Dr. James F. Boal, Buda, was born in Union County, Ohio, April 24, 1817. He is the son of James and Margaret (Mitchell) Boal. The father was born in Pennsylvania, but in about the year 1800, removed to Green County, Ohio, and after marriage to Union County, and that State was his home till 1834, when he removed to Indiana. He and wife both died
in Indiana, he in 1838, and she in 1839, His wife was born in Kentucky, and was the daughter of Judge David Mitchell, who removed from Pennsylvania to Kentucky in 1796, but two years later–in 1798—settled in Union County, Ohio, and became a large land owner. One of his sons, Jesse Mitchell, was the first white child born in Union County.
Dr. Boal’s early life was spent in his native State, and in 1846 he began the practice of medicine, having attended lectures at Cleveland, Ohio, but in 1849 he graduated from the Sterling Medical College of Columbus, Ohio. He continued his practice in Franklin County, Ohio, till in the spring of 1857, when he removed to Knox County, Ill., where he remained about seven years, and then located in Tipton, Iowa, where he remained till July, 1866, and then came to Buda, Ill., and continued in the practice of his profession for some years. However, in the spring of 1867 he opened a stock of drugs in Buda, and has continued the business since, the firm now being J. F. Boal & Son. They carry a stock of goods valued at about $5,000.
In 1847 he was united in marriage in Columbus, Ohio, to Miss Lucinda Starr, by whom he has one son—Albert F.— and one daughter—Ella. Mr. Boal is a member of the A. F. & A. M. of Buda, and also of the Congregational Church. In politics he is a stanch Republican. Albert F. Boal was born November 12, 1848, in Franklin County, Ohio. He was united in marriage November, 1871, to Miss Elizabeth Murphey, who died January, 1874, and left one son—-Tracy E.—who was born October 10, 1872.
Source: History of Bureau County, Illinois, H. C. Bradsby, Editor. World Publishing Company Chicago 1885