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From: "Cathy Joynt Labath" <>
Subject: [IAHENRY] Bio of Wm. Wesley Boak
Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2004 13:32:25 -0600

Biographical Record and Portrait Album of Webster and Hamilton Counties, Iowa.
Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1888.

William Wesley Boak.- This gentleman was among the very early comers into
Hamilton County, having settled upon the farm where he now resides in 1855. He
was of Irish descent. His grandfather, John Boak, resided in County Tyrone,
Ireland.
The subject of this notice has now in his possession a venerable account
book, which from the various dates therein set down, shows it to have been used
by his ancestor as early as 1767. It is a very interesting relic, as showing the
quaintness of hand-writing in those days, and very accurate business habits on
the part of the owner.
John Boak was the father of five children- four sons and one daughter. The
third son, William was the father of our pioneer. William emigrated to America
at the early age of seventeen. He served an apprenticeship for the purpose of
learning the business of cabinet-making at Darkesville, Berkeley County,
Virginia, with William Macoughtry, as appears from a certificate given to
William at the end of his time. Here is a copy of the certificate, which is
written in a very beautiful hand, and comes down in fine preservation except
some of the water stains so often seen in ancient manuscripts.
"Nov. 20th, 1802. This is to certify that William Boak, (the bearer) my
former apprentice, served me faithfully and behaved himself with punctuality as
an honest and sober citizen, during his apprenticeship in Berkeley County,
Virginia, till this present date, as given under my hand and seal this day,
October 5, 1807.
"WILLIAM MACOUGHTRY." [Seal]
In 1807, however, soon after his indentures expired, he made a visit to his
old Irish home, which was a memorable one in the annals of the Boak family, for
it was the attraction of his sweetheart which drew him thither over the wild
wastes of stormy seas. Her name was Nancy Latta. They were married during the
same year and returned to Darkesville, Virginia, where he wrought at his trade
until the year 1836. Mr. Boak is in possession of some very interesting
documents bearing upon the history of the family, in addition to the old account
book above mentioned. One of these is a passport which his father procured upon
returning to his birthplace. It was granted by James Madison, then Secretary of
State, during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. It bears the date of October
9, 1807, with the seal of the department. The word [gratis] printed in brackets,
is under the seal, showing that in those days the Government had not progressed
to the point of charging $5 for these documents as it does in these latter
degenerate days. The document bears various old water marks and is in excellent
preservation. The other relics are two certificates, to be used no doubt as
letters of withdrawal from the church in Ireland and commendation to any similar
organization in their new home. The pastor's name was John Holmes, Presbyterian
minister, and he writes, April 18, 1801, as follows:
"I hereby certify that the bearer, Will Boak, has hitherto been a regular
member of this congregation under my charge, and has supported a fair moral
character."
The other certificate or letter is by the same pastor, to the same effect,
but includes the young wife. It bears the date of August 1, 1808. By singular
error the writer gives the name "Agnes" when it should have been "Nancy."
William and Nancy Boak having returned to Berkley County, resided there
until 1836. To them were born eight children-two boys and six girls-two of the
latter dying in infancy. W.W. Boak, the eldest son, was born August 21, 1825.
There was no free schools in that State at that time. Parents in a neighborhood
clubbed together and hired a teacher for such length of time as they chose,
paying in proportion to the number of their children. William Wesley attended
those schools until the was eleven years old, when his school days ended. In
September, 1836, the family emigrated West and arrived at Georgetown, Vermillion
County, Illinois. They were on the road six weeks, the transportation being by
wagons and teams. They arrived at their journey's end in October, and remained
until the ensuing spring.
Mr. Boak mentions an interesting incident of his winter's sojourn, that the
horses were wintered upon corn for which his father paid 5 cents per bushel! The
Ohio River was crossed at Wheeling on a bridge; the Illinois at Peoria, on a
boat propelled by oars; and the Mississippi, afterward at Burlington, also on a
row-boat. While the family were at Georgetown, Mr. Boak states that his parents
let him go out with a team to help a farmer husk corn. This service brought them
sixteen bushels of corn per day, the equivalent of 80 cents, - somewhat
different from the wages prevalent in Iowa in these hard times. But in the
spring of 1837 William Boak again started west, for the Territory of Wisconsin.
People who studed geography in those days will remember that Wisconsin contained
a wide scope of country, and that the word "Iowa" had not yet appeared upon any
of our maps. The family finally arrived near the city of Mt. Pleasant, Henry
County, in April, having been on the road about a month. Mt. Pleasant, now a
city of perhaps 5500 inhabitants and the "Athens of Iowa" was then a rude hamlet
of seven or eight houses and these were of very rude construction. At this time
Alvin and Presley Saunders were engaged in general merchandising at Mt.
Pleasant. The building was a split clapboarded (shakes) shanty, with a chimney
built of sticks and clay. Their stock would be deemed a very small one in these
days and could no doubt be moved in a couple of wagon boxes. This was the start
in business life of Hon. Alvin Saunders, afterwards State Senator in Iowa, and
later Governor and United States Senator of Nebraska. That section of country
was then but newly opened to settlement. William Boak bought a quarter section
of land three miles from the present city at the customary rate of the United
States Land office, $1.25 per acre. He resided there until his death, March 27,
1861. William Boak was a substantial citizen of Henry County. He and his family
went through the usual hardships attendant upon settlement in a new country; but
was fairly successful in his life's work, winning the esteem and confidence of
the community and laying up a fair competence. Mr. Wesley Boak was brought up on
the farm, remaining with the family until after his majority in consequence of
the impaired health of his father. He then freely gave to the old folks and the
other children the hard work and earnest efforts of the several of the very best
years of his life, but without complaints or misgivings on his own part. On the
4th of October, 1849, Mr. Boak was united in marriage with Miss Samantha K.,
eldest daughter of Jacob W. Payne, who afterward became a well-known resident of
our county. In 1852 he crossed the plains and the Rocky Mountains with an ox
team, to engage in business in California, requiring six months to make the
trip. After some four months of prospecting and working in the mines at the old
Kanacka bar on the American River, he went up to the Redwood Mountains, west of
San Jose, where he remained two years in the lumber business. He was moderately
successful in his work, gaining quite as much of value to him in after life in
the way of experience as in actual results. But in the spring of 1854 he
returned to Iowa, coming home by the way of the Isthmus of Panama and thence by
sea to New York City. Upon this ocean voyage he suffered in an extraordinary
degree from sea sickness, and came near losing his life. Once more in Iowa, he
soon determined to find a new home. His father in law, the last Jacob W. Payne
,had settled on his well-known farm four miles north of Webster City in 1854,
and had selected for Mr. Boak the then wild land which constitutes his present
finely improved farm. Finding this land to his liking he entered it at the
United States Land office at Des Moines. This entry was in the fall of 1854, the
next spring Mr. Boak removed here with his family and has ever since been a
citizen of Hamilton County. Since those early days, when Webster City was known
as New Castle, Mr. W.W. Boak has been one of the most useful, prominent and
well-known citizens of the county. He has resided continuously upon his farm,
which through his own hard labor and skillful management has become one of the
best in the county. Mr. Boak began his career in our county in very reduced
circumstances, so far as money was concerned, and none of our early settlers
worked harder or went through more privations. In the fall of 1856 an early
frost left the corn crop in poor condition. The next winter he was compelled to
purchase some to feed his team. For this he paid $1.50 per bushel, giving his
note drawing up ten per cent interest, having little idea how it was to be paid.
The pay day came along rather quickly, as pay days are apt to do and he began to
look up some way out of debt. The only means that presented itself was to cut
and haul wood to Webster City. But at that time the very best wood was only
bringing $1 per cord. He was a stalwart chopper, and was able singlehanded and
alone to cut and deliver two cords a day. The amount was not so large but that
it was whittled down by the time it was due. Many years ago some man who lived
in town made a public declaration that our farmers were "niggardly." Hearing of
this, Mr. Boak "took it up." "I rather guess," said he, "that this is true. I am
quite 'niggardly' myself. That means we feel compelled to save closely
everything that comes into our hands, and get the best price we can for our
produce, this is simply fair dealing after all, and it is what gets a man out of
debt and keeps him out. What man in any other profession acts upon any higher
standard? I believe that in appeals for real charity you will find farmers of
Hamilton County as generous according to their means as any class of men
anywhere, but we must be allowed to act upon our own ideas of right like anybody
else." The occasion of the almost total failure of the corn crop in 1858, found
him with his cribs full, from the two previous seasons. He could have sold it in
a lump at the very highest future, cash in hand; but he let it go to the poor
settlers up north, in small quantities and on their own individual credit. He
refused to sell it to any man to feed animals, for it was all needed for bread
by families who were very poor, and there were oats and hay sufficient to fairly
supply the animals. In but one instance did he fail to be paid, though some of
the buyers were two or three years in discharging the obligation. In every
instance each man was given all the time he needed and no one was crowded. While
still a young man in Henry County, and away far from home, he needed $100 for
twenty-four or forty-eight hours only, to enter a piece of land. A banker in
Fairfield, Iowa, who was not acquainted with him loaned him the sum, on his word
alone. The very next day he paid it after a ride of fifty miles, and the banker
would take nothing for the use of the money, though that was in the old days of
forty per cent. The commendation his promptness won for him made an impression
on him which he retains to this day. If his word had been given he would do the
same over again to-day or to-morrow. Mr. Boak is a man of strongly marked
characteristics, and of rather conservative tendencies. Whatever his hands have
found to do he has always aimed to do well. A laboring man throughout his life
he is more strongly inclined to succeed by the reliable old methods that he has
learned in younger days than to "hands out" after a few innovations. Still, in
his farming operations he has kept fully abreast of the time, adopting improved
methods as they have commended themselves to his judgment. He has been for many
years engaged in raising graded short-horns and draft horses with an admirable
degree of success, and his farm, a most beautiful one by the way, is one which
always shows the evidences of a thrifty, tasteful management. One of the very
early settlers of the country, he "grew up with the country" by habits of
untiring industry, and through economy, succeeding well in his work, and coming
early to be regarded as a man of substance and position in the community. He has
never sought a public office though he has at times filled most of those in his
township, and was for eight years a member, and a part of this time chairman of
the Board of County Supervisors. On more than one occasion he might have gone to
the State Legislature, but he invariably refused to allow his name to go before
the Convention. He possessed peculiar qualifications for a legislator in his
intimate knowledge of the laws affecting townships and counties, but he was
unwilling to accept its responsibilities. In his social relations he was an
abiding, steadfast friend, though his fixed opinions and conservative notions
made him rather chary of bestowing his confidence. But with many of our best
citizens he has all these thirty-three years sustained relations of devoted
friendship unbroken by a single moment of doubt or distrust. His word to them is
as good as gold. While men have differed from him, while he has given and
received his share of "hard knocks" which ever attend upon pioneer life, and
varying neighborhood and county interests, no man has ever breathed a word
against his integrity or purity of life. It is seldom that any man out of
prominent public life has so stood out as one of the pillars of society. His
opinions have always influenced many men. He lives in a beautiful home on the
banks of our little river, blessed with a fair competence, the fruits of the
industry and economy of himself and his devoted wife. He is a great reader, a
good talker, and there are few men more capable of making a visitor's hours pass
more pleasantly.
His time has come to relinquish the severer toil of other days, and to
"crown a life of labor with an age of ease," though he is still active in the
management of his farm. Two years ago impaired health of himself and wife
compelled them to seek a change of climate. They therefore visited portions of
California, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Colorado. While in California they
visited the locality where he was engaged in lumbering thirty-six years ago,
readily finding the spot where he built his pine log-cabin in those far-off
times. Of the four sons and six daughters born to Mr. and Mrs. Boak, two sons
and four daughters are still living.
CHARLES ALDRICH.

Cathy Joynt Labath
Irish in Iowa
http://www.celticcousins.net/irishiniowa/index.htm

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• [IAHENRY] Bio of Wm. Wesley Boak by "Cathy Joynt Labath" <>