Summary Information
Napoleon Boardman Papers
1843-1905
- Boardman, Napoleon, 1825-1899
Wis Mss RA
1.0 c.f. (1 archives box and 2 flat boxes)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of Napoleon Boardman, a civil engineer from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin who served during the Civil War as an officer in the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry and 2nd Missouri Light Artillery, primarily in Missouri and Arkansas. The collection includes his brief diaries, 1856, 1861-1863, 1875-1888; topographical sketches and plans for dams at Neenah and Menasha, Wisconsin; surveys for the Wisconsin Midland Railroad and for the Homer and Manchester Railway in Michigan; contracts (1851) of the Rock River Valley Railroad Company; and personal financial records, including an account book (1905) kept by his son, Charles R. Boardman.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis000ra ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Napoleon Boardman was born on January 30, 1825 on Grand Isle in Lake Champlain, but moved to Burlington, Vermont in 1836. In Vermont, he attended Norwich University, receiving a Master of Civil Engineering degree in 1847. After graduation, having worked previously with the Vermont Central Railroad, Boardman became an engineer for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad. In 1852, he moved to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he began work as an engineer on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.
When the Civil War broke out, Boardman enlisted in the Second Wisconsin Cavalry on October 8, 1861. He was commissioned as a first lieutenant, November 14, 1861 and later as chief of ordnance in the Army of the Frontier in Missouri. His final commission, February 23, 1864, was that of captain with the Second Missouri Light Artillery. Boardman was at the battle of Prairie Grove, and also was part of the unsuccessful Powder River expedition. He was mustered out with the company in St. Louis, Missouri, on December 20, 1865.
After the war, Boardman went back to engineering, working for the Michigan Grand Trunk Railroad, the Milwaukee and La Crosse Railroad, the Saint Paul Eastern Railroad, and the Michigan Central Railroad. He died on December 21, 1899.
Scope and Content Note
The Napoleon Boardman Papers consist of business letters, deeds, and stock certificates, 1843-1905, seventeen diaries covering the years, 1856-1888 (volumes 1-17), and notebooks concerned primarily with railroad accounts and notes (volumes 18-27). The collection also contains Boardman's degree certificates and miscellaneous papers.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Mrs. Robert P. Boardman, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 1954 and 1961.
Processed by L.R.H., December 14, 1965.
Contents List
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Wis Mss RA
Box
1
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Business papers, 1843, January - 1905, April
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Box
1
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Miscellaneous
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Diaries
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Box
2
Volume
1
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1856
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Box
2
Volume
2
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1861
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Box
2
Volume
3
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1862
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Box
2
Volume
4
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1863
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Box
2
Volume
5
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1875
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Box
2
Volume
6
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1876
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Box
2
Volume
7
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1877
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Box
2
Volume
8
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1878
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Box
2
Volume
9
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1879
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Box
2
Volume
10
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1880
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Box
2
Volume
11
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1881
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Box
2
Volume
12
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1883
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Box
2
Volume
13
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1884
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Box
2
Volume
14
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1885
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Box
2
Volume
15
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1886
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Box
2
Volume
16
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1887
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Box
2
Volume
17
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1888
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Box
2
Volume
18
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Rock River Valley Railway Company, contracts and agreements, 1851
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Box
2
Volume
19
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Cash book, 1870-1878
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Box
2
Volume
20
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Levels in the Sturgeon Bay area, 1881
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Transit notes for the Homer and Manchester Railway
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Box
3
Volume
21
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1871
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Box
3
Volume
22
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1872
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Box
3
Volume
23
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Transit notes for the Midland Railway, 1890
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Box
3
Volume
24
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Pencil sketches, Napoleon Boardman, 1873
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Box
3
Volume
25
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Neenah-Menasha Dam figures, 1882
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Box
3
Volume
26
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Record book of the N. Boardman Estate, 1900-1905
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Box
3
Volume
27
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Account book, 1905
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Box
3
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Degree certificates
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