William L. Boyd Jr. (February 17, 1825 – October 31, 1888) was an American slave trader, real estate broker, and steamboat captain from Nashville, Tennessee.

[2] He began his career in the early 1850s, initially as a partner in a real estate and slave trading business located on North Cherry Street, Nashville.

[7] In 1860 the offices of the Nashville Democrat newspaper, "devoted to sustaining the principles advocated by Stephen A. Douglas," were located in Boyd's building on Cherry Street.

L. Jr., general agent and dealer in slaves, 50, north Cherry st., residence, 6, north Cherry st."[9] According to Frederic Bancroft's Slave-Trading in the Old South, Boyd was one of at least half a dozen slave dealers, traders and buying agents working in 1860 Nashville: "Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, and the political, social and business center of the State, was advantageously situated for purchases in Kentucky and sales in northern Alabama and northeastern Mississippi....Much local and intra-state trading was a matter of course.

"[3] Boyd also ventured into the steamboat business, operating vessels like the Nashville and the James Wood along the Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers, extending his influence beyond Tennessee.

In 1861, it was determined in a court of law that Boyd was legally not a resident of Tennessee, possibly due to his steamboat operations and frequent travel.