The family of Boardman takes its origin in England from William, surnamed "Le Bois de Main," or, "of the wooden hand," a Norman and a follower of William the Conqueror. This William had a grant of two Knight's fees of land in the county of Suffolk, as is mentioned in the "Domesday Book." From this family descended Sir Andrew Boardman, the favorite of King Henry VIII, who gave him in marriage the hand of his ward, Lady Katherine Howard, daughter of the Earl of Berkshire and ultimately the heiress of her father. Lady Katherine was first cousin to Queen Katherine and niece to the Duke of Norfolk. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth two of the sons of Sir Andrew Boardman held command under the Earl of Leicester in the expedition to Ireland against the Desmond, and one of them having a grant of forfeited lands in that country, settled there and was the progenitor of the family of that name in Ireland. The English branch of the family now reside in Suffolk. Arms: Argent, a chevron vert. bordered, gules, ducally gorged and chained or. The chevron shows that he to whom the arms were granted had been present at the siege of a city; the lion in the crest shows that he commanded and that the enemy retreated, leaving him master of the field, and the ducal coronet shows that the enemy was one of the sovereign Dukes of France, and that he, or one of his family, had been taken prisoner is shown by the chain. The arms of Boardman are quartered with those of Howard in right of the wife of Sir Andrew. By this marriage they are descended from Edward the Confessor, Huge [Hugh?] Capet, King of France, and Rudolph, the first Emperor of Germany. The American history of the family begins in 1635. The name in early colonial records is written Boreman — there being of that name among the early settlers Thomas of Barnstable, Thomas of Ipswich, Samuel of Ipswich and Wethersfield, and William of Guilford, Connecticut — Borman, Bordman, Boarman, Bourman and Boardman. Two of the English emigrants, Thomas and Samuel, were of Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1635. They are not known to have been related. Samuel removed to Wethersfield, Connecticut. Thomas appears from the Ipswich records to have been a cooper by trade. He was granted a "Home lot" on High street in 1636 and was made a freeman the same year. In 1637 he was a deputy. There are records of other grants to him including an island of fifty-five acres. He was a commoner in 1641 and taxed among the highest in the town. Boardman's Bridge spanned "Labor in Vain" creek and Boardman street yet testifies to the family prominence. He made his will in 1670, and June 19, 1673, it was probated. His widow Margaret made a will 1679, probated March 30, 1680. They had seven children. Descendants of Thomas Boreman settled in Connecticut and the two families are prominently mentioned in many of the town histories. There is a similarity of names among the descendants of Thomas and Samuel Boreman which leads to confusion.
Samuel Boardman, the Connecticut ancestor of the Boardmans of Whitehall and descendant of Thomas Boreman, of Ipswich, was born about 1760, and was of the fifth generation in America. He settled in Voluntown, Connecticut, coming to that place from Holland. He married a Miss Lancy. Children: Joseph, Henry, Samuel, Horatio and Cyrus.
(VI) Cyrus, son of Samuel Boardman, was born at Voluntown, Connecticut, August 5, 1795. He was usually called Captain Boardman; he was in the transportation business on Lake Champlain between Rouse's Point, Burlington and Whitehall, owning a number of schooners. He settled in Whitehall, where he bought land, originally the Law place, but now known as the Boardman homestead. For a time he was employed by the Rensselaer and Saratoga railroad, having charge of the Lake Champlain steamers plying between Whitehall and Rouse's Point and all lighthouses on the lake. He was a director of the old Whitehall Bank, and was for many years a prominent member of the Episcopal church, serving first as vestryman and later as warden. For some time before his death he attended the Presbyterian church. He was held in high esteem by Masonic circles. He obtained the charter for Phoenix Lodge, No. 96, Free and Accepted Masons. He married (first) May 1, 1818, Silence Jakeway, born November 13, 1799, died October 7, 1844; (second) July 8, 1845, Mary Cathalina Taft, widow of Orrin Blanchard, born January 29, 1811. Children by first wife:
- Samuel J., born November 25, 1820.
- Saphronia, May 26, 1829.
By second wife:
- Cyrus Taft, see forward.
- Mary Saphronia, September 9, 1850, died September 19, 1903; married, September 15, 1870, Henry Clay Nye, son of Dennis P. and Lucy Rand (Thomas) Nye, born January 29, 1846, died November 13, 1898. Children:
- Mabel Lucy, born May 8, 1871, married Gamaliel Baker Chase, born February 15, 1865, son of Ellison and Mary Ann Chase; children:
- Gladys Cathalina, born February 26, 1894;
- Ellison Nye, June 22, 1898;
- Mary Saphronia, November 1, 1902;
- Henry Baker, July 1, 1906.
- Henry Boardman, born June 1, 1881, died November 17, 1893.
- Mabel Lucy, born May 8, 1871, married Gamaliel Baker Chase, born February 15, 1865, son of Ellison and Mary Ann Chase; children:
(VII) Cyrus Taft, son of Cyrus and Mary C. (Taft) Boardman, was born in the old homestead at Whitehall, New York, November 21, 1848. He was educated in the Whitehall Academy and the military school at White Plains, New York. He was bookkeeper for Chapin & Allen at Whitehall for twelve years. He has been engaged in various occupations, in the freight department of the Delaware and Hudson railroad at Whitehall for three years, in the knitting mills at Cohoes, etc. He retired from active work in 1907. He served in the militia and in the National Guard for a number of years, enlisting in the Second Separate Company which afterwards became the Ninth Separate Company and later Company I, Second Regiment. He was armorer of this company. He transferred to Company B at Cohoes. In 1898 he resigned from the National Guard. He has always been active in local politics and is now assessor for the village of Whitehall. He is a member of the Episcopal church. He married Matilda Isabel Wheeler. Children:
- Mary C., married (first) Charles Swift, who died in 1906, married (second) J. S. Brown;
- Margaret K., married Frank Burt, Jr., two children: Dorothy and Marjorie;
- Cyrus W., attending Eagan Business College in New York City.