Joseph Louis Boulden
Civil War Veteran, Blacksmith, Settler 1838 - 1913
By Larry L. Boulden: Joseph Louis Boulden was born on September 12, 1838 in Piqua, Miami County, Ohio to William Henry and Dorcas Boulden. The marriage was short lived and his father left when he was just a baby. Shortly thereafter Joseph moved into the home of his grandmother Nancy Boulden (Patterson). William Henry Boulden then married Elizabeth Daniels with whom he had 4 children. Joseph was very young when he joined the Army, fighting with the 1st New Mexico regiment on the Union side in the American Civil War. Upon leaving the army after the war he migrated to Utah and married Matilda Caroline "Tillie" Curtis on June 11, 1869. Joseph was a blacksmith by trade. He was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints but never part in the church. Joseph and Matilda were in the first group of settlers to reach Castle Dale, Utah and are honored to this day in the Castle Valley Pageant.
Joseph Louis Boulden was born Sept. 12, 1838 in Piqua, Miami Co., Ohio, the son of William Henry Boulden and Dorcas Warner Boulden (b). In the 1840 census, his family has left Piqua, and appears in adjoining Auglaize County. We surmise that they found work there on the great canal project, driving a canal between local rivers to permit shippers to reach lake Erie. At that time, Great Lake St. Mary was dredged as a water supply for the canal, and thousands of laborers flocked to the area to find work.
By Bessie Lee Boulden Jenkins Brasher: When Gwen and I were just small children, Mother would take us down to Grandpa and Grandma Boulden's home. They had a log house with a long front porch built the full length of the house. The house faced the west and Grandpa Boulden would sit and rock us. He would put one of us on each knee and peel oranges for us to eat. He loved all of his grandchildren