BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.     605
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a Methodist minister of the gospel, true to his calling, and con-
siderably more than that time as a resident of this county. He
and his brother William are the only inhabitants now living who
resided in Brownstown as early as 1819 or 1820. In 1826 our,
subject was elected and commissioned lieutenant-colonel of mili-
tia, was postmaster eight or ten years, was circuit court clerk and
county recorder 1838-45, and has been generally successful in
his business undertakings and honorable in them all, as well as
capable and faithful in the discharge of his public duties. He
has also been prominent in the cause of temperance, being a del-
egate to the State and National Grand Lodges of the Good Tem-
plar order; and he has visited many jails and State prisons on
his holy mission from which sprung up a correspondence oblig-
ing him at one time to write as many as 300 letters in one year.
 
BOYATT & BOYATT, pension attorneys, Brownstown. The
individual members of this firm are William L. and Thomas B.,
natives of Jackson County, the former being born April 23, 1844,
the latter September 3, 1839. Their parents are Jurdan and
Sally (Owen) Boyatt, the former born in 1807, his wife in 1810.
He came to Jackson County in about the year 1828, where he
married and settled on a farm in Owen Township. They were
well respected citizens. Their deaths occurred in the year 1871.
There were born to them five children: Elizabeth, wife of W. A.
White, Davenport, Neb.; Sally, deceased wife of A. Prather;
Nancy, widow of Edmond Rice, resides in Worth County, Mo.,
and our subjects. William L. was raised on his father's farm,
receiving the advantages of a good education. He taught school
for several terms. In 1862 he enlisted in Company G, Fifty-
fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, served four months, after
which he enrolled Company F, One Hundred and Forty-fifth In-
diana Volunteer Infantry, and was commissioned first lieutenant.
He also served as adjutant, returning January 21, 1866, to Clear-
spring where he engaged in the mercantile business, was ap-
pointed postmaster, served two terms, was assessor of the town-
ship and also took the census of 1880. He began his present
business in 1875. In 1882 came to Brownstown, served as deputy
clerk for a time; is a Mason and Odd Fellow. In 1868 he mar-
ried Lizzie Vawter; has two children by this marriage, Mahlon and