William K. Boone

William Kenneth Boone (1875–1944) was a benefactor of Xalapa, Veracruz.[1]

Throughout his life he sent numerous letters, postcards, and photographs to his parents and sisters at home. These were kept by his family in Lima and eventually found their way to his (only) granddaughter, who thereby has been able to piece together most of his story as well as integrating his collection of images and documents into The Boone-Canovas Collection.

Biography

He was born in Lima, Ohio, on April 9, 1875,[2] to William McKelvey Boone (1834–1913), retired colonel, veteran of the Civil War and successful businessman (W. K. Boone Hardware Store), who had moved from Hughesville, PA, through Wooster, OH, finally settling down in Lima. His mother was Mary Elizabeth Heffelfinger (1834–1927).

He was closely related to two outstanding figures in American history who were an inspiration to him and his descendants: Daniel Boone and Abraham Lincoln.[3]

Y-DNA Haplogroup

R1b1a2[4]

Education

He enrolled at what was then called Case Institute of Applied Science which he attended for two years (1895–1896),[5] just around the times of the Chicago World's Fair and its electrical exhibits (1893) and the famous Michelson–Morley experiment on the nature and speed of light conducted at this institute.

Later life

He travelled by train from Lima and arrived in Xalapa in February 1898, at 22 years of age, hardly speaking any Spanish, and became supervisor of operations for the Texolo hydroelectric power plant.

From 1899 to 1903 he resided in California and worked in the electrical operations of the Homestake Mining Company, in gold and silver mines near Lundy, California. He also worked at another one of their mines: Frenchtown camp in the Kern River Canyon of the Greenhorn Mountains near Bakersfield.

On January 6, 1904, in Los Angeles, CA, he married Blanche Marmon (also from Lima, Ohio).[6] He and his wife moved to Xalapa and lived there permanently until his death in 1944, while he worked as general manager for the Jalapa Railroad and Power Co. (JRR&PC) – except for a few times during the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) when he had to seek refuge in the American Embassy at Mexico City and move temporarily to the US, fearing that his life was at stake.

He died in Mexico City on August 19, 1944.

Works

Legacy

His collection of old photographs of México and particularly of Xalapa, from the early 1900s, forms part of the Boone-Canovas collection.

As a genealogist: documentation on several generations of ancestors of some Mexican families, particularly the descendancy of Sinforosa Amador who had settled in Xalapa and was reported as saying that "she was from California".

  • See "Gráfica genealógica" (Genealogical chart) which he documented for his daughter in-law Carmen Canovas Güido.
Due to the unsettled conditions of affairs in Mexico, I have not been able to devote much time to ancestors, rather I have been too much interested in the safety of my posterity – he wrote amid hijacking and bombing threats during the Mexican Revolution in 1914.

Memorials in Xalapa

al hombre que con su talento y generosidad contribuyó en su tiempo a prefigurar la imagen moderna de Xalapa, a la que amó entrañablemente y a la cual dedicó con devoción lo mejor de su esfuerzo y de su vocación de servicio
(to the man who with his talent and generosity contributed in his time to sketch the modern image of Xalapa which he loved dearly and to which he devotedly dedicated his efforts and his vocation of service).

External references


"Thanks to [WKB's] initiative [...] starting the roads to Veracruz and Nautla, all of that undertaken without having money, but driving the people forward with his enthusiasm, faith, and dynamism.
"A man loved, respected, active, lover of Nature and in-love with Xalapa."

Notes

  1. ↑ Limaite's labors made beautiful Jalapa a better place, The Lima News, Region & Ohio, Dec. 2 1994 – Available in Wikimedia Commons
  2. ↑ The Boone Family por Hazel A. Spraker. (p. 336)
  3. ↑ Boone-Lincoln family ties
  4. ↑ Boone DNA Testing Project, Y-DNA Results Page (Similar to Kit# 7519)
  5. ↑ [Letter from Case Western Reserve in The Boone-Canovas Collection]
  6. ↑ Los Angeles Herald, 6 January 1904
  7. ↑ His article in Popular Mechanics of Abril 1923
  8. ↑ Editorial, El Dictamen, Veracruz, September 20, 1922 - Available in Wikimedia Commons
  9. ↑ Editorial, El Eco Xalapeño, September 24, 1922 - Available in Wikimedia Commons

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William K. Boone.
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