Roger Sherman Chapter NSDAR, inc. New Milford, Connecticut
Elijah Boardman
Born 1760 Died 182
Buried At Center Cemetery
My name is Elijah Boardman and you can see my memorial every time you drive past the Center Cemetery, or even read it if you stop for the light. I have been a cemetery resident since 1823 and yes, you are correct, the traffic has gotten worse!
I was born in 1760 in New Milford to Sherman Boardman and Sarah Bostwick. In March of 1776 I turned 16 and decided to join the Continental Army and with my father’s permission, I enlisted as a common soldier. I was placed in the Company of Captain Issac Bostwick in the regiment of Colonel Charles Webb. I was stationed on Long Island across from New York City until the City was abandoned by our troops the following October.
I had fallen ill and seemed to be suffering from bilious fever (which could have been typhoid, malaria, or hepatitis).I must admit, what ever it was effected me for the rest of my life. Those of us who were sick were due to be evacuated to New Jersey when the Army left. A few of us decided that Jersey is never an option and decided to evacuate on our own, which almost killed me.
Feverish and sometimes unable to walk, I stayed in abandoned homes and barns and counted on the charity of strangers for food. Luckily word finally reached my father who came to take me home. I slowly regained my health but could not return to the Army.
In 1781, after a two year apprenticeship in New Haven, I opened a dry goods store in New Milford. Thus becoming one of five shopkeepers in the town. It turned out that I was a born salesman and even my portrait by Mr. Ralph Earl hanging in the Metropolitan Museum of Art shows me standing next to bolts of cloth from Europe and India. My brother Daniel became my partner in 1782 and our business became quite successful. You can still visit our store and see a copy of my portrait at the New Milford Historical Society and Museum.
As time went on I ventured into real estate in the area and then moved into the rest of New England, owning farms in Massachusetts and Vermont especially. I married the “love of my life”, Mary Anna Whiting from Great Barrington, Maine 1792. She was wildly admired for her great beauty, love of nature, spiritual wisdom, intellect and difference. She was well educated and gave all six of our children a love of learning. I built my house on the west side of Town Street next to the store I was renting at the time. You can still visit my house across the Green from the Congregational Church, if you have an appointment with one of the attorneys that is.
My brothers Homer and David joined me when I invested in the Connecticut Land Company. This group purchased a vast amount of the tract in the Ohio Territory retained by CT. In 1786 the state ceded it’s claim to the western lands and for $60,000 we invested in the first two towns of Palmyra and Boardman. I past much of 1799 and 1800 in the Ohio Territory with six employees surveying our holdings. Over the years many families from New Milford settled in Boardman.
After 1800 I had been come interested in politics and was one of the minorities in Connecticut to follow Mr. Jefferson. Between 1803 and 1816 I represented New Milford in the Lower House. I ran for Lieutenant Governor under Matthew Griswold but lost when the vote went back to the General Assembly. In 1817 I gained a seat in the Upper House and in 1821 I was elected a US Senator as a Democrat.
I moved to Washington DC, while my family stayed in New Milford. During those years my wife supervised the work on the grounds around the house, which remained in our family until 1939.
I passed during a trip to Boardman, Ohio with Mary Anna in 1823 at the age of 63. My body was brought back the New Milford and my beautiful wife joined me in 1848. Think of us sometimes as you pass by.