My Genealogy Hound

J. F. Joyce, locomotive engineer on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railroad, with headquarters at De Soto, is a native of Louisville, Ky., and was born in 1853. His parents were Michael and Mary (Ball) Joyce, natives of Maryland; the former was born in 1826, was a contractor on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and at the time of his death, in 1856, was engaged in constructing a tunnel on the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad. He was the father of five children, of whom J. F. is the only survivor. Mrs. Mary Joyce was born in 1831, and after the death of her first husband was united in marriage with Christopher Finlon, by whom she has six children; they located in De Soto in 1879, where they still reside. J. F. Joyce was educated in Maryland and Virginia, and at the age of sixteen engaged in lead mining in Mineral County, W. Va., where he worked six years; he then located in De Soto, where for two months he worked in a blacksmith shop and then secured a position as fireman on a locomotive engine. In September, 1879, he was given charge of an engine, in which capacity he is still employed. June 30, 1880, he married Miss Ella Sullivan, who was born in Charleston, S. C., and is a daughter of John and Ella Sullivan. This union has been blessed by the birth of four children: Alfred, Ella J., May and John F., Jr. In politics Mr. Joyce is a Democrat; he is a member of the brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and has held all the offices in the order. In 1884 he was a delegate to the Grand International Convention held at San Francisco, and in 1886 went in the same capacity to New York City. He was one of the engineers who made a contract with the Missouri Pacific Rail-road regarding wages in 1882, and was present when that contract was revised with Supt. H. M. Hoxie, in 1885. Mr. Joyce is also a member of the A. O. U. W., and, with his wife, affiliates with the Roman Catholic Church.