams and had six children: Helen (1875), James Leonard (1879), Marguerite (1883), Le Roy Merrick (1887), Leonard (1890), and Elisabeth (1892). Helen became a teacher at various women's schools throughout the Northeast and even taught briefly at the Woman's College in Constantinople. She was awarded her PhD in History from the University of Chicago in 1920, the year of her death. Helen was also an important family historian, as she created a book of photographs and paintings of the family home at 3735 Grand Blvd. Helen's sister, Elisabeth, attended Vassar College. She then married, became Elisabeth Boyce Gilbert, and raised children in Kenilworth, Illinois.
From the description of Boyce-Gilbert family papers, 1831-2000. (Newberry Library). WorldCat record id: 755278793
