Wife of William Carter Boatwright.

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1860 United States Federal Census
Name: Susan E Boatwright
Age in 1860: 21
Birth Year: abt 1839
Birthplace: Georgia
Home in 1860: Johnson, Texas
Gender: Female
Post Office: Grandview
Household Members: Name Age
Wm C Boatwright 26
Susan E Boatwright 21
Walter C Boatwright 2
Edward Harris 53 (laborer)

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1870 United States Federal Census
Name: Susan E Boatright
Age in 1870: 31
Birth Year: abt 1839
Birthplace: Georgia
Home in 1870: Beat 5, Johnson, Texas
Race: White
Gender: Female
Post Office: Grandview
Household Members: Name Age
W C Boatright 37
Susan E Boatright 31
Walter W Boatright 12
Sarah E Boatright 9

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WILLIAM C. BOATWRIGHT, farmer, Cleburne, Texas.- Worthy reference to the agricultural affairs of Johnson county, Texas, would be incomplete without due mention of Mr. Boatwright, among others engaged in tilling the soil, for he is not only prominent in that respect, but as a citizen and neighbor is held in the highest esteem. He was born in Elbert county, Georgia, in 1833, to the union of Daniel and Elizabeth (Carpenter) Boatwright (see sketch of Daniel J. Boatwright).

William C. Boatwright came to Johnson county, Texas, with his brother, Daniel J., in 1857, bought his present farm in 1860, settled upon it the following year, and is now the owner of 200 acres, with 127 acres under cultivation. He raises good crops of corn and cotton, and is engaged in the stock business on a small scale. When Mr. Boatwright first came to Johnson county he had but thirty-five cents and was $60 in debt. He first rented land but subsequently purchased his present property on which he erected a log cabin, the same now standing,-a faithful reminder of pioneer days.

In January 1862, Mr. Boatwright enlisted in Company A, Eighteenth Texas Cavalry, under Colonel Darnell, and served as a scout until he reached Arkansas Post, when he was captured with 4,000 others and taken to Camp Douglas, Chicago. He was exchanged at City Point, Virginia, and guarded Richmond after Stonewall Jackson was killed. Later he fought at Tullahoma, Tennessee, but retreated to Chattanooga and from there to Chickamanga, where he was wounded in the head and hip. He then went to his sister's, Mrs. Allin Teasly, remained there but fifteen days, when he returned and took part in the battle of Missionary Ridge. From there the army fell back to Tunnel Hill and Mr. Boatwright got a furlough for forty days. Returning to his command, he afterward operated cast of the Mississippi river, and early in 1865 he was mustered in Beard's command and was captured at Gainesville, Texas, by Brown's battalion. He was released, and, on making his way home from the war while trying to cross the Mississippi, he was compelled to lie in a swamp for two days and nights without anything to subsist on. Impressing into his service a boat at Rodney, Mississippi, from negroes (who were in United States employment) the Confederate boys, seven in number, captured boat, negroes and all, and made his way safely to Arkansas.

After the war he was engaged in well digging, in which business, on two occasions, he was badly wounded by premature blasts.

Mr. Boatwright was married in 1857, to Miss Susan Elizabeth O'Rear, daughter of Benjamin O'Rear. She died July 3, 1889, leaving two children: Walter Kennedy, who married Miss Rebecca Hesler, this county, and became the father of three children, one deceased: and Sarah Elizabeth (deceased), who married William Tidwell, by whom she had two children, one deceased.

Mr. Boatwright was married July 30, 1891, to Miss Johnnie Bell Hudlow, daughter of Thomas Ranson Hudlow and Sarah (Lovelady) Hudlow of this county. Mr. Boatwright is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having joined Cleburne Lodge, No. 315, in 1882, and is one of the county's pushing, enterprising citizens. He has led a quiet, uneventful life, but has ever been active in all enterprises for the advancement and growth of Johnson county. Mr. Boatwright has not gained his property by inheritance but by the honest sweat of his brow, and is one of the substantial citizens of the neighborhood. Mrs. Boatwright is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Source: The Memorial and Biographical History of Johnson and Hill Counties, Texas by the Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, 1892.

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SAND FLAT, TEXAS (Johnson County). Sand Flat is a rural community located on Farm Road 4 about six miles southeast of Cleburne in south central Johnson County. Settlers arrived in the area by the late 1850s, and the first pioneers included the Bennett, Walraven, and Boatwright families. On August 30, 1868, the New Hope Baptist Church of Christ was organized and Rev. J. R. Clarke served as pastor from 1869 to 1875. In 1874 the church name was changed to the Sand Flat Baptist Church of Christ. The earliest marked graves in the Sand Flat Cemetery date back to 1876. In 1882 the town received a post office under the name of Cuba, and in 1884 the Texas State Gazetteer listed Cuba with a population of fifty, supported by the church, a district school, gristmill, cotton gin, and several other businesses. By the mid-1890s the population had increased to seventy-five, and in 1898–99 the two-room school had thirty-two students. After the post office closed in 1904 the area was referred to as Sand Flat. County highway maps in the 1930s still showed the school as well as two businesses and scattered farms. In 1968 the church celebrated its 100th anniversary, and by the mid-1980s church membership consisted of about 300 people. No population figures were available in 2000.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Viola Block, History of Johnson County and Surrounding Area (Waco: Texian Press, 1970). Johnson County History Book Committee, The History of Johnson County, Texas (Dallas: Curtis Media Corporation, 1985).