Robert BOAL, M. D., who came to Marshall county, and located at Lacon in
1836 for the practice of his profession, is now living a retired life,
making his home with his daughter, the widow of the late Congressman G. L.
FORT. He was born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1806, and when five
years of age went with his parents to Ohio, and in what was then a new and
undeveloped country, grew to manhood amid the scenes of pioneer life. After
attending the subscription schools of that early day, long before free
schools became known in that locality, he entered the Cincinnati College to
complete his course. However, the desire to obtain a thorough classical
education was never realized, as he left the school when just about to be
promoted to the junior class.
Soon after leaving college Robert began
the study of medicine under a good preceptor, and later entered the Medical
College of Ohio, from which he graduated with honor in 1828. From early
boyhood he had desired to be a physician, having a natural inclination in
that direction. Soon after graduating he commenced the practice of medicine
at Reading, Ohio, and four years later in 1832, was united in marriage with
Miss Christina W. SINCLAIR, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and of
Scotch extraction. By this union three children were born – Charles T., now
residing in Chicago; Clara B., now the widow of G. L. FORT, who for years
represented his district in congress and was well and favorably known
throughout the state, and James Sinclair, who for ten years was assistant
district attorney for the northern district of Illinois, with headquarters
at Chicago, serving under Judge BANGS, General LEAKE, Judge TUTHILL and
Judge EWING and died in office. Mrs. BOAL, who was a woman of strong
character and lovely disposition, was a worthy helpmeet to the young doctor
in pioneer days, being ever ready and willing to cheer his pathway, and make
his burden light. She died in Peoria, in 1883.
Four years after his
marriage Dr. BOAL came with his young wife to Marshall county, and locating
at Lacon, at once commended an active practice, which continued
uninterruptedly for twenty-six years. In those early days the rides were
long, roads poor, bridges almost unknown and the practicing physician was
required to hold himself in readiness to go at a moment’s warning at a call
from any source and at whatever inconvenience. Many were the calls to which
he responded, lonely the long night rides and but little was the pay
expected or received.
In common with all professional men, Dr. BOAL
was somewhat of a politician in the early days of the history of Marshall
county. He was an eloquent speaker and his services were often called into
requisition in the exciting campaigns which rapidly followed one another.
The newspapers did not circulate then as now, and the public and
professional speaker was expected to enlighten the people upon the issues of
the day.
Politically, Dr. BOAL was a whig after attaining his
majority, and the principles of that party especially with reference to the
great question of the tariff, were in consonance with his ideas of right and
for the best interest of the entire country. He took the stump in advocacy
of these principles in each succeeding campaign, and was a most effective
speaker. In 1844 he was placed in nomination by his party for the state
senate in the district comprising the counties of Marshall, Tazewell,
Woodford and Putnam, and was triumphantly elected, succeeding Major CULLOM,
the father of the present United States Senator CULLOM.
While in the
senate the doctor strongly advocated the building by the state of a hospital
of the insane, and was instrumental in securing its passage. For some years
previous the state had been engaged in the construction of a canal and which
virtually swamped the state in the panic of 1837. The doctor advocated
turning the uncompleted canal over to the bond holders for its early
completion, which was accordingly done. He also advocated the calling of a
constitutional convention to revise the constitution, and an act was passed
for that purpose, resulting in the constitution of 1848, which for
twenty-two years was the basis of our state laws, or until repealed by the
constitution of 1870.
Dr. BOAL was a politician of state reputation,
and was on intimate terms with all the great leaders of the whig party. He
first met the immortal Lincoln in 1842, and was at once drawn to him, and
the personal acquaintance formed with him at the congressional convention of
that year was kept up and lasted through the life of Lincoln.
In 1854
Dr. BOAL was elected a member of the general assembly of the state, the last
whig elected from the district; at the session of the legislature following
his election a United States senator was to be elected. Lincoln was the whig
candidate and was enthusiastically supported by the doctor. Every student of
history knows the result of that election. A small number of what was known
as anti-Nebraska democrats, of whom John M. Palmer was one, held the balance
of power, and when convinced their favorite could not be elected the entire
whig vote was cast, with that of the anti-Nebraska democrats, for Lyman
Trumbull, who was duly chosen.
The whig party was now virtually dead,
and in 1856 a convention of anti-slavery men met at Bloomington, Illinois,
in which was brought into existence the republican party of the state. In
this convention Dr. BOAL sat as one of the delegates, and was thus
instrumental in the birth of that party, which four years later succeeded in
electing Abraham Lincoln as president, an event followed by the greatest war
of modern times, resulting in the entire abolition of slavery and the
cementing of the ties binding the states of the union together, stronger
than ever before. Dr. BOAL was renominated for the house of representatives
in 1856, and again elected, and served with credit to himself and his
constituents.
William H. Bissell was elected governor in 1856, and
soon after his inauguration he appointed Dr. BOAL as one of the trustees of
the deaf and dumb asylum at Jacksonville, a position which he held by
reappointment by succeeding governors, for seventeen years, the last five
years of which time serving as president of the board. Soon after the
commencement of hostilities between the states Dr. BOAL was appointed
surgeon of the board of enrollment, with headquarters at Peoria, which
position he held until the close of the war.
The active political
life of Dr. BOAL closed with the war. He then moved his family to Peoria and
engaged in general practice, which he continued successfully for
twenty-eight years. As a physician he was recognized by his co-laborers and
the public as well, as one of the best in the state. His practice was very
large, patients coming for treatment by him for many miles around. In 1882
he served as president of the State Medical association, an honor worthily
bestowed.
Dr. BOAL continued in the active practice of his profession
until he was eighty-seven years of age, when he retired and returned to
Lacon, where he now makes his home. He is a well preserved man, mentally and
physically, and an inveterate smoker. A great reader, he has kept posted in
the current and general literature of the day and has also been a lover of
the drama. In the social circle he is always surrounded by those who love to
listen to an attractive conversationalist, one who can instruct as well as
amuse.
Extracted March 2011 by Norma Hass from The Biographical
Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois, 1896.
Dr.
Robert BOAL was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, November 15, 1806, and
died in Lacon, Illinois, June 12, 1902, in the ninety-seventh year of his
age. The long life allotted him was characterized by a noble use of the
talents with which nature had endowed him and in all life's relations he was
found faultless in honor, fearless in conduct and stainless in reputation.
He was descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry. The comparatively early death
of his parents, Thomas and Elizabeth (CREAIN) BOAL, led him to become a
member of the family of his uncle, Robert BOAL who was a resident of
Cincinnati, Ohio, to which city Dr. BOAL had accompanied his parents on
their removal in 1811. His early education, acquired in the public schools,
was supplemented by study in the Cincinnati Literary College and a natural
predilection for the science and practice of medicine led him to become a
student in the Ohio Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1828
being at the time of his death its oldest alumnus Throughout his life he
remained a student not, only of his profession but of general literature,
the drama and history as well, and at the same time keeping abreast with the
trend of modern thought.
In 1834 Dr. BOAL made a tour of central
Illinois and in 1836 removed from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Columbia, now Lacon,
Illinois, where he engaged in the practice of medicine for almost three
decades. In 1865 he removed to Peoria, Illinois, where he continued in
active practice for twenty-seven years. He retired from active connection
with the profession after a service of sixty-five years and in 1893 returned
to Lacon. In his profession he attained much more than local reputation. He
was a member of the American Medical Association, the Illinois State Medical
Society, the Peoria City Medical Society and an honorary member of the North
Central Medical Association. Not only did he use these connections to keep
him in touch with the onward march of progress in the practice of medicine
and surgery, but independently he carried on his researches and
investigations and his native intellectual force proved perhaps the most
potent element in his success as a physician and surgeon a success which in
the course of years won him the recognition of his brethren of the medical
fraternity and gained him that measure of prosperity which is the legitimate
reward of earnest, persistent, conscientious effort. He was one of the
incorporators and directors of the Cottage Hospital of Peoria, and he found
occasion to utilize his professional knowledge in connection with other
public service.
Coming into full possession of his developed powers
and talents at the most momentous period in the history of the country since
the establishment of the republic, Dr. BOAL naturally wielded a wide
influence over public thought and action. He did not seek fame in political
circles, but was a student of the burning questions of the hour and
possessed a statesman's grasp of the issues which arose. In 1844 he was
elected to the state senate and was active in securing the passage of the
bill for the completion of the Illinois and Michigan canal, also the law for
the creation of the Illinois Hospital for the Insane at Jacksonville. In
1854 he was elected to the house of representatives and at the session of
1855 voted for Abraham Lincoln for United States senator, continuing thus to
cast his ballot until personally requested by Mr. Lincoln to vote for Lyman
Trumbull, who was then elected. In 1856 Dr. BOAL was again chosen to
represent his district in the house and was chairman of the joint committee
of the senate and the house to investigate the condition of the public
institutions for the insane, the blind and the deaf and dumb at
Jacksonville. The committee found that an almost chaotic condition existed,
so reporting in the session of 1857 and recommending the reduction of the
number of the trustees of each institution and suggesting that not more than
one should be appointed from any county in the state. The report was
practically embodied in a bill which passed and became a law. In 1857, upon
the adjournment of the legislature, Dr. BOAL was appointed a trustee of the
deaf and dumb institution by Governor Bissell and thus served for seventeen
years through appointment of Governors Yates, Oglesby, Palmer and Beveridge,
acting as president of the board during the last five years In this
connection his professional knowledge rendered his service of the utmost
benefit. In 1862 Dr. BOAL was appointed surgeon of the board of enrollment
for the fifth congressional district comprising seven counties, and so
continued until the close of the war in 1865, during which period he
examined nearly five thousand volunteers and drafted men, a large majority
of whom "went to the front."
Reared in the faith of the Presbyterian
church Dr. BOAL afterward became a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal
church, his connection therewith continuing until his demise. About 1893 he
returned from Peoria to his old home in Lacon and his closing years were
spent with his daughter. His married life covered a period of more than a
half century. In Beading, Ohio, May 12 1831, he wedded Christiana Walker
SINCLAIR, who was of Scotch descent. Their family numbered two sons and a
daughter. The elder son, Charles T. BOAL, has for more than forty years been
a resident of Chicago. The younger son, James Sinclair BOAL, died in that
city while the incumbent in the office of the United States assistant
district attorney, in which position he had served for ten years. The only
daughter is Mrs. Clara B. FORT, the widow of the late Colonel G. L. FORT,
and the years of his retirement, spent with his daughter and a grandson
bearing his name, were surpassingly serene and happy. Caring naught for fame
nor honors for their own sake, his life was a life of service given to his
fellowmen. It was exceptional not only in the count of its years, but in its
breadth and fullness and the beneficent activities with which it was
crowned. In his state he was connected with events which have left an
indelible impress upon the history of the commonwealth. In his profession
his ability advanced him far beyond mediocrity and gained him the
recognition of the ablest members of the medical fraternity in Illinois, and
yet in his long professional career the motive spring of his service was his
broad humanitarianism and his desire to do the utmost possible for his
fellowmen. Perhaps the best characterization and summary of the life of Dr.
BOAL has been given by Dr. J. H. MORRON, who said of him, "A learned and
skillful physician, Dr. BOAL was also a distinguished citizen one of the
founders of the party which for the last forty years has dominated and
shaped our national affairs, and to which belongs the glory of our
emancipation, reconstruction and expansion politics. His patriotism was
kindled while yet a child, amid the fires of the war of 1812, and continued
intense and burning to the last. He was a man of remarkable balance and
poise, free from eccentricity and warp firm without obstinacy, gentle
without weakness, sane and vigorous in every faculty. He was familiar not
merely with the science of his profession, but with general literature, and
his capacious and keen mind was stored with varied and enriching knowledge.
He wrote with rare clearness, force and elegance, and has left behind papers
of permanent value. But above everything else was the man himself his
refinement of nature, his sterling character, his cultivated gracious
manners, his sincerity and loyalty, his geniality, kindness and universal
good will."
Extracted July 2011 by Norma Hass from Past and Present
of Marshall and Putnam Counties Illinois, 1907.
| Bureau | Putnam | |
| Stark |
 |
La Salle |
| Peoria | Woodford |
