WABASHA COUNTY, MINNESOTA ***************************************************************************** Biography transcribed & donated to Wabasha County, MN Bios by Barbara Koska Timm. For more information, please check out her site "Biographies and Historical Sketches of Wabasha County, Minnesota" at . ***************************************************************************** HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY TOGETHER WITH BIOGRAPHICAL MATTER, STATISTICS, ETC. GATHERED FROM MATTER FURNISHED BY INTERVIEWS WITH OLD SETTLERS, COUNTY, TOWNSHIP AND OTHER RECORDS, AND EXTRACTS FROM FILES OF PAPERS, PAMPHLETS, AND SUCH OTHER SOURCES AS HAVE BEEN AVAILABLE. ALSO A HISTORY OF WINONA COUNTY CHICAGO: H. H. HILL & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. 1884 Boatman, William, one of the pioneers of 1855, was born in Brown county, Ohio, on February 2, 1817. His parents were Henry and Rachael (Laenex) Boatman. His early life was spent on a farm in Ripley county, where he received a fair common school education. He worked at the carpenter trade for fifteen years in Brown county, Ohio, and three years in Indiana. In 1855 he came in the early spring to Plainview township, where he located a claim on section 11, and was interested with Gen. Sharp, E. B. Eddy, Mr. Geisinger and Mr. Todd in the planning of the shortlived town of Greenville. In 1861 he disposed of his claim on section 11 and bought out the Geisinger claim on section 10, where he continued to reside for ten years. In 1871 he removed to Wisconsin, and engaged in lumbering, building a sawmill at Humbird. Here misfortune visited his enterprises in the shape of fire, that twice destroyed his property within a period of five years. He finally sold out his Wisconsin interests and returned to Plainview.