William Harrison Boring (February 26, 1841 – December 1, 1932)[1] was an American Union soldier who fought in the American Civil War, and who was a member of the distinguished battalion in the 33rd Illinois Infantry Regiment that helped lead the capture of Vicksburg in 1863. Boring later came to be known as a pioneer after settling Boring, Oregon in 1874, which took its name from him.[2]
William H. Boring | |
---|---|
Birth name | William Harrison Boring |
Born | Greenfield, Illinois, U.S. | February 26, 1841
Died | December 1, 1932 Portland, Oregon, U.S. | (aged 91)
Place of burial | Damascus Pioneer Cemetery, Damascus, Oregon, U.S.45°25′03″N 122°27′32″W / 45.417621°N 122.458978°W |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | United States Army Union Army |
Years of service | 1861–1863 |
Rank | Private |
Unit | 33rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry |
Battles/wars | Siege of Vicksburg |
Spouse(s) |
Sarah Elizabeth Wilder
(m. 1867; died 1922) |
Children | 2 |
Boring was born in Greenfield, Illinois on February 26, 1841. His mother was originally from Tennessee, and his father was from Maryland.[3] He had one elder brother, George Boring (1838–1916), who was also a pioneer and settler of the town of Clarence, Missouri.[4] Boring enlisted as a Union soldier during the American Civil War with the 33rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, beginning in 1861 under Bvt. Major General Charles Edward Hovey and Colonel Charles E. Lippincott.[5]
He was a member of the battalion that distinguished itself in the capture of Vicksburg in 1863, during which 11 of its 32 members died in battle.[6][7] Boring sustained near-life-threatening injuries to his face and throat in the Siege of Vicksburg,[8] which led to his discharge.[7] The severity of the scars he received from his battle injuries led him to wear a beard for the remainder of his life.[8]
After his discharge, Boring returned to Greenfield, where he worked on his mother's farm. On December 11, 1867, Boring married Sarah Elizabeth Wilder in Greene County, Illinois.[7][9]
In the early 1870s, president Ulysses S. Grant began offering incentives to homesteaders in the Western United States, which attracted William Boring; he and his wife Sarah left Illinois for San Francisco, California, and then traveled north to Portland, Oregon. William's elder half-brother, Joseph (b. 1829), who had traveled across the Oregon Trail in 1853, had already settled there and been living in the area for nearly two decades.[10] William and Sarah joined Joseph at his home in 1874, twelve miles east of Portland. There, William and Sarah settled on 160 acres (65 ha) of land.[11] They had two children: Elsie in October 1875, who only lived for nine days; and Orville, born in 1879.[7]
The settlement occupied by the Boring family came to be known as Boring, Oregon[12] after William donated land for a schoolhouse to be built in 1883,[13][7][14] By the turn of the twentieth century, the town had become a thriving logging community, and the construction of an interurban railroad to the town by the Portland Railway, Light and Power Company brought further residents and business.[15]
According to the 1910 U.S. census, William (then aged 69) and Sarah (then aged 65) shared their home with son Orville, his wife, Lucy, and the couple's three-year-old son, Lester. Also living in the home was Thomas Field, a hired handyman from Minnesota, and Robert Bishop, a boarder from Maine.[16] Boring was widowed after Sarah's death on February 12, 1922.[17] He relocated to Portland sometime between 1923 and 1930, moving into the home of close friends Lester and Emma Armstrong.[3] Boring died in Portland in 1931 at age 91, after an undisclosed eight-month illness.[18]