Boggs, Lilburn

Born: 1796-12-14 Lexington, Kentucky

Died: 1860-03-14 Napa, California

At the age of sixteen, Boggs left home to fight in the War of 1812. After participating in the Battle of New Orleans, he settled in St. Louis, where he worked as a bank cashier and married Julia Bent. Following Julia's death in 1820, Boggs joined the American Fur Company and moved to Fort Osage in western Missouri, where he traded with settlers and Native Americans along the Missouri River. In 1823, he remarried to Panthea Boone, a granddaughter of Daniel Boone. They settled in Independence, Missouri, where Boggs was a shopkeeper and a local frontier expert. A Democrat, Boggs served in the state Senate from 1826 to 1832, whereupon he was elected lieutenant governor. Elected governor in 1836, Boggs declared hostilities with members of the Mormon faith, leading to their eventual expulsion from the state. Despite an 1842 assassination attempt that severely wounded him, Boggs again served in the state Senate from 1842 to 1846. In 1846, Boggs immigrated to California with eight of his 12 children. There he opened a store in Napa, served as a local judge, and was a member of the state's 1850 constitutional convention.

Gravestone, Tulocay Cemetery, Napa, CA; Alexander L. Baugh, "Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs and the Mormons," John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 18 (1998), 111-32.