John M. Boatman
John M. Boatman was born on March 15, 1842, in Hamilton, Ohio, to Reed and Harriet Boatman. His father was a farmer who owned $4,380 of real estate and $1,860 of personal property by 1860. The family lived in St. Clair, Ohio, until the 1850s, when they moved to Paris, Illinois. By 1860, Boatman was working as a “domestic” on his parents’ farm.
He enlisted in the Union army on July 15, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company E of the 12th Illinois Infantry on August 1. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with dark hair and dark eyes. The regiment took part in the Battle of Shiloh. Union officials transferred him to the Signal Corps on April 30, 1864.
Boatman returned to Paris after the war, and he married Rachel Minerva Camerer on September 14, 1866. They had at least three children: Edwin, born around 1868; Ellen, born around 1870; and James, born around 1877. He worked as a farmer, and by 1870, he owned $500 of personal property. he applied for a federal pension in June 1889 and eventually received one. He died in Paris on October 20, 1916.
DATABASE CONTENT
| (2828) | Boatman, John M. | 1842-03-15 | 1916-10-20 |
- Conflict Side: Union
- Role: Soldier
- Rank in: Private
- Rank out: Private
- Rank highest: Private
- Gender: Male
- Race: White
Documents - Records: 1
- (3676) [writer] ~ John M. Boatman to George Boatman, 24 December 1863
People - Records: 1
- (2829) Boatman, George is the [sibling of] (2828) Boatman, John M.
Places - Records: 2
Regiments - Records: 2
SOURCES
1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, and 1910 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; Databases of Illinois Veterans Index, 1775-1995, available from Ancestry.com; Illinois Compiled Marriages, 1851-1900, available from Ancestry.com; Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947, available from Ancestry.com; General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, available from Ancestry.com
