BOARDMAN, WILLIAM JARVIS (15 Apr. 1832-2 Aug. 1915), was a lawyer active in Cleveland business, civic, and political affairs before moving to Washington, D.C., in the late 1880s. Son of Henry Mason and Sarah Hall Benham Boardman and born in Boardman, Ohio, William Boardman spent 3 years at Kenyon College before transferring to Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. where he graduated in 1854. He then entered Yale Law School and transferred to Harvard a year later. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1856 he moved to Cleveland, working briefly in the law offices of Samuel B. and Frederick J. Prentiss before being admitted to the bar and opening his own law office. In 1859 Boardman began a long tenure as a director of the Commerce Branch Bank of Cleveland and its successor in 1865, the Commercial Natl. Bank. In 1877 he became a director and general counsel of the Valley Railway Co. In the 1860s he served as president of the CLEVELAND LIBRARY ASSOC., later the Case Library; and in 1869 he became president of the Cleveland Law Library Assoc., later serving as a trustee. He was a trustee of both Kenyon College and Adelbert College of Western Reserve University, and was also active in Trinity Church and in political organizations in the 5th ward. On 20 Dec. 1859, Boardman married Florence Sheffield. They had 6 children: Mabel Thorp, William Henry, Joseph Sheffield, Elijah George, Josephine Porter, and Florence. In 1887, the Boardmans moved to Washington, D.C. where Boardman died and was buried. Upon his death in 1915, Wm. J. Boardman was identified by newspaper headlines as the father of the leader of the Red Cross, Mabel Boardman.
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