From 1862 to 1881, he was involved in running a line of vessels at Havre De Grace shipping coal to the south and west.

However, in 1881 he returned to Danville due to poor health and became involved in a number of local industries.

Boyd was born on April 23, 1826, on a homestead in Rush Township, in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, 2 miles (3.2 km) from Danville.

[1] Daniel Montgomery Boyd was named after his maternal grandfather, who was also the namesake of Danville, and was the second of seven children.

[3] One or two years after graduating from the Danville Academy, Boyd relocated to Pottsville to get involved in the coal industry, where, according to J.H.

Beers' 1915 Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, he exhibited a "capacity for organization".

[6] In 1862, Boyd went to Havre de Grace, Maryland, to establish a line of vessels to ship coal to the south and west.