Biography of William M. Boughan, pages 845 / 846.  History of De Kalb County, 
Indiana.  Inter-State Publishing Company, Chicago, 1885.

William M. Boughan, Justice of the Peace of Auburn, De Kalb Co., Ind., moved 
to Auburn, De Kalb County, in December, 1868, and became associated with 
Charles Klotz in the dry goods and clothing business; remained in that 
business until the fall of 1871, when he was appointed station and ticket 
agent at Auburn Junction for the Eel River Railroad, now called the Wabash;  
remained in that office until 1873, when he became associated with V.A. 
Beard in the grocery business, under the firm name of Beard & Co.  In 1875 
he retired from the firm and the same fall was appointed ticket agent for 
the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at Auburn; remained in that office until the 
fall of 1876, when, upon the death of his wife, he resigned his office and 
went to St. Louis, Mo.; returned to Auburn in November and married a second 
wife.  He was in no particular business until the summer of 1880, when he 
was appointed target man at Auburn Junction for the Baltimore & Ohio, Lake 
Shore & Michigan Southern and Wabash railroads, which office he retained 
until the fall 1883.  Being elected to the office of Justice of the Peace, 
he resigned his position with the railroads to attend to the duties of his 
office, in which he is still engaged.  Mr. Boughan was born in Ross County, 
Ohio, Nov. 12, 1815.  When four year old, he with his parents, moved to 
Union County, Ohio, where, Nov. 29, 1835, he was married to Nancy Dixon, 
from Loudon County, Va.  There, on the same farm, he remained for forty 
years, having held several important offices of trust; served as Constable, 
Sheriff, Trustee, School Director, and nine years as Justice of the Peace.  
He was Captain of an Independent Rifle Company for fourteen years, during 
which time the war between Mexico and the United States came on, and he as 
Captain, with 100 men, fully armed and equipped, volunteered to go to 
Mexico, but the Governor would not let them go.  He remained in Union 
County, Ohio, till March, 1860, when he moved to Richland County, in 
southern Illinois, and carried on farming.  Dec. 1, 1861, he volunteered 
in the service of the United States and raised a company of 100 men, of 
which he was made Captain. Dec. 10, 1861, he received a commission for 
Governor Yates as Captain of Company G, Sixty-third Illinois Infantry, and 
served in that capacity during the war; was offered promotion quite a 
number of times, which he refused, choosing rather to stay with the men he 
had enlisted.  He participated in twenty-six battles, the names of which 
are all engraved on the sheath of his saber, which he still retains.  He 
was mustered out of the service at Goldsboro, N.C., April 9, 1865, after 
going the entire route with Sherman through the interior of Georgia and 
other States to the sea.  After going to Washington City and settling up 
with the Government, he returned to his home in Illinois.  He was wounded 
three times, but none were very serious. He came to Auburn, as before 
stated, in 1868, and in 1876 his wife died.  They had ten children, five 
of whom, two sons and three daughters are living.  In the winter of the 
same year he married Isabel F. Lanum.  In 1880 she died, and he married 
Jane L. Goldey, with whom he is now living.

Submitted by:
Arlene Goodwin
Auburn, Indiana
Agoodwin@ctlnet.com