Bio of John Boss (b.1884) Wabasha Co., MN

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Boss - 

John Boss, late county auditor of Wabasha County, and for a number of years 
before his death one of the foremost citizens of the county, was born in the 
Town of Gillford, Wabasha County, Minn., March 4, 1884, son of Andrew 
and Janet (Nesbit) Boss. His parents were pioneers of this locality and he 
spent his boyhood days on the farm where he was born. After attending the 
public schools he took a course in the Minnesota School of Agriculture, from 
which he graduated in the class of 1902. He subsequently engaged in 
agriculture and resided on his farm near Zumbro Falls until the fall of 1914, 
when he was elected county auditor and took up his residence in Wabasha. 
As a public official he proved able and faithful and left behind him a record 
worthy of emulation. An intensely loyal American, when his country engaged 
in war to defend the rights of American citizens and the cause of world 
democracy, he rendered it his whole-hearted service. True, he did not wear 
the uniform of the army, but he was in a very real sense a soldier of the 
United States, and faithfully and efficiently performed his strenuous duties as 
secretary of the local draft board from the time of its organization. While his 
name will not be printed in the casualty list of those who gave their lives for 
their country, it surely deserves to be, for it was undoubtedly his close 
application to the duties of his office and his war work which caused the loss 
of vitality the want of which rendered his unable to effectively resist the 
disease that caused his death. An attack of the then prevailing influenza was 
followed by pneumonia, from which he suffered for a week, and which 
terminated in his death at about 12 o'clock on the night of Saturday, October 
26, 1918. His wife and children, besides other relatives, and a host of 
personal friends were left to mourn his untimely demise. The funeral, which 
was necessarily private, was held on Monday, the remains being taken to 
Lake City and interred in the cemetery there. Rev. E. D. Gallagher had 
charge of the services, and the Masonic fraternities of which the deceased 
was a member attended at the grave. In the death of Mr. Boss the community 
and the entire county lost one of its most useful and esteemed citizens. He 
was a man of great strength of character, and when once convinced he was 
on the right course could not be swayed from it. In a word, he was a clean 
living, right-thinking, honest man whose friendship and association were 
highly prized by those who knew him best. His life's work was short, but he 
accomplished more in the time allotted to him than many who lived much 
longer. Though he passed on before, his memory will long remain as an 
inspiration to the living. Mr. Boss was united in marriage, at Lake City, 
Minn., with Louise F. Koehler, who was born February 22, 1888, daughter of 
Henry J. and Ida (Kuehn) Koehler. They had four children, all of whom are 
now living, namely: Jean Louise, born August 20, 1908; Amy Jannette, 
January 10, 1910; Lloyd John, May 21, 1911, and Forest, May 21, 1913. Mr. 
Boss also left five brothers and two sisters; Mrs. J. H. Lamb, and James and 
David Boss, of Gillford; Andrew and William Boss of St. Paul; Mrs. J. E. 
Knight, of Sherwood, Ore., and Alex Boss, who lives in Washington.

Note: This biography was taken from the book "History of Wabasha County" 
copyrighted in 1920.