Napoleon Bonaparte Bostian (1848 - abt. 1933)

Born Mar 1848 in Bankston, Choctaw County, Mississippi, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1933 at about age 84 in Monticello, Drew County, Arkansas, United States

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Biography

Napoleon Bonaparte Bostian was the son of John W. and Martha (Farmer) Bostian. He was born and raised in Choctaw County, MS. His known siblings were Mary, John W.Bostian Jr., James Calvin Bostian, and William Madison Bostian.

He would meet and marry his wife, Mary Elizabeth Franks, in the Choctaw Co. town of Bankston, a textile mill town where they both lived, which provided cloth and shoes for the Confederacy until it was burned down in December of 1864.

Napoleon and Mary married in Mississippi ca. 1867. They would leave Mississippi for Texas after their second child was born. They stayed for a short time there, where their third child was born, and then moved to Cornerville in southwestern Lincoln Co. AR where the remainder of their children would be born.

Napoleon and Mary, along with at least two of their sons, would eventually move near Monticello, AR. Napoleon, aged 74, and Mary, aged 67, were listed in the household of their son, Van, during the 1920 US Census, Marion Twp, Drew Co. Arkansas, with son, James F.'s family living next door. The Census listed the dwellings as being on the "Monticello - Pine Bluff Road", which may be the current Highway 425, but this is uncertain. (I believe my father once told me his grandparents, James Franks and Victoria Bostian, had lived on Barkada Road at least at some point. I know one of their children lived on Barkada Road since we had visited them there in the late 1990s. -jah)

The known children of Napoleon and Mary were 1. Alice, 2. William "Billy", 3. James Franks "Jim", 4. John W. "Johnnie", 5. Edward, 6. Levianna, 7. Ruth, 8. Ezra, 9. Carrel, 10. Hattie, and 11. Van. The 1900 US Census stated that Mary was the mother of eleven children, with eight being alive at that present time.

One Bostian genealogy record stated that Napoleon died in 1933, but this author has been unable to find his death record. His wife's death certificate of 1930 stated that he was still living. He would have been 85 at his death if 1933 is correct.

His place of burial is unknown, but his wife is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Monticello, AR, and I believe he may be buried next to her in an unmarked grave.

A grandson of Napoleon's brother, James Calvin, recalled that his father called him "Uncle Nip".

Notes:

This bio is basically the same as his Find A Grave bio because I created and manage both.

Napoleon's name has been spelled Napolean, Napolian, and even Napolem in various census records, but I chose to use the original spelling since it's likely that was his parents' original intent and I've no reason to think they would have veered from it.

Sources

U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=161164544&ref=acom

Arkansas, Confederate Pension Records, 1891-1935 https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2281&h=1205&ssrc=pt&tid=18391668&pid=240179102288&usePUB=true

U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=60901&h=610290486&ssrc=pt&tid=2598119&pid=488745629&usePUB=true

• [1] 1920 US Census, Monticello, Drew County, AR

• 1900 US Census, Mill Creek Twp, Lincoln County, AR

• 1860 US Census, Bankston, Choctaw County, AR

• [2] 1850 US Census Choctaw County, AR

• Arkansas State Board of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics-Death Certificate of James F. Bostian

• Various family members

Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.