Boardman, William Knight

BOARDMAN, KNIGHT, HENNINGSEN

Posted By: Joy Fisher
Date: 7/6/2026 at 02:31:38

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 29, 2011, 6:02 pm

Source: See below
Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1896)

WILLIAM KNIGHT BOARDMAN, Iowa State Dairy Commissioner and a representative of
one of the honored families of the Hawkeye State, resides in Nevada, Story
county, but has an office in the State capitol. A native of Vermont, he was born
in Troy, on the 22d of June, 1852, and is a son of the late Hon. Norman
Boardman, who was born in Morristown, Vermont, April 30, 1813. His mother bore
the maiden name of Lois Knight. The ancestry of the family can be traced back to
1639, when the representatives of the name crossed the Atlantic from England and
located on the outskirts of civilization, purchasing of the Indians a large
tract of land near where the town of Wethersfield, Connecticut, now stands. The
grandfather of our subject, Ozias Boardman, true to the pioneer instincts of the
family, in the year 1793 emigrated to what is now Morristown, Vermont, where he
built a home, developed a farm and surrounded himself with a happy family
numbering twelve children.

Norman Boardman was reared on the old home farm, obtained his education in
the common schools, and taught school through the winter season in order to earn
the money to carry him through Johnson's Academy, from which he was graduated in
his twentieth year. He then took an extended trip through the Western States and
Territories and taught school for one winter in Missouri. Returning to his home
he read law, was admitted to the bar in September, 1839, and practiced his
profession with marked success until 1852, when he again took a trip to the
West. On the 25th of September, 1855, he located with his family in Lyons, Iowa,
where he carried on a successful real-estate business up to the time of his
death, which occurred April 30, 1894. In 1845, during President Polk's
administration, he was appointed Deputy Collector of Customs. In 1849, although
his party was largely in the minority, he was elected State's Attorney, for his
ability and worth were largely recognized. He left the Democratic party in 1854,
after the passage of the Kansas and Nebraska bill, and from that time affiliated
with the Republican party. He was a member of the first and second boards of
Supervisors of .Clayton county, Iowa, and in 1861 he was elected by a majority
of 1,100 out of a vote of 3,000 to represent his county in the State Senate, and
was chairman of the committee on schools and school land and a member of the
ways and means committee. In 1869 he was appointed by President Grant to the
office of Internal Revenue Collector for the Second District of Iowa, and
continued to serve in that capacity until 1876, when he resigned. He was the
first to discover the gigantic whisky frauds of 1874, which led to their
exposure. He was a man prominent in public affairs, and his fidelity to the
interests of those whom he represented was marked and commendable. He was true
to every trust reposed in him and his public and private career were alike above
reproach. Of his three sons H. C. Boardman, the eldest, is State Senator of the
Thirty-first District, comprised of Story and Boone counties; W. K. is State
Dairy Commissioner; and C. D. has just retired from a six-years term as trustee
of the Iowa Agricultural College.

W. K. Boardman was only three years of age when his parents located in Lyons,
Iowa. There he grew to manhood attending its public schools, and afterward
pursued his studies in a private school. Subsequently he returned to the East
and took a two-years academic course in Franklin, Massachusetts. When he again
came to Lyons he at once embarked in the mercantile business, in connection with
W. W. Buell, under the firm name of Buell & Boardman, this connection continuing
until 1877, when he removed to Nevada, Story county. There he followed the same
pursuit until 1879, when he formed a partnership with his brother, H. C.
Boardman, under the firm name of Boardman Brothers, wholesale dealers in butter,
eggs and poultry. Later they built and operated a number of creameries in
central and northwestern Iowa, and also erected a large cold-storage warehouse
at Nevada, Iowa. Our subject is still connected with this business, which has
become an extensive and profitable one, having business connections with all the
principal markets of the county.

Mr. Boardman supports the Republican party and takes quite an active interest
in State and national politics. In 1894 he was appointed Iowa State Dairy
Commissioner and entered upon the duties of his office on the 1st of May. The
report which he made to the Governor is very full and complete and contains much
valuable information of interest to all parties connected with the dairy
business. He has proved himself an efficient officer, a benefactor to the
interest which he so intelligently represents for the State and people.

In 1877 Mr. Boardman was united in marriage with Miss Adda H. Henningsen, a
daughter of B. A. Henningsen, of Lyons, Iowa. They have two children: Frank M.,
who is now a student in the Iowa Agricultural College; and Lois K., a little
daughter eight years of age.

Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

A MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF IOWA

ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO: THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1896

NOTE:

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July 2026: This file was originally submitted to the USGenWeb Archives for Iowa. The National Coordinator, Linda Lewis, gave us permission to move the submissions to the IAGenWeb Project message boards and websites when the Archives site was discontinued.