James McClellan Boal

James "Jimmy" McClellan Boal[lower-alpha 1] (c. 1811–1862) was an American artist, trader, and politician who served in the Minnesota Territorial Council and House of Representatives from 1849 until 1853.

James McClellan Boal
Member of the Minnesota Territorial Council
In office
September 3, 1849 – January 6, 1852
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byWilliam L. Larned
Member of the Minnesota Territorial House of Representatives
In office
January 7, 1852 – January 4, 1853
Succeeded byAlfred Elisha Ames
Personal details
Bornc. 1811
Pennsylvania
Diedc. 1862
Mendota, Minnesota
Political partyWhig
Other political
affiliations		Republican Party of Minnesota
OccupationArtist
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1833–1846

Biography

Boal was born c. 1811 in Pennsylvania. He enlisted as a drummer and went to Fort Snelling. He was bunkmates with Joseph R. Brown, a fifer. He then traveled to St. Paul and established himself as a house and sign painter. He was elected as one of the first Councillors of the territory by a vote of 98 to 91. His fellow Whig[1] partisans were apparently so happy he had won that they paraded him through the streets of the city with a chariot made from an oxcart. He served as a Councillor from 1849 until 1852 and then served as a Representative from then until early January of 1853. He was also appointed as the territorial adjutant general by Governor Alexander Ramsey from 1849 until 1853.[2]

Boal would go on to become a founding member of the Republican Party of Minnesota in 1855.[2] He had received a letter from the Republican Territorial Committee saying that Boal "[held] the principles of the Republican Party, and [could] be relied upon as a Leading Man in [his] vicinity, to be active in forwarding the organization of the Republican movement in this Territory."[3]

Boal moved to Mendota from Saint Paul sometime before his death in 1862. A street in Saint Paul is named after him, though it uses the erroneous spelling of his last name, McBoal.[2]

Notes
  1. Boal's last name is often erroneously listed as "McBoal"

References
  1. "Circular of the Whig Members of the Legislature in Relation to the Disposition of the Public Printing". The Minnesota Pioneer. 13 February 1851. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  2. Minnesota in Three Centuries, 1655-1908. Publishing Society of Minnesota. 1908. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  3. "The genesis of the Republican Party in Minnesota" (PDF). Minnesota History: 24–30. Retrieved February 10, 2021.
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