William K. Boone

William Kenneth Boone (1875–1944), a U.S. citizen, was a "distinguished philanthropist and benefactor of the city" of Xalapa, Veracruz.

Throughout his life he sent numerous letters, postcards, and photographs to his parents and sisters at home. These were kept by his family in Lima and eventually found their way to his (only) granddaughter, who thereby was able to piece together most of his story as well as to integrate his collection of images and documents into .

He was born in Lima, Ohio, on April 9, 1875, to William McKelvey Boone (1834–1913), retired colonel, veteran of the Civil War and successful businessman (W. K. Boone Hardware Store), who had moved from Hughesville, PA, through Wooster, OH, finally settling down in Lima. His mother was Mary Elizabeth Heffelfinger (1834–1927).

He was related to two outstanding figures in American history who were an inspiration to him and his descendants: Daniel Boone and Abraham Lincoln.

He enrolled at what was then called the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, OH, which he attended for two years (1895–1896), just around the times of the Chicago World's Fair and its electrical exhibits (1893) and the famous Michelson–Morley experiment on the nature and speed of light conducted at this institute.

While working for the Lima Locomotive Works, he applied for a job in Xalapa and was accepted, so he travelled by train from Lima and arrived in Xalapa in February 1898, at 22 years of age, hardly speaking any Spanish, to work as supervisor of operations for the Texolo hydroelectric power plant.

From 1900 to 1904 he resided in California and worked in the electrical operations of the Homestake Mining Company, in gold and silver mines near Lundy, California. He also worked at another one of their mines: Frenchtown Camp in the Kern River Canyon of the Greenhorn Mountains near Bakersfield.

...
Wikipedia