Eli Rice Boardman, b. 1831, of Kentucky; Dallas and Tarrant Cos., Texas
We here in northeast Tarrant County have a Civil War veterans monument in place, and are posting biographies and photographs of the men at our Genweb site.If you can add to the following biographical sketch, or could share any photos you might have of this veteran, his wife, or his home, we’d be happy to have them.Thanks for taking the time to read our query.Mike Patterson, Colleyville, Texas.
Eli Rice Boardmanwas born September 9, 1831 in Nicholas County, Kentucky.He was a son of James Rice Boardman (1796-1879) and his wife, Sarah "Sally" Hazelrigg (1797-1847).Eli’s parents were married in Bath County, Kentucky on Jan 2, 1821.At the time the 1850 census was taken, Eli was still living with them in District 1 of Nicholas County, Kentucky.Eli grew up in fairly comfortable circumstances; his father owned four female slaves at the time the 1850 census was taken.
Eli Boardman married Sarah Ann McCullough on September 2, 1852 in Kentucky.She was born July 18, 1835 in North Carolina.Census sources suggest that after their marriage, the Boardmans lived for a time in Kentucky, then in Indiana in the mid-1850's, before coming to Texas by the summer of 1859.Family sources on the internet record that they lived in both Boone County and Putnam County, Indiana in the mid-1850’s.They may have lived in Putnam County, Indiana, where Eli's father died in 1879.
When the 1860 census was taken, Boardman and his family were living in Dallas County, Texas where he was working as a farmer.Their next-door neighbors were his wife's parents, William M. McCullough and A. Elizabeth McCullough.
Eli R. Boardman served in the Confederate Army in Co. A,31st Texas Cavalry.He enlisted March 12, 1862 at Dallas, for the period of the war.He came to the army riding a horse worth $140 horse and with equipment worth $30.He is shown present on the regimental rolls for March 12-June 30, 1862 and January through April 1863.One roll for July and August 1863 says he was on detached service at Vermillionville, Louisiana as a saddler since August 3, 1863; he is also shown as a harness maker.
Boardman ran the hotel in Grapevine in 1880 at the time the census was taken.He was a member of R E LEE Camp of United Confederate Veterans in Fort Worth, and told them he lived at Grapevine in 1884.
Family sources say Boardman died of influenza on January 14, 1892 in Grapevine, Tarrant Co., Texas.He has no readable headstone standing in any northeast Tarrant County cemetery, though it seems probably he lies buried in Grapevine Cemetery in an unmarked grave.
Mrs. Boardman appears in the 1900 census of Greer County, Oklahoma in the home of William L. Hunter.She told the census taker she had given birth to five children, four of whom were still alive.Internet family history sources say Mrs. Boardman died May 28, 1907 in Johnson County, Oklahoma.Neither of the Boardmans received Confederate pensions in Texas or Oklahoma.
An obituary for Mrs. Boardman appeared in the Grapevine Sun on June 8, 1907:“DIED.Mrs. S. A. Boardman.The soul of a grand and noble woman has passed out from this earth, and passed into the hands of a loving God.Every one who knew this lovely Christian woman, knew of her many Christian virtues, and loved and respected her.Her life was one of forgetfulness of self; happy in the service of others.She had been a citizen of Grapevine for 29 years.She came from Bowling Green, Ky., in 1856, and settled eight miles north of Dallas.In 1870 she came to Grapevine, in 1899 moved to Warren, O.T., to make her home with her daughter, Mrs. W. L. Hunter, at which place she died May 29th.She was partially paralyzed in 1901, and in 1907 completely so and was unconscious for several days previous to her death.She leaves three sons, one daughter, and a grandson to mourn her loss.Her sweet consecrated life will be remembered by all who knew her.A friend, Mrs. Hattie O’Neall.”
Eli Boardman’s five children were:Elizabeth F. “Fanny” Boardman (born Jan. 9, 1853 in Kentucky); James William Boardman (born in June 1855 in Indiana); Jilson M. Boardman (born in July 1859 in Texas); Mary E. Boardman (born about 1863 in Texas) and Robert Rankin Boardman (born in Dallas County on July 8, 1869).