Thomas Blackburn and Elizabeth Griffith Blackburn

We usually think of Pennsylvania as having been settled by German Lutherans.  But that wasn't exactly true. Some of the earliest settlers in Pennsylvania were actually Irish Quakers. Thomas Blackburn's parents, John Blackburn and Rebecca Harlan, were immigrants from Loughgall, Armagh, Ireland. They were Quakers. The Quakers kept very good historical records, many of which are now available online and which are extremely valuable to genealogical researchers. Thomas and Elizabeth met and were married in Adams County PA. They came to Bedford County from Adams County sometime in the mid 1770s. They had 9 children - 3 born in Adams County and 6 born in Bedford County.

Trying to locate the original homestead in Bedford County was a daunting task.  Many of their 9 kids had the same names as Thomas' siblings, so when I looked at land records I couldn't tell if it was Thomas' sons purchasing land or Thomas' siblings.  I do know his sister, Rachel, is also a direct ancestor of mine  (which I'll talk more about in her post - it's a little weird) and I believe he had other siblings come to Bedford County as well.  There is a land warrant in the name of "Thomas Blackburn et all" for 400 acres dated 8 November 1786.  My map which shows the names and locations of family homes wasn't drawn until 1861 - 75 years later. So between the siblings, children, grandchildren, widowed daughter-in-laws, etc. I couldn't wrap my head around trying to determine which of all the Blackburns shown on the 1861 map could have been living on the original homestead.

Many, many Blackburn families in a very small portion of the 1861 map.

Most of the Quaker families settled in the Chestnut Ridge area of St Clair Township.  Thomas' will, dated 1818, indicates that he was living on a plantation on Chestnut Ridge which was to be inherited by his son, Joseph.  Near the center of the map (above) is a highlighted location labeled "Jos. Blackburn" which could have been Thomas' home when he died.

A lot of research has been done on the Blackburn family, mostly by the Blackburn Family Association.  In the "fun facts" section of their website they've identified over 150,000 living descendants in 10 generations from John Blackburn, our first Blackburn ancestor to immigrate to North America.  They have a huge genealogical database associated with the Blackburn family and lots of other interesting facts and pieces of history on their website.  A book written by Evelyn D. Gibson (published in 1978) entitled Blackburn and Allied Descendants of John Blackburn, Sr., who came from Ireland to Pennsylvania in 1736 can be found in its entirely on the website.  The history of the Irish Quakers is fascinating and begins at image 5.

Gibson's book also talks about John Blackburn's involvement in the Revolutionary War despite the Quaker's strict policy against the bearing of arms.  You can read about that beginning at image 20.

Thomas, along with 3 of his brothers, also defied their religious dictates and contributed to the war effort to secure independence from Great Britain.  He and his family are discussed in Gibson's book beginning at image 42.

Probably of interest to some of my family members would be a descendant of a parallel line, Elias Hicks Blackburn (g-grandson of our John Blackburn Jr.) who joined the LDS church in Ohio in 1845 and was directly involved in many well-known events in church history including building the Nauvoo Temple, the Mormon Battalion, and the Willie & Martin Handcart Company.  You can read about him in an archived version of the Blackburn family quarterly newsletter beginning at image 32 and continuing at image 46.

Back to Thomas and Elizabeth.  Gibson wrote, "Even the little we have discovered concerning Thomas, is sufficient to show that he was a man of adventuresome spirit and perseverance, a devoted father, a true patriot and with the one exception noted, a devout Quaker.  His steady rise in Prosperity, though not spectacular, is not the less indicative that he applied himself diligently and successfully to his two trades - milling and farming." (image 47)

Elizabeth preceded him in death by about 4 years.  Here is his will:

"In the Name of God Amen - Whereas - I Thomas Blackburn of St Clair Township, Bedford County and State of Pennsylvania Being of Sound Disposing mind memory and understanting, and Calling to mind the uncertainty of Life, Have thought proper to make Constitute and publish this my Last will and testament in manner and form following Disanulling and revoking all Will or Wills heretofore by me made acknowleging this and No Other to be my last will and Testament

First of all I Recommend my Soul to God who gave it me and my Body to desintly buryed at the discresion of my Executors herein after mentioned and Named -

Secondly - I Give and Bequeth to my Son John Blackburn the two Hundred Acres of Land that he Now Lives on and to his heirs and Asigns forever -

I Give and Bequeth to my to my Son Thomas Blackburns hair, and their hair and asigns forever all that tract or parsel of Land that the now live on to be divided according to his last Will and Testament - I Give and Bequeth to my Son William Blackburn Twelve Dollars to be paid out of my Personal Estate he haveing Been Already Advanced By me - I Give and Bequeth to my Son Anthony Blackburn six Dollars he haveing been Already Advanced by me - I Give and Bequeth to my Son Moses Blackburn's three Sons, namely John Moses and Thomas one Thousand Dollars to be Equally Devided to them or the Survivor of Survivors of them to be paid when the arive at the age of Twenty one years with what Intrust it may Bring the one third of the intrust of the above sum to be paid to their mother as long as she continues a widow - But in case my Son Moses Blackburn's children should all die or any of them Before the arive at full age then the above sum of one thousand Dollars shall be divided Equally Between all my children then living or such part of the thousand as might be coming to any one of them Dieing - I Give and Bequeth to my Son Joseph Blackburn all my Plantation that I now live on containing two hundred and Seventy five Acres with the apertenancy thereunto belonging with fifty acres on the Chestnut Ridge And to his heirs and asigns forever; and also give him all my Personal Estate he paying All my Just Debts and funeral expenses - I Give and Bequeth to my Daughter Eve Vore and Benjm Vore one Hundred and fifty Eight Acres which she now posess - he paying to me one hundred and fifty Eight Dollars for which we duly rec'd - I Give and Bequeth to my Daughter Rebecca Vore and Joseph Vore one hundred and fifty Eight Acres being Part of the Above tract which was divided Between him and his Brother Benjamin, for which he is to pay me one hundred and fifty Eight Dollars also - I Give and Bequeth to my Daughter Elizabeth Wisgarver one hundred and Sixty Dollars to be paid her out of the money which is to be colected from Benjamin and Joseph Vore -

And further I Constitute Nominate and apoint my Sons John Blackburn & Joseph Blackburn to be my Executors in this my last will and Testament -

In Witness whereof I have set my hand and seal this twenty ninth Day of December one thousand eight hundred and eighteen."

Thomas and Elizabeth are buried in the Friends Cemetery north of Fishertown on Quaker Valley Road.

The headstones of other members of the Blackburn family in the Friends Cemetery.
Thomas and Elizabeth's graves could be marked with un-inscribed headstones or they could be completely unmarked.

NEXT POST

PREVIOUS POST

All original content, images, commentary, etc. copyright © by Joy Denison 2015-2016.  All rights reserved. All writings, poems, speeches, essays, images, scans, likenesses, etc. by Adam Ickes (b 1845) as well as personal histories, images, and all other content by all persons referenced and discussed within the pages and posts in this blog may not be copied, shared, or reproduced in any way without expressed permission by the owner unless included here from other referenced sources or are historical records already considered to be in the public domain.