THOMAS BOULDEN was born in Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Ill., in
1823. His father, John Boulden, was a native of Bourbon County, Ky.,
having been born near Millersburgh in 1794. He was a son of Thomas
Boulden, also probably of the same county, and reared four sons and two
daughters. He was a mechanic and well-to-do for those times, and died in
Millersburgh, Bourbon County, Ky. The children of Grandfather Boulden were
Jesse, John, Ephraim, Nathan, Sarah and Cassandra.
John Boulden, the father of Thomas, was a tanner by trade, following
his trade during his life. When a young man he removed to Indiana, and
there he married Mary Benard, of Virginia, in which State she was born in
1788. She was the daughter of Frederic and Dorotha (Helms) Benard, who
removed to Indiana and thence to Pope County, Ill., in 1817. They were
prosperous farmers and reared two sons and five daughters. They died on
their own farm, two miles east of Eddyville. He died at about eighty
years of age, and she some ten years afterward, also at about eighty
years of age. Mr. Benard was born in Germany and came to the United
States at an early day, settling in Virginia, where he was married. The
parents of our subject and one daughter came from Indiana to Illinois in
1821, two years after their marriage, making the trip in teams. They
first lived at Elizabethtown until our subject was born, when they
removed to Ford's Ferry, near Cave in Rock, on the Ohio River, where the
father had a farm and a tannery. He died in October, 1830, leaving his
widow and six children, three sons and three daughters. Only two of these
six children are now living: Thomas and a sister, Sarah, widow of Harry
Morse, living near by and in her seventy-third year.
Thomas Boulden was reared to the life of the farm and received but
little education. When he was twenty-one years old he left home, and in
October, 1844, he was married to Miss Martha Tomlinson (Linson, as they
call it now). They have lived on their present farm since March, 1848.
He bought at first eighty acres of Government land at $1.25 per acre in
the woods, and built a log house, 18x20 feet in size. This old relic is
still standing and is used as a hay barn. From time to time he bought
more land, adding to his first purchase until at one time he owned four
hundred acres, but he has deeded to his children, until now he owns but
two hundred and twenty acres. In 1872 he built his present large frame
house. He carried on general farming, raising corn, wheat, oats and
clover. He firmly believes in fertilizing his land and also believes
that clover is the best fertilizer. He keeps a few horses and mules for
his own use and also a few cattle and hogs. Mr. and Mrs. Boulden buried
two sons and two daughters in infancy, and also Sarah Ann, wife of Samuel
Lauderdale, who died at the age of thirty-three, leaving one son and three
daughters. The children living are: John H., a widower with two sons,
living in Golconda; and Mary Elizabeth, wife of James McDonald, a farmer
on a part of the old homestead, and who has three sons and three
daughters. Mr. Boulden is a Mason of the third degree and is a charter
member of Eddyville Lodge. In politics he is a Democrat.
