John R Boone

BOONE

Posted By: County Coordinator (email)
Date: 5/17/2010 at 13:20:18

John R Boone is now living retired, making his home with his son S A Boone, in the city which bears the family name. He has been a resident of this part of the state for many years and is widely and favorably known. He was born February 29, 1836, near Fredericksburg, Wayne County, Ohio and has passed the seventy-eighty milestone on life’s journey, his parents being Samuel and Susan (Davidson) Boone. His paternal grandfather, James Boone, was a native of Pennsylvania, born near Philadelphia, and he devoted much of his life to teaching mathematics. He passed away in 1783 and was buried in the Friends cemetery, between Brandywine and Philadelphia. Throughout his entire life he had been identified with the Society of Friends, or Quakers. His son Samuel Boone was also born in the vicinity of Philadelphia. His mother died at his birth and by his father’s death he was left an orphan when but three years of age. He then went to live with his aunt, Mrs Leash, in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and throughout his entire life he followed farming. IN 1802 he removed to Wayne county, Ohio, where he lived for three years, at the end of which time he secured timber land in Holmes county, Ohio. This he cleared and developed, making his home there until his death, which occurred in 1847, when he was sixty-seven years of age. His religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church, and his political belief was that of the democratic party. His wife died in Holmes county in 1868, at the age of seventy-eight years, passing away in the faith of the Presbyterian church, of which she was a devoted member.
John R Boone, was one of a family of eleven children. He was educated in the academy at Haysville, Ohio, and in a college at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, completing his course in the latter institution when twenty-six years of age. In the meantime, however, when a youth of sixteen , he had begun teaching in the schools of Holmes county, Ohio , devoting four years to that profession there. In fact for several years he continued to teach and attend school alternately. After leaving Holmes county he took charge of a school in Ashland county, Ohio, where he continued teaching for a year and a half. He also engaged in the dry goods business at Jeromesville, Ohio, where he conducted his store for more than two years, and on the expiration of that period he came to Iowa, making his way to Independence, where ht took charge of the county schools, directing educational activity in the county from 1864 until 1882. He also engaged in farming in the county for eight years of that period. He eventually located in Independence, where he entered upon the practice of law, which he followed until 1882, when he removed to Angola, Steuben county, Indiana, where he conducted a creamery business for seven years, or until 1889. He then sold out and removed to Chicago, where he engaged in thee real estate business. He was clerk in the office of Carter Harrison Sr., who was then revenue collector, Mr Boone occupying that position from 1889 until 1894, when eh came to the city which bears his name. Here he has lived retired.
Mr Boone was married in Wayne county, Ohio to Miss Nancy J Wilson, a daughter of Squire Wilson. Mrs Boone passed away in this city March 16, 1914, and was laid to rest in the Boone cemetery. She was a devoted member of the Christian church and possessed many excellent traits of heart and mine. Mr Boone also belongs to the Christian church, with which he united in 1863, and his life has ever been conducted in harmony with its principles. In politics he is a stanch democrat and in matters of citizenship has displayed a progressive spirit, cooperating with many movements for public progress in the different localities in which he has made his home. His has been a well spent life, and in the evening of is days he receives the respect and veneration which should ever be accorded one of his years whose record is honorable.
To Mr and Mrs Boone were born three children. The eldest, Clinton T, a resident of Casper, Wyoming, married Catherine Boyd of Columbus, Ohio. The daughter Minnie S, died at the age of eighteen years. The younger son, Samuel A was born in Independence, Iowa, February 3, 1869, and was reared to manhood in Angola, Indiana, where he pursued his education in the public schools to the age of seventeen years, when he entered the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at Newark, Ohio as a fireman on an engine. Later in 1892, he went to Chicago, where he resided until December 1893, and during that period was employed as a fireman on the Chicago & Northwestern. He next came to Boone, where he was made and engineer and has since been identified with railway interests, occupying an enviable and well earned reputation in this connection. He has been chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen for fourteen years and still occupies that position. On October 20, 1896, Samuel Boone was married to Miss Maud Clinton McIntosh, who was born in Boone and was educated in the public schools, being graduated form high school at the age of eighteen. She next entered Drake University at Des Moines, where she pursued a course in painting, and for ten years she has successfully engaged in teaching painting. To Mr and Mrs Samuel Boone have been born two children: Louise, who died in infancy, and Donald A, who was born June 22, 1900, and attends the Boone high school. In his political views the father is a democrat and fraternally is connected with the Masons. His wife is a member of the Eastern Star, in which she has held office. Mr Boone and his family hold membership with the Christian church and are highly esteemed in the city where they have now resided for more that twenty years.

1914 Boone County History Book