Harrison County, West Virginia Biography of James Vance BOUGHNER, M.D. ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Joan Wyatt, , March 2000 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc. Chicago and New York, Volume11 pg.170 James Vance Boughner, M.D. was born in Clarksburg, Va. April 9,1812. He was the eldest child of Daniel and Mary (Vance) Boughner, whose family numbered six sons ans three daughters. During his infancy his parents returned to Greensboro, Pennsylvanaia, where they had been married and where they lived the remainder of their lives. His father had been engaged in general merchandising in Clarksburg, and continued in the same business until his death. He was also manager of the Greensboro Pottery Works, which were at that time in flourishing condition. Daniel Boughner was the son of Martin and Anna Rittenhouse Boughner. Martin was born in New Jersey and later resided in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, where he was united in marriage with Anna Rittenhouse. There children were Anna, Pamelia and Daniel. Martin Boughner and family later moved to Fayette County, Pennsylvania, two miles from Brownsville, on Redstone Creek. His wife died there in 1797, and is buried in the old Baptist Cemetary.Daniel was only nine years of age when his mother died and the family abandoned housekeeping. He was thrown upon his own resources at an early age, and when seventeen, went to Greensboro, Pennsylvania, to learn the potter's trade in the works of Alexander Vance. Later hemarried Mary Vance, the sister of the employer. Mary ( Vance) Boughner was the daughter of James and Amy (Slack) Vance. The Vance family emigrated to Scotland (traditionally from Italy) early in the sixteenth century. The name was originally Del Vance, and family records trace their native country. The Vance family formed part of the colony sent from Scotland by the English Monarch to colonize the North of Ireland, constituting that strong body of Scotch Irish Presbyterians, so eminent in history. Members of this family participated in the famous siege of Londonderry. James Vance was born in County Down Ireland (near Belfast), on April 3, 1753. He emigrated from Peter's Ferry Ireland, when not quite 20 years of age, and, landing in Philadelphia, lived there awhile before taking up his residence in Flemington, New Jersey, where he enlisted in Revolutionary army. He was a private in Captain Reddin's Company, Colonel Chanbers being in charge of the regiment. He was in the battles of Germantown and Monmouth. He heard Washington reprove General Charles Lee for his retreat on the latter place. He spent the winter with Washington's Army at Valley Forge, where the hardships, privations and suffering endured form a record in the annals of our history. After serving out his time in the army he bought a farm one and a half miles from Morristown, New Jersey, and married Amy Slack about the year 1778. His children were all born in New Jersey, but owing to the scarcity of water there for manufactoring purposes he was induced to migrate to Greensboro, Pennsylvania, where his sons introduced the business of making pottery in that part of the country. James Vance was a man of scholarly tastes and acquirements, and had collected a large library of general literature. The maternal ancestry of the mother of James Vance Boughner is largely interwoven with prominent families of Colonial America. Thomas Schooley was one of the most notable ancestors of this line. He was the son of John and Alice Schooley of York, England. In 1677 he sailed from Hull in England on the Flie boat (Martha) with 114 passengers on board. He was one of the masters of this ship, which reached New Jersey in August, 1677. Thomas Schooley was a member of the Farnsworth Society of Friends of Yorkshire, England. He was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Parker, of Burlington County, New Jersey, in 1686. They had seven children. Thomes Schooley was granted a concession of 350 acres of land in Burlington County New Jersey. This included the mountain in North Western New Jersey, which was named Schooley's Mountain in his honor. In this mountain were situated Schooley's Mountain Springs, In our early social life these springs were a celebrated summer resort. Thomas Schooley died in 1724. Thomas Schooley Jr., son of Thomas and Sarah (Parker) Schooley of Burlington County New Jersey, and Hannah Fowler, of Monmouth, daughter of John and Rose Fowler, were married in Chesterfield, New Jersey , March 26,1720. Their daughter became the wife of Benjamin Slack of Morris County, New Jersey. Amy Slack, their daughter, became the wife of James Vance, and they were the parents of Mary Vance. Daniel Boughner married Mary Vance, May 9, 1811, and their son is the subject of this sketch. Greensboro is situated on the Monongahela River, less than 100 miles of Pittsburg. On the opposite side of the river, beautifully situated on a cliff above the stream, is located "Friendship Hill", once the famous home of Albert Gallatin, who bought the mansion on a domain of many broad acres. One of the pleasing memories of Doctor Boughner's childhood was his privlage of seeing La Fayette when he visited Albert Gallatin at " Friendship Hill" in 1824. There was no railroad facilities at that time and navigation on the Monongahela River had not yet been inaugurated. Life in little towns remote from centers of civilazation afforded limited educational advantages. Doctor Boughner possessed a brilliant and active mind, which, united with boundless ambition, led him to supplement his technical education by extensive reading of classical literature and works of general history. He thus became a self educated and a well educated man before beginning his professional studies. His first responsible work was begun at the age of sixteen, when his father was appointed postmaster of Greensboro. The duties of the office, however, were performed by the subject of this sketch. He read medicine with Doctor Stephenson. In 1837 he matriculted in the medical department of Cincinnati College as pupil Number Fifty-Three. The matriculation card bears the name James B. Rogers, M.D., Dean. This course included lectures on the theory and practice of medicine by Daniel Drake, M.D. The lectures on chemistry and pharmacy were given by James B. Rodgers, M.D. He was also regulaly admitted to the lectures by Landon Rives, M.D. and Joseph N. McDowell, M.D. His uncles, Alexander and James Vance, had removed from Greensboro to Cincinnati in 1817, where they controlled a line of steamboats on the Ohio River. Doctor Boughner lived with his uncles while in Cincinnati, and his life there opened new vistas on his social horizon. Dr. Lyman Beecher was at that time connected with Lane Seminary, and he also preached in the Presbyterian Church there. The Vance family were on terms of intimacy with the Beecher family, and Doctor Boughner considered it one of his great privliages to be admitted to this social circle. Here he met Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Miss Catherine Beecher, who pesided over her fathers home. After completing his medical studies he located at Mt. Morris, Greene County, Pennsylvania, on the line between Pennsylvania and Virginia. He practiced medicine in both states. He married on May 8,1845. Miss Louisa Jane Brown, daughter of Andrew and Martha (Worley) Brown, at Browns Mills, Monongalia County. Their family consisted of the following six children: Rosalie, Mary Lavina, (Mrs. Melville E. Howe), William Leroy, Martha, Emma and Andrew Brown. The ancestory of Mrs. Boughner (now deceased) was exclusively pre- Revolutionary. She was a direct descendant of Wendall Brown, who was born in 1700 in this country. Judge Veech in his "History of the Monongahela Valley" says that Wendall Brown and his son Mannis (Emanuel) were the first white settlers west of the Alleghany Mountains. For services rendered to the king in border warfare he was granted a tract of land comprising nine square miles in what is now Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The town of Brownsville, Pennsylvania, is situated on a portion of this land, which was sold by Thomas Brown, one of the Wendell's sons. Wendell Brown and his sons Manus, Adam, And Thomas penetrated this land as hunters, but later returned East and brought back their families with them and made their homes in the wilderness in 1750 or 1751. According to family tradition Wendell Brown was a descendant of Peter Brown, of the Mayflower. He and his sons were loyal friends of Washington, supplying his starving army with beef and chopped flour at Ft. Necessity in1754. The paternal ancestors of Mrs. Boughner, whose records of service in the Revolutionary War have been established, are Manus (Emmanuel) and Adam Brown, and Capt. Rudolph Statler. Col. Jasper Cather and Bruce Worley are recorded Revolutionary soldiers belonging to her maternal ancestry. Doctor Boughner represented Greene County in the legislatures of Pennsylvania of 1845-1846 and 1846-1847. On Dec. 15,1847, he recieved his degree of M.D. from the Philadelphia College of Medicine. The diploma bears the signatures of John P. Durbin, president, and Robert McGrath, secretary, in addition to the names of six professors in the college. Soon after his marriage Doctor Boughner removed to Brown's Mills (Pentress) in Monongalia County. The arduous duties of a general practioner of medicine in a country district menaced his health, and in 1859 he removed to Morgantown and retired from the practices of medicine. The terrible years were now upon the country, and the excitement and agitation preceding the Civil War shook the foundations of our government. Western Virginia was in the throes of a mighty upheaval, which resulted in its separation from the parent state. Monongalia County was stongly in favor of the union, and intense in its opposition to secession. A large assemblage convened at the Court House in Morgantown on Wednesday evening, April 17, 1861, to take action on resisting secession. Doctor Boughner was chairman of the committee on resolutions and the real author of the trend of their sentiments. In these resolutions, which were adopted, a strong protest was embodied against the secession of Virginia, with instructions to the delegates to the State Convention to propose a division of the state should be ordinance of secession be passed. After Virginia voted to secede the people in North Western Virginia held a convention in Wheeling on May 13, 1861,"to consult and determine upon such action as the people in that section should take in this fearful emergency" Doctor Boughner was elected a delegate to this convention, He became one of the most enthusiastic advocates of the union, and exerted all of his powers to maintain the stability of our government. He was an able and fluent writer, and did much to mould public opinion in his community by contributions to the current newspapers. In 1864 he was appointed paymaster in the Federal Army with the rank of major, and served in this capacity until the end of the war. He was stationed principally at Detroit, Milwaukee and Indianapolis. In the reconstruction period, after the war, in the adjustment of political sentiments, involving so many new issues, Doctor Boughner joined the ranks of the republican party, although in early life he had been a Jeffersonian democrat. Early in the history of the new state of West Virginia Doctor Boughner was appointed collector of internal revenue for the second collection district. He was a member of the State Legislature of 1867-68. He was always an enthusiast in affairs of state, and possed a profound knowledge of the currents of our political history. He had deep convictions in the problems of his day, and kept in touch with legislation on questions of national importance. Unschooled in strategy, the arts of diplomacy were foreign to the nature of Doctor Boughner, who retired from active politics and entered a field of usefulness more in accordance with his tastes. He had always been fond of certain phases of country life, and even engaged in political activities he was interested in several small farms. His taste in that direction found full bent in later life, when he devoted his time to the supervision of his 500 acre farm near Fairmont, twenty miles from his home. The farm was near a railroad, which afforded a find opportunity for the shipment of cattle. Stock raising became the principal industry on this fine grazing land, and the cattle were shipped to Eastern markets. Doctor Boughner always enjoyed splended health, and had not suffered impaired vitality until his last illness, which was of short duration. At the time of his passing he had not yet manifested any of the failure of elderly life. He was as alert, active and enthusiastic as in youth. His death occured at his home in Morgantown on February 8,1882, with interment in Oak Grove Cemetary. He would have celebrated his seventieth birthday on the nineth of the following April. Coming from a long line of Presbyterian ancestry, and imbibing from childhood the principals of this religion. he maintained throughout life allegiance to its traditions. Reared in a family of austere piety, his nature always retained the simplicity and directness characteristic of such an enviroment. The elements which gave distinction to his character are not easily defined. His individuality lives in the memory of all who knew him, but no special quality can be mentioned as his supreme gift. His personality seemed to be the composite effect of a multiform mentality. He was an enemy to all sham and pretense, and the keen edge of his sarcasm did not spare the affections of snobbishness. He was a good friend, but could deal heavy blows to an antagonist, though he never harbored malice and suspicion, casting them out as enemies of peace. The spirit of youth always dwelt in him, enabling him to attract and hold friends, whose difference in age from his sometimes measured a score of years. His temperment was essentially optimistic, which, united with his brilliant and scintillating wit, caused him to radiate pleasure in any social circle. His passion for good literature found food for gratification in a large miscellaneous librabry he had collected mainly during his life in Cincinnati. He had in his possession many of the classics if the 18th century, including a first edition of the poems of Robert Burns. With bright intelligence enriched by culture, he was capable of enjoying any company. He was democratic in his social ideas, and never failed to derive benefit from association with the great mass of people. At the time of his death it was claimed that he had a larger acquaintance for his fellow men than any other man in the country. His affection for all sorts and conditions of men was one of his predominant qualities. He was gifted with insight and vision intensified by his life in the open, where all manifestations of nature held his admiration. He thought deeply on the significance and responsibilities of his life in connection with its continuance in the life to come. His musings on the spiritual existence caught the gleam of "the light that never was on sea or land."