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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 City, 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 Railroad 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.