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MEMOIR
OF
BRIG.-GEN. GEORGE B. BOOMER

Among the names of those who have followed the fortunes of our bleeding country, and who have died for it, is that of Brigadier-General Boomer, who was born in the town of Sutton, Worcester County, Mass., July 26, 1832.

George Boardman Boomer was the youngest child of the Rev. Job Borden Boomer, who, at the time of his son’s birth, had labored for nearly twenty years in the church of which he was the beloved pastor.

A visit to the parsonage, during the first few weeks of the life of young Boomer, by the Baptist missionary, George Boardman, decided his name; and many were the silent prayers offered to the wise Disposer of all things that the mantle of this self-sacrificing Christian man might, in future years, rest upon his infant namesake.

The early surroundings and influences of this child were of such a character as to refine the taste and elevate the heart. The pure, healthful atmosphere of the country cradled and nourished his infant years, - the glorious country,

At the early age of three years he was allowed to follow his own inclinations in attending the village school; but it

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was not until a subsequent period that he at all distinguished himself as a scholar. When eight years of age, he was placed at the academy in Uxbridge, at that time one of the best institutions in the country, and it was there, at his first examination, that the quiet, thoughtful child made his first impression that he was a boy of bright, interesting talents.

At that period he displayed but trifling ambition for study, knew nothing of the spirit of rivalry, cared little for a task, and applied no particular energy to it. Still his lessons were well learned and understood, - an unceasing wonder to all who were familiar with his apparently indolent habits. With a retentive memory, and an ability to grasp the reasons of things, the conclusions were self-evident.

It was objected by his parents at that time that he should commence the study of Latin, on the ground that he was too young to comprehend it, and that the task would be too difficult; but his teacher, who understood his capacities better, overruled the matter, and, after a few faithful efforts, the dry Latin seemed to yield to his will as easily as his more simple studies.

The four succeeding years of his life were spent in the beautiful village of East Brookfield, where he had the same opportunity to enjoy the loveliness of nature that was afforded him in the place of his birth. Scarcely had the new pastor established himself with his congregation, ere his bright little boy, sitting in the front pew with a careless air and merry countenance, was the observed of all, and much attention was given to the child.

During his residence in that place the young people of the community formed themselves into a society for mutual improvement. They issued a paper, which was read at

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their gatherings. Young George felt that he could not allow his capacities of ten years to remain dormant while such a field of mental effort was suggested to him; so, calling the little boys of his own age together, they organized themselves into a society, based upon the same plan which was adopted by their seniors.

While pursuing his studies here, he made rapid progress; his ambition was stirred; the school was advantageous; and, added to that, he could not but reap great benefit from coming in contact with the highly cultivated mind of his brother-in-law, Mr. Daggett.

These school-days bore the first evidences of mental discipline, which served the desired purpose of awakening more and more the thirst for study. He seemed also to be roused by the first impulses of manhood, to feel how much there was in life, "how brief man’s earthly span," and how precious the moments were as they passed.

A few months subsequent he was placed at the Worcestor Academy.

The first months of these school-days seemed the very acme of happiness to young Boomer. Filled with all the ardor of youth, impressed with an unflinching desire not to study merely but to advance, enthusiastic to a fault, resolute in his plans, sanguine for the future, he naturally looked directly forward, and saw only a straight road, along which he felt strong enough to walk, defying any crooked lines which might appear, and battling with the "lions in the way."

When finishing his preparatory course, with the goal in sight, he began to suffer from pain in his eyes; but thinking them only overtasked, he allowed them a few months’ respite, and commenced using them with renewed zeal.

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This trial was followed by another disappointment. Still, as he gave no intimation of yielding his design to pursue a course of study, his friends urged him to give up, for a year, the idea, and engage in some healthful out-door occupation, as he was then very young to enter upon his collegiate course. An opportunity soon presented itself for traveling in the northern parts of Vermont and New Hampshire, which he gratefully accepted. For a time this disappointment seemed only "a blessing in disguise," affording a delightful exchange from the close confinement of the school room to the beautiful scenery of the Green Mountains. Nature often proves to be man’s best teacher, - "she unseals the eye, illumes the mind, and purifies the heart."

After a year thus spent he returned to his books again, with his mind and heart all in fine condition for the accomplishment of his long expected plans; but bitter the decree, - the nerves of his eyes were so affected that they could not be used of consecutive study, for years.

He was at this time seventeen years of age, with a mind remarkably mature, uncommonly disciplined, and well stored with general information. All his wishes and plans and thoughts had been given to study. Hopeful in his disposition, he had not dreamed that such an apparently slight difficulty could triumph over so healthy a body which contained so strong a will.

This was a crushing event, the great sorrow of his life, and at that time bowed him to the earth. It seemed too much for him to bear. Life, his life, was denied him. The medium through which he looked into the future was dark, the road he had designed to walk was closed to him forever. What could he do? Whither cold he turn?

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Ardent, earnest, enthusiastic, with the soul of a poet, how could he yield all his tastes, his own heart’s longings, for what seemed to him, at that time, the wearisome pursuits of business men?

He was poor, and knew the necessity of personal effort. He felt its dignity, and gloried in the fact that every man was most a man when carving his own name in the world; but he had read his future through the discipline of study, and was not prepared to make so great a sacrifice as to abandon it.

This was a struggle, a terrible conflict, which lasted for months. He battled against his own reason, against the testimony of medical men, against the advice of those who loved him best; but the strength of his purposes was such that it was not easy to surrender what he had so determinedly marked for his earthly career; and when at last he saw the folly of wasting time in regrets, and felt how important it was that he should acquire a knowledge of business, it was that he might ultimately, in some way, gratify his early ambition for study.

Notwithstanding this severe shock, this great trial of his character, yet the important fact of life, with all its relations and connections, stood out before him, and his discipline, which called for patience and endurance, so requisite for the future struggle, was not unheeded.

In the winter of 1851 Mr. L. B. Boomer, an elder brother, and Mr. A. B. Stone, a brother-in-law, entered upon an extensive business of bridge building throughout the Western and Southwestern States. The headquarters of this new firm was established at Chicago, Ill.; yet some important contracts in Missouri made it necessary that they should open

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an office in St. Louis; and it was in the charge of this department that Mr. Boomer first entered upon his business career, at the age of nineteen years.

This was a great event in his history, and fraught with many forebodings. He had been reared in the atmosphere of religious sentiment, and the associations of his home had been such as to stir within him a loving humanity, sanctified by the holy convictions of religious truth. He had always preferred the quiet fireside of his home, by the side of his mother, to the common pastimes of boyhood; and to make the great change, to launch into the world of men, so far from all that had hitherto surrounded him, to make for himself a new world, was an unanswered problem.

After he had decided the question, to go or not to go, in his own mind, he submitted its final decision to his mother, whose judgment he had always trusted, and who, at great cost, with many prayers and tears, bade her son depart, trusting that the protecting power of an all wise God would do more towards guiding his steps aright than earthly father of mother.

In leaving the home of his childhood for one of his own making, Mr. Boomer was manly and full of courage. But that he had given thought and reflection to the subject, and that with such thoughts and reflections success would certainly crown his efforts, is evident by the following truthful ideas; -

"But why quarrel with my fate? Nay, why quarrel with God’s plans, so much better than mine? I have my own individual life, my personal existence, with all the thoughts, feelings, wishes, and emotions of a man. Therefore I am not poor. I am not impoverished. On the other

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hand, I have great possessions, - more than I can possibly comprehend.

"But this great wealth of life and being impose upon me responsibilities. My physical and mental existence are, in a great measure, at my own disposal. I am to work with them; and if I refuse to bear the yoke in my youth, what can I expect to be the condition of my mental and moral character in mature years?"

"There are many weeds which spring up in the garden of the mind, and if the soil is fertile, strong labor will be required to eradicate them. Man is a strange commixture of good and ill, and he is often short-sighted in his tendencies to good. In my disappointment, then, I must not presume to defy my fate. I must yield my own will when it seems plainly overruled by the great Omnipotent; for I cannot lift the veil which links my present existence with my earthly future, leading on, as it does, to the eternal years."

"Man’s thirst for knowledge is often another name for ambition, a disguise for power, which degenerates into the weakest vanity, and ruins the whole character; whereas the truly great is often made so by the discipline arising from contending with the greatest difficulties and surmounting the greatest obstacles."

"There is a philosophy, as weak as it is unjust, awarding no true greatness to moral heroes; passing coldly by those noble souls who do not find ‘their paradise under the shadow of swords.’"

"Thank Heaven there are but few such philosophers, a better, truer estimate upon the grandeur of moral actions."