William Boardman & Sons

The William Boardman firm was founded by William Boardman, son of Joseph Simeon Boardman and Lucinda Canfield Boardman. William Boardman was born in 1805 in Lenox, Massachusetts, where his parents were residing temporarily. By the end of 1805, the family had returned to Wethersfield, Connecticut. In 1841, William Boardman entered the grocery and coffee business with John Fox, operating under the firm name of Fox and Boardman. Teas added to business in 1858.

Fox and Boardman operated in Wethersfield, Connecticut, from 1841 until the partnership dissolved in 1844. William Boardman operated a business solely under his name from 1845 to 1850, also in Wethersfield. Boardman's oldest son, William F. J. Boardman (b. 1828), joined him as William Boardment & Son, from 1850 to 1853 in Hartford, Connecticut. When Boardman's younger son, Thomas Jefferson Boardman, joined the business it changed again, becoming William Boardman & Sons, in Hartford, between 1853 and 1888. Between 1853 and 1867 the firm was located at 109 State Street, and between 1867 and 1871 it was at 204 State Street. William F. J. Boardman retired from business in 1888, turning the business over to his brother and nephews.