Kate’s Notes: This is one of those cases where double and triple checking source material proved the time invested in doing so was not wasted. There are two biographies here, both relevant to the Boisseau-Gilliland family tree, and both extracted from volumes with the title, “History of Johnson County, Missouri”. I had been familiar for some time with the publication of 1918, as it is available for reading from several digitized libraries. I had almost skipped over another “History of Johnson County, Missouri” until the earlier publication date caught my eye. So what we have here are two histories of the same county with biographies of two members of the Boisseau family: Charles D. Boisseau, who married Jane Gilliland, and his grandson, Oscar Gilliland Bouisseau, born of Daniel T. and Laura Belle (Gilliland) Boisseau.
   You will see slight variations in names and spellings between the two biographies. For example, in the biography of Charles D. Boisseau it is stated that Benjamin Boisseau married a Sarah Fuquey, whilst in the biography for Oscar Gilliland Boisseau her name appears as Sarah Fuqua. As coincidence would have it, a couple of years ago I had done some research on the Fuquas, a noted French Huguenot family of Virginia roots, in my study of the Canter family, the Canters being connected both to the Fuquas and to my own Gilliland line, that latter not connected to these Gillilands of Missouri. So I can say with some certainty the correct spelling (or at least the original spelling) of Sarah’s family surname is Fuqua.

******

THE

HISTORY

OF
JOHNSON COUNTY, MISSOURI,

INCLUDING A RELIABLE HISTORY

OF THE

TOWNSHIPS, CITIES and TOWNS,

TOGETHER WITH

A MAP OF THE COUNTY; A CONDENSED HISTORY OF MISSOURI; THE STATE CON- STITUTION; AN ABSTRACT OF THE MOST IMPORTANT LAWS; THE PHYSICAL
FEATURES OF THE COUNTY; THE EARLY SETTLERS AND PIONEERS;
THE POLITICAL AND WAR HISTORY; THE RELIGIOUS AND EDUCA-
TIONAL HISTORY; THE PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT CITIZENS;
ILLUSTRATION OF STATE AND COUNTY INSTITUTIONS;
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES; A HISTORY OF THE AGRI-
CULTURAL INTERESTS; STATISTICS AND MISCEL-
LANEOUS MATTERS, ETC., ETC.

__________________

ILLUSTRATED
__________________

KANSAS CITY, MO.:
KANSAS CITY HISTORICAL COMPANY,
1891.

*****************

CHARLES D. BOISSEAU
was born in Johnson county, Missouri, April 18, 1845. He has always lived in Johnson county, and is a farmer and stock raiser. He was married to Miss Jane Gilliland on January 13, 1867. His wife is also a native of Missouri. By this union three children were born: Benjamin W., Jessie and Mary. At the commencement of the war of the rebellion, he enlisted in company A, of the first Battalion of the 7th M.S.M., of which Emery S. Foster was Major. Mr. Benjamin W. Boisseau, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Simpson county, Kentucky, in 1802. He was married in 1828 to Miss Sarah A. Fuquey, a native of Logan county, Kentucky. The names of children by this union were as follows: John, who died when two years of age, Mary A., Nancy C., Susan and Judith. Soon after his marrige he moved to Johnson county, Missouri, and settled near Columbus, the oldest post office in the county. His principal occupation while there was farming. He then moved five miles farther west, where he lived until his death. Here his first wife died, and he again married, this time, Miss Syble Duncan was the object of his choice. By this union their household was blessed with six children: Sarah J., John Oscar, Charlie D., Lucy M., Daniel T. and Robert. The last dying in infancy, and John Oscar, when 17 years of age, in 1861. He died in the spring of 1863, being 61 years of age. Mrs. Boisseau, the second, and mother of Charlie D., was born in 1809, in Virginia, and moved with her parents to Kentucky, and lived there several years, then came to Johnson county, Missouri, where she married Mr. Boisseau. She still lives in Johnson county, Jackson township, at the advanced age of 72 years.

*****************
   
HISTORY 

OF

JOHNSON COUNTY
MISSOURI
_________

BY
EWING COCKRELL
_________

ILLUSTRATED
_________

HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY
TOPEKA      CLEVELAND
1918

**********

   Oscar Gilliland Boisseau is a native son of Johnson county and he comes from a family of Johnson county pioneers. He was born on the southeast quarter of section six, township forty six, range twenty-seven, in Columbus township. He is the son of Daniel T. and Laura Belle (Gilliland) Bouisseau. The mother died when Oscar G. was eight days old and he was reared by his grandparents, on the farm where he was born.
   The Boisseaus were Franch Huguenots, who migrated to the colonies, where they would be free to follow their religious teachings unmolested. The subject of this sketch is a relative of Reverend James Boisseau, who came to Virginia from Marennes, France, about 1688. He located in what is now Dinwiddie county, on what was known as Hatchers Run, about seven miles from Petersburg on the main road from Petersburg to Dinwiddie.
    John Boisseau, the great-grandfather of O.G., was born in Dinwiddie county, Virginia. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary War, enlisting in 1780. The family has been able to verify the record of his service. It is also believed he was a soldier of the War of 1812, but so far his service, if any, has not been authenticated. Soon after the close of the Revolutionary War, he united in marriage with Nancy Carter and moved to Kentucky before it was admitted to the sisterhood of states. He located in what is now Simpson county, east of Franklin, the present county seat. Here he reared his family and spent the remainder of his life, dying about 1834. One son, Benjamin W., the grandfather of this subject, was born in Simpson county, Kentucky, in 1801. In 1828, he was married to Sarah Fuqua. He moved to this county in 1834, first locating near Columbus, later entering a large body of land in what is now Jackson township, about one mile west of Blackwater church, where he lived until his death in 1863. His first wife died and later he married Sybil A. Duncan, an early-day school teacher and a native of Rockbridge county, Virginia. She passed away in 1891.
   Laura Gilliland Boisseau, the mother of Oscar G. Boisseau, was born in Jackson county. She was the daughter of Abel Gilliland and Catherine (Stewart) Gilliland. Abel Gilliland was a native of east Tennessee. He was born near the junction of the French Broad and Holstein rivers. His parents were Isaac Gilliland and Rachel (Horn) Gilliland. Isaac Gilliland died in Tennessee and his widow and her family came to Johnson county in 1829. She located at what is known as the village of Rose Hill, where she resided till her death about 1850. Abel Gilliland settled in Columbus township, where he continued to reside till his death, January 29, 1880. In 1840, he was married to Catherine Stewart, a native of Wilson county, Tennessee. She was the daughter of Abner Stewart, an early settler of Post Oak township.
   All of Mr. Boisseau’s immediate ancestors lived in Johnson county and came here at a very early day. His four grandparents, Benjamin W. and Sybil A. Boisseau, Abel and Catherine Gilliland, and five of his great-grandparents, Henry and Susan Duncan, Abner and Mary Stewart, and Rachel Gilliland, lived and died in this county.
   Oscar G. Boisseau spent his early life on his grandparents’ farm in Columbus township, attended the country school, one term in the public schools of Holden, then in September, 1890, entered the State University at Columbia, where he remained two years, did not complete the academic course but did secure a diploma from the commercial department, taking the work in that department given at that period.
   In 1892 he went to Aberdeen, South Dakota, where he remained the next two years. Later, he was engaged in newspaper work in Nebraska, Minnesota, and Michigan.
   He returned to Johnson county in 1899. He spent the next year on the old farm in Columbus township. August 10, 1900, he opened a real estate office at Holden, Missouri, and continued in that vocation till 1915, when he retired from the realty business and now conducts a loan agency,
   In 1904, Mr. Boisseau was elected mayor of the city and was twice re-elected, retiring from that office in April, 1910. During his administration the franchise of the Holden Water Company expired. After considerable negotiation, the city purchased the plant for eighteen thousand dollars.
   The system was somewhat run down and bonds were issued for thirty thousand dollars to pay for the plant and make a number of extensions and improvements. In 1915, he was chosen a member of the city council, where he served till 1918, when he was again called upon to serve the city as mayor. He is now occupying that place.
   Mr. Boisseau is a life-long Republican. He has served on the various campaign committees of his party. He was elected a member of the County Central Committee in 1900, serving till 1908, again chosen in 1912, and is still a member of that body. In 1914, he was its chairman. He was selected a member of the Congressional Committee in 1904, serving till 1908; secretary of the Congressional Committee from 1908 to 1912; and chariman of the same from 1914 to the present time. Made a member of the State Committee in 1910, retiring in 1914. From 1915 to 1917, he was secretary of the Association of Young Republicans of Missouri and president of that organization in 1917-18.
   Mr. Boisseau devotes part of his spare time to the study of history. The study of Missouri and Johnson county presents an attractive and interesting field to him. He is a member of the State Centennial Committee, which has charge of the one hundreth anniversary of the admission of the state. He is a member of the State Historical Society, the Missouri Historical Society, Missouri Valley Historical Society, and the following state societies: Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Oregon, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, Illinois, Michigan and Vermont.
   May 18, 1908, Mr. Boisseau was united in marriage with Miss Jennette M. Smith, daughter of William C. and Elizabeth Wilson Smith. William C. Smith was one of the first attorneys to locate in Holden. He served the city as mayor for seven years.
   Mr. and Mrs. Boisseau have resided since their marriage at the corner of First and Market streets, Holden.
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-- transcriptions by Kate Maynard, 2010