Armstrong Irvine "Joel" Blackburn

Notes:

Mary Frances Smith Fisher provided the following transcription of his obituary from the NEW ORLEANS CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, 9 Nov 1867

Departed this life, September 19, 1867 in the town of Columbia, Miss., Doctor A.J. Blackburn, a local deacon of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

Bro. Blackburn was born in East Feliciana Parish, October 11, 1801. He was the son of one of the first settlers in that part of the state; and his father before him was a prominent and useful local preacher in the church.

The doctor having embraced religion at a very early age, commenced preaching when 19 years old, and the practice of medicine at 23; and thro' life maintained an unspotted reputation as a minister and physician, administering alike to the souls and bodies of men, with such faithfulness, zeal and kindness, as won for him an enviable position and a consecrated remembrance in the hearts and minds of those who knew him.

In 1866, he took work in the Mississippi Conference and was appointed to Covington, La, where his gentlemanly bearing, polished urbanity and deep piety endeared him to all his flock. Tho' possessed of considerable preaching abilities, he had to mourn to see so little fruit of his toils; and tho' like the prophet, he had to exclaim "Lord who hath believed our report;" yet his record was on high, for he was one of those who "signed and cried for the abominations of the people."

At the close of the year, his health begining to fail, and feeling his work nearly finished, he returned to Washington Parish, La.; but here he was not idle. By day and by night, as long as he was able, he attended the sick, and filled an appointment monthly, on a circuit left without a preacher, till being called to attend the Columbia Court, he was taken sick on the way, was conveyed to the town where he had long resided. In his brief illness exclaimed, in relation to eternity, "all is bright." Then requesting to be carried to the gallery, took a last look at his old home; gave his parting blessing to his son of many prayers, and calmly and resignedly breather his sould into the bosom of his God. "The righteous are taken from the evil to come." G. T. Vickers.

Per Mary Frances Smith Fisher, he went to California during the Gold Rush. A son that was with him was killed by Indians per a tale from the Cole line of the family. In 1850 he was not located on the Marion County, MS census, possibly already in California, as a Marion County probate record was filed on 18 Feb 1851 noting that "Said Armstrong J. Blackburn, who is now in the State of California...." His wife, Susan, can be found in Marion County, Mississippi in 1850, page 401, Family #274/278, living alone.


She also noted that in MARION COUNTY MISSISSIPPI MARRIAGE BOOKD C, PAGES 7-9, the credentials of Armstrong J. Blackburn (as a minister) were recorded and they were accepted by the probate court of Marion County in the July term 1837. He married many early Marion county couples, including his brother Ferdinand B. Blackburn to Miss Sarah Tyner.




(Research):
Census Information:

1840 Census
Mississippi, Marion County
Stamped 115
A. J. Blackburn

Free White Males
Under 5-0
5 thru 9-1
10-14-0
15 thru 19-1
20 thru 29-0
30 thru 39-1
Free White Females
Under 5-0
5 thru 9-0
10-14-0
15 thru 19-0
20 thru 29-0
30 thru 39-1

Slaves
Female 36 thru 54-1

Total All Persons 5
Person employed in Learned professions/engineers: 1


1850 Census
Mississippi, Marion County
Enumerated 6 Sept 1850
Stamped 291
274-278
S. D. Blackburn 47 F $200 NC


1860 Census
Mississippi, Marion County, P. O. Columbia
Enumerated 4 July 1860
Page 1
4-4
G. F. Blackburn 34 M School Teacher $1200 $3500 Tenn
Elizabeth Blackburn 24 F Miss
A. J. Blackburn 58 M M. D. La

Susan is listed on the 1860 Mortality Schedule, having died in December 1859.

Armstrong married Susan B. ??? on 23 Sep 1823 in Dallas County, Alabama. Susan was born on 27 Mar 1797 in Stokes County, North Carolina; died on 12 Dec 1859 in Marion County, Mississippi. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Gabriel Francis Blackburn was born on 30 Aug 1824 in Tennessee; died on 2 Mar 1878 in Cooke County, Texas.
2. Armstrong Irvine Blackburn, Jr. was born after 1825 in Tennessee; died on 20 Sep 1843 in Marion County, Mississippi.

Notes:

The following was copied from the notes of Mary Frances SMITH Fisher of Jackson, Mississippi, loaned to Melinda McLemore Strong by Esther McGrew Hardin ca 1998:

New Orleans Christian Advocate October 12, 1859

The following obituary was written by Rev. William Winans, an early Mississippi circuit riding preacher, from information [presumably] told him by Gabriel Blackburn. "G. Blackburn was born in Samson (sic) County, North Carolina, in the year 1769; was carried thence by his parents, at two years old, to Caroline County, S.C. (?). Two other removes brought him near to Georgetown, in the same State, where he married at the age of twenty-one years. In 1793 he removed to the State of Tennessee; in 1797, to the neighborhood of Natchez, in the then Mississippi Territory. His next remove was into West Florida-then a Spanish Province-near where the town of Jackson now stands. Finally, he removed to the neighborhood of Monticello, in the State of Mississippi, where he died several years ago, "rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God."

Notes: Sampson County, NC was formed in 1784 from Duplin, Johnston, & New Hanover counties. Several early Blackburns were in this area, but no proof has been located on who his parents were. The 1790 South Carolina Census verifies his location in that area as he is listed as living in Georgetown District, Prince Fredericks Parish. He was shown as married on the census. No records of him in Tennessee have been discovered. Fisher speculates that Rev. Winans apparently lost contact with Gabriel Blackburn, as he did not show the correct location of death.

THE NATCHEZ COURT RECORDS 1767-1805, ABSTRACTS OF EARLY RECORDS by May Wilson McBee

This book verifies his presence in Natchez. On page 391, (a record of Book B, Land Claims) claim #452, page 345, Gabriel Blackburn and William Dunbar were the witnesses on May 9, 1798 to a deed where John Wylie, of Natchez, sold to David Ferguson 100 square acres for $150


SPANISH WEST FLORIDA INDEX, YEAR 1806

Reference 1209, Film Roll 89 Gabriel Blackburn sold 400 arpents in "New Feliciana" to John Rhea for 400 pesos cash on 9 September 1806. This is the same property listed on page 43 of the above referenced American State Papers. It was a Spanish Grant, and the document was written in Spanish and transcribed for the West Feliciana Parish records. From the transcription: "I, Don Carlos de Grand-Pre', Colonial of the Royal Armies, Military and Civil Governor of the Post and District of Baton Rogue, certify that I know the grantors who signed with Samuel Fulton and Thomas Estevan."

Witnesses: Carlos de Grand-Pre', Samuel Fulton, Thomas Estevan, GABRIEL BLACKBURN, John Scott


AMERICAN STATE PAPERS Vol 3, page 43

Register of Claims to land in the district west of Pearl River, in Louisiana, founded on complete grants derived from either the French, British, or Spanish Governments, which in the opinion of the undersigned commissioners are valid, agreeable to the laws, usages, or customs of such Governments. Item #194. By whom claimed: Gabriel Blackburn, Original claimant: G. Blackburn, Nature of claim: Spanish Patent, Date of claim: 18 Sept 1809 Quantity Claimed: 400 arpents, Where situated: Feliciana, By whom issued: J. Morales, When surveyed: 27 July 1799, By whom surveyed: V. Pintado, Cultivation and Inhabitation: 1805-1814


AMERICAN STATE PAPERS Vol 3, page 65, Item #15

Claimed by: Gabriel Blackburn, Qty: 800, Where: Feliciana, General remarks: Papers carried to Pensacola by V.S. Pintado

AMERICAN STATE PAPERS Vol 3, Page 468, Item #50

Present Claimant: David Thomas, Original Claimant: Gabriel Blackburn, Nature of Claim: Plat and Certification, Quantity: 817, Where: Feliciana, By whom issued: Carondelet, When surveyed: 21 August 1805, By whom surveyed: V. Pintado, Inhabitation and Cultivation: 1806-1820

In the NOTORIAL BOOK E, PAGE 130-131, EAST FELICIANA PARISH, CLINTON, LOUISIANA, in a document dated 12 March 1817, it appears that Gabriel Blackburn of Feliciana sold to David Thomas of Mississippi the above referenced tract of land (pg. 65 and pg. 468) for $2,500

NOTORIAL BOOK B, PAGE 13, WEST FELICIANA PARISH, ST. FRANCISVILLE, LOUISIANA shows Gabriel Blackburn as "Constable for the Parish of Feliciana, Territory of Orleans." This document refers to the date "24 July 1812" and was recorded on 10 December 1818. He would have been constable prior to 30 April 1812, when Louisiana became a state, but after Feliciana Parish was formed.

LOUSIANA SOLDIERS IN THE WAR OF 1812 compiled by Marion John Bennett Pierson

P. 12 Gabriel Blackburn, Alexander S. Blackburn (his eldest son) Gabriel Blackburn-1 Sgt.-Pvt.-Capt. Griffith's Co. Mounted Riflemen, La. Vols. Alexander S. Blackburn-Pvt.-Capt. Griffith's Co. Mounted Riflemen, La. Vols. I. Blackburn-Pvt.-First Regiment (de jan's) La. Militia (relationship unknown)

(All Louisiana information was supplied to Mrs. Fisher by Jean Loflin of Baton Rouge, a fellow Stringer researcher)

Land Patents from the Department of Interior and National Archives
St. Stephens Land Office
Patent #1505 Patent dated Dec. 1, 1830
Recorded in Vol. 24, Page 309 (Washington)
Date of Sales 29 Jan 1816
Original Purchaser, William McGREW
Amount 160.12 acres
Location Twp 4 North, Range 17 West, SE 1/4 of Section One
To whom Patented Gabriel Blackburn
Date of Final Certificate 23 Jun 1829
Signed by President Andrew Jackson

The reverse side of the receipt #546 reads as follows: "I, William McGrew do transfer all wright, title, and interest to the within Certificate over to Gabriel Blackburn this third day of February 1817." Acknowledged before the day and year just written, Wm. Lott, Q. M. (Justice of the Quorum)

BOUNTY REQUEST from the National Archives 1855- Rejected File #184522 War of 1812, re-examined 9 January 1857 "Gabriel Blackburn Sgt. served in Captain Llewellyn Griffith's Co, LA Militia from 29 Oct until 22 Jan 1815, when he was reduced in ranks and served as private till 24 Mar 1815." (After the Battle of New Orleans, while he was in service in that area, so it is probable he took part in that battle). This bounty request was filed from Milam, Sabine County, Texas on June 23, 1855 by Gabriel's daughter, Elizabeth Blackburn McGrew, widow of Alexander McGrew.

It reads:

"STATE OF TEXAS, COUNTY OF SABINE

On this 18th day of June AD 1855 personally appeared before me the undersigned authority, authorized to administer oaths for general purposes within and for the said county, ELIZABETH MCGREW aged 59 years, a resident of said county and State who being by me duly sworn according to the law on oath declares that, affidavit: Alexander S. Blackburn, Harriet Freeland, Armstrong J. Blackburn, Feliciana Cole, Ferdinand Blackburn, and Frances A. Means are the sole surviving heirs of Gabriel Blackburn, deceased, being (the) deceaseds own children, that the said Gabriel Blackburn died in the year 1848, that said Gabriel Blackburn is the identical person who voluntered a Private in the company commanded by Captain Griffith, name of Col. and no of regiment not recollected, in the war with Great Britian declared by the United States on the 18th day of June 1812, that he voluntered 1813 for and during the war and continued in active service in said war for something near one year and was honorably discharged, thinks at New Orleans. She makes this declaration for the purpose of obtaining Bounty Land, for self and co-heirs, which they may be entitled to under the acts of Congress, heretofore passed, Granting Bounty Lands to certain officers, soldiers who have been engaged in the military services of the United States" she further states that "she has not received a warrant for Bounty Land under the act of Congress nor made any other application therefor is this Behalf." Signed Elizabeth McGrew Witnessed by Gideon A. Norford and James M. Weathered, residents of Sabine County. who declared that they were well acquantied with Gabriel Blackburn, and that he died in Sabine in 1848.

Note: The clerks lined out the names of: Harriet Freeland, Armstrong J. Blackburn, Feliciana Cole, and Ferdinand Blackburn, presumably because they had never been to Texas and were not personally known to the clerks.

In a letter from Mary Fisher to Esther McGrew Hardin of San Antonio, she asks "Do you have the reference that states "Gabriel Blackburn had the reputation for making the best corn whiskey in the Mississippi Territory?" Someone told me about this but they could not locate it and they could not remember where they found it. I would love to have a copy...I did locate one statement in "Mississippi as a Providence, Territory and State" by Gov. C.C. Claiborne that might be what they were thinking about. 'The Creek Indians stole a large lot of whiskey belonging to Parson Blackburn.' This was in the chapter "Natchez in the Olden Times", page 528. It went on to say he was an eminent "Presbyterian" clergyman, so I am not sure if it was Gabriel or not. Do you have the New Orleans Christian Advocate article? It is the most fascinating thing that I have found. It tells how Gabriel plotted to kill a man before he became a Christian. Let me know if you need it."

In her reply, Esther McGrew Hardin cited the book "Annals of Tennessee" by Ramsey, in which there is a story of Gideon Blackburn, who established with Samuel Doak a Presbyterian college, and became a noted Presbyterian preacher. Esther stated that this must be the Pastor Blackburn who had the stash of whiskey stolen by the Indians. She noted other references to Gideon Blackburn in the Mississippi History by Claiborne and in "Tennessee Cousins" by Worth S. Ray. Esther believes it possible that Gideon and Gabriel were related, and this might be why Gabriel went to Tennessee.

According to Blanche Finley Toole of Sabine County, Texas, Gabriel Blackburn's home was just west of the Old Milam cemetery and his Gristmill was located on Borreagus Creek. This property later (much later) became the property of the John W. Allen family. Allen descendants still live there and know where the old lost cemetery is. According to an article in the August 26, 1965 SABINE COUNTY REPORTER entitled "Mrs. Etta Nichols Speaks on History of Low's Chapel.. "Long leaf virgin timber grew prolifically in the vicinity at the Allen Saw Mill on Palo Guacho Creek."

Gabriel may have been buried in the Old Milam cemetery, or his body may have been returned to Columbia, Mississipi to be interred on his old homeplace on Highway 13, on property owned in 1963 by a Mr. Polk.





(Research):

Census Information:


1840 Census
Mississippi, Marion County
Stamped 116

Gabriel Blackburn

Free White Males
70 thru 79-1

Free White Females
70 thru 79-1


Slaves

Males 36 thru 54-2
Females 36 thru 54-2

Total All Persons 6
Person employed in agriculture:: 3

Ancestry also shows a Gabriel Blackburn on the 1841 Marion County, Mississippi State Census and on the 1845 Marion County, Mississippi State Census. Additonally, there is a Gabriel Blackburn in Lawrence County, Mississippi in 1841.

They also show Gabriel Blackburn of Sabine County on the Republic of Texas Poll List for 1846, as well as being on the Texas Tax list for 1846.

Gabriel married Frances Tyner before 1790 in Georgetown District, South Carolina. Frances was born about 1768 in South Carolina; died on 15 Jul 1853 in DeWitt County, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She might have instead been born in North Carolina. Per affidavit of Richard Eugene Blackburn (courtesy of Mary Frances Smith Fisher, by way of Rozier Dedwylder), she was a sister of Sarah Tyner who married Robert Lott who was murdered at his home on Black Creek by the Copeland Gang in 1844. Mary Frances Smith Fisher notes that her father might be Benjamin Tyner.

Blanche Toole of Sabine County instead shows her maiden name as IRVINE. This may simply have been speculation based on son Armstrong Irvine Blackburn's middle name.

Mary Frances Fisher Smith had in her notes, from Dr. Johnie L. Reeves of Austin, the following obituary:

The Gonzalez Inquirer
Gonzalez, Texas
16 July 1853, page. 3, Col. 1
Microfilm, The Eugene C. Barker Texas History Center, Austin, Texas

Died after a prolonged illness, on the 15th inst., at the residence of Col. W. Means, Mrs. FRANCES BLACKBURN, age 93 years.

She emigrated to east Texas in 1843, thence to western Texas in '49. She was a warm and devoted Christian, having been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church 45 years, during which time she was the subject of many and severe trials, all of which she bore with Christian meekness and resignation. She was indeed, and in truth a help-mate for her husband, he being a minister of the Gospel, also a member of the Masonic Fraternity. She ever manifested a deep interest in the salvation of the souls of her fellow beings. She was an affectionate mother, always endevouring to train her children in the way they should go, and instilling into their minds the principles of the Divine Word. She left a number of relatives and friends to mourn her loss, but they mourn not as those having no hope.

Dr. Reeves notes that if the age of death (93) is correct, Frances should have been born ca 1760 versus 1768, as previously supposed.

(Research):
Census Listings:

1850 Census
Texas, Dewitt County,
Enumerated 11 Sept 1850
48-48
William Means 40 M Farmer $10,000 Ga
Francis Means 39 F Miss
Ferdinand B. Means 19 M La
Margaret L. Means 17 F Tx
Sarah F. Means 13 F Tx
Napolean F. Means 11 M Tx
William B. Means 9 M Tx
Francis Blackburn 82 F SC





(Medical):The child of a direct female descendant of Frances Tyner (Elizabeth Blackburn>Caroline McGrew>Jane Allen>Viola Fullen>Nina Fuller>son Tom McLemore) had their mtDNA analyzed, and it was predicted as H, with only one difference from the Cambridge Reference Sequence, 16519C, which is a fast moving marker. Mitochondrial haplogroup H is a predominantly European haplogroup that participated in a population expansion beginning approximately 20,000 years ago. Today, about 30% of all mitochondrial lineages in Europe are classified as haplogroup H. It is rather uniformly distributed throughout Europe suggesting a major role in the peopling of Europe, and descendant lineages of the original haplogroup H appear in the Near East as a result of migration. Future work will better resolve the distribution and historical characteristics of this haplogroup.

On her Clan Helena website, Amelia Reimer writes that, "Whether just by chance or by the guiding hand of natural selection we do not know, but Helena's clan has grown to become the most widespread and successful of the Seven Daughters of Eve. Her children have reached every shore, settled every forest and crossed every mountain range. Helena's descendants can be found from the Alps in the South to the Scottish Highlands and the Norwegian fjords in the North, and as far east as the Urals and the Russian steppes. Helena was born about 20,000 years ago on the strip of land that joins France and Spain, near what is now Perpignan. She belonged to a family of hunters, who harvested the rich oyster beds in the lagoons of the Carmargue to supplement their diet of meat. Helena's clan arrived in Europe from the Middle East, pushing their way along the Mediterranean, constrained to the narrow strip of land that was still habitable. Not long after she was born, the glaciers that covered the Pyrenees, which Helena could see on a clear day only thirty miles from her camp, began to draw back as, little by little, the summers grew warmer. Some of her clan moved south of the mountains, up the valley of the Ebro to the West to reach the lands of the Basque, where they remain to this day. The most adventurous of her children took advantage of the climatic improvements and journeyed ever northwards to join the great movement of hunters across the plains of France. We know that they reached England around 12,000 years ago because DNA recovered from a young male skeleton found in Gough's Cave in Somerset shows that he too belonged to the clan of Helena. [Same cave as Cheddar Man, but 3,000 years older.] "