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File contributed to the Fulton County ILGenWeb Project
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Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County
Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, 1890

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The Biography of Oscar J. BOYER 

Pages 250-251, transcribed in full by Danni Hopkins 

[Surnames: BARRERE, BAUGHMAN, BOWMAN, BOYER, BYERS, FREDERICK, GALLAGHER, GRANT, MOREY, SNIDER] 

    
OSCAR J. BOYER. There are few professions which require the amount of diligent study and general information that is essential to the knowledge of law. To master legal terms understandingly, one must first possess a good education, and must in addition to this have great concentration of thought. What could call forth more admiration than a forcible speech well delivered; or appeal more earnestly to the human heart than an enthusiastic defense of some poor man, whose chances for living depend entirely upon his attorney's eloquence? Among the gentlemen who realize the full importance of this calling, and add dignity to the profession, ranks Oscar J. Boyer, attorney at law, Canton. 
    
William Boyer, the great-grandfather of our subject, escaped from France during the revolution in that country, and coming to America participated in the Revolutionary War. He settled in Delaware, where his son John, grandfather of our subject, was born. This gentleman went to Ohio, locating near Zanesville, whence he came to Fulton County, Ill., in the year 1842, dying here about 1860. His family consisted of five children--Caleb, the father of our subject; John, who is now deceased; Robert, who lives in Warren County; Rachel, wife of Henry Byers, of Lewistown Township; and Sarah, wife of James Frederick, of Lee Township. 
    
Caleb Boyer was born near Zanesville, Ohio, September 3, 1824. He is now living in Cass Township, this county, at the age of sixty-six; and his wife, who is the same age, is still alive and well. He has been a farmer and local preacher of the United Brethren faith and enjoys an enviable reputation. He has four children, the subject of this notice being the first-born. The others are John W., Norris C., and Dellie, wife of Zenie Morey, of Downer County. The mother bore the maiden name of Sarah Baughman. Her ancestors came to America before the Revolution, settling in Virginia, whence the family moved to Ohio at an early day. In the Buckeye State Mrs. Boyer opened her eyes to the light. Somewhere in the '40s the Baughmans came to Illinois, locating on Tottens Prairie, Cass Township, this county. 
    
The subject of this sketch was born July 4, 1861, in Cass Township, this county. He remained with his parents until he had reached his sixteenth year, having in the meantime received a common-school education. He then took a course in the Gem City Business College in Quincy, after which he began reading law with Barrere & Grant. While mastering the legal profession he taught school several terms, and when twenty-one years of age passed a very creditable examination at Springfield, and although so young, was licensed by the Supreme Court to practice law. In the fall of 1882 he came to Canton and opened an office, practicing alone until late in the year 1888, when he became one of the firm of Gallager & Boyer. 
    
Mr. Boyer was married in August, 1885, to Miss Minerva A. Snider, of Buckheart Township; who was born January 7, 1866, and is a daughter of John H. and Jemima (Bowman) Snider. Mrs. Boyer's family are of Southern descent, her parents coming from East Tennessee and Kentucky respectively. Her marriage rites were celebrated at Canton, and the happy union has been blessed by the birth of one child--Bessie B. By her intelligence, good breeding and fine character, Mrs. Boyer is fitted for the station she occupies as the wife of a rising member of the bar, and the guiding power in a happy home. 
    
Mr. Boyer is a young man of unusual ability, who has gained several important cases by means of his unmistakable intelligence and eloquence. He has always taken great interest in political matters, being a strong Republican, but has no personal aspirations for public office, choosing to devote himself to his profession. Bowing to the wishes of the people, however, he represented the township in the Board of Supervisors in 1886-87, and is again serving in that capacity. The delegates to the County Convention have been instructed to nominate him as the choice of their constituency for the Legislature. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the knights of Pythias, and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Boyer is a lover of fine horses and is interested in the breeding of standard-bred Hambletonian and Mambrino-Patchen horses; at the head of his stud being Clipper Sprague Pilot, dam Mambrino Patchen.