During the past eight years or so, Isaac M. Boyce has been making good in the glove manufacturing industry as president of the Boyce-Lazarus Company, Incorporated, successors to the old established house of Thomas E. Ricketts & Son, which has had a career of over more than half a century in Johnstown, Fulton county. Mr. Boyce's immediate preparation for this position was several years of experience as a glove salesman, during which he became familiar with both the production and distribution sides of the industry. Prior to this he had a somewhat varied mercantile experience in different places in this state. Born in Hyde Park, Dutchess county, New York, March 4, 1869, he is the son of Nehemiah Jacob and Zaide (Carpenter) Boyce, likewise natives of that county, the father born in the town of Stanford, March 31, 1842, and the mother in the town of Pine Plains, on June 4 of the same year. The Boyce family has been residing in this country for four generations, while the genealogy on the maternal side of the house can be traced back to the Huntting family, which came to the colonies from Suffolk, England, as early as 1638, its members being the first of the name to settle in what is now Dutchess county.
In the acquirement of his education Isaac M. Boyce attended the public schools and the Seymour Smith Academy of Pine Plains, New York, then under the direction of the Rev. A. Mattice, principal, who was formerly of Fort Plain. Until 1890 Mr. Boyce continued to live in Pine Plains, where he was employed as a clerk in a general store from 1885 on. Removing to Poughkeepsie, he worked as a bookkeeper in Vanleeck's hat store for five years, after which, in 1895, he became a traveling salesman for a glove company, an occupation he followed continuously for twenty-five years. In 1916 Mr. Boyce was instrumental in organizing the Boyce-Lazarus Company, Incorporated, which purchased and succeeded to the glove manufacturing business of Thomas E. Ricketts & Son on December 27, 1916. He became president of the concern upon its formation and has held that office ever since. The business, which was established in 1868, has long held a desirable place in the glove industry of Johnstown and under the management of the new company has entered upon an era of renewed prosperity and expansion. Its products are gloves and mittens.
On the 9th of October, 1895, in Poughkeepsie, New York, Mr. Boyce and Miss Frances Adele Titus were united in marriage. Of English descent, Mrs. Boyce is the daughter of Robert H. Titus (born August 5, 1835), who with his father and brothers, under the name of Elias Titus & Sons, was prominent in the manufacture of woolen goods, especially broadcloth, at Poughkeepsie during the Civil war period. Robert H. Titus is now deceased, as is his wife, Frances (Sweet) Titus, whose birth occurred July 28, 1837. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Boyce: Robert Titus who married Irma Deusler, and lives at Johnstown; Gertrude, the wife of Howard C. Allen of New York city; Frances Carpenter and Kathryn T., both of Johnstown. Although the family did not move to Johnstown until 1918, its members have already won a secure place in the social and club life of this city, where they have been welcomed as people who had much to contribute to the organizations with which they were affiliated. Mrs. Boyce is a valuable member of the Round Table and Civic Clubs, while Mr. Boyce belongs to the Colonial Club and is active in his support of the work of the local Young Men's Christian Association, of which he is at present a trustee. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Presbyterian church, while politically he ranks as an old line republican, his support being always given to the more conservative element in that great party. While Mr. Boyce is not without a genuine interest in the amenities of life and a consciousness of his obligations as a citizen, his business has ever been his deepest concern. To it he has brought all the wisdom of a long sales experience and a praiseworthy ambition to succeed as a manufacturer. His attainments in this direction in the past few years have been of no low order and in the future he may expect to achieve even greater success.