Within four years, he was considered a principal contractor, carpenter and builder in Chicago.

[6] By then, he was a member of the volunteer Fire Department, and became Chief Engineer in 1838, serving for one year.

[6] Loyd became the 4th Mayor of Chicago in 1840, defeating incumbent Whig Benjamin Wright Raymond.

[7] His mayoralty ended on March 4, 1841, when he was succeeded in office by fellow Democrat Francis Cornwall Sherman.

[2][6] He died in 1872, of "rheumatism of the heart" and was buried in Rosehill Cemetery.