Contributor::
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Transcription contributed by Arne H Trelvik 19 September 2005 |
Sources: |
The History of Warren County Ohio Part V. Biographical Sketches Deerfield Township (Chicago, IL: W. H. Beers Co, 1882; reprint, Mt. Vernon, IN: Windmill Publications, 1992) |
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THOMAS J. BLACKBURN, farmer and harness-maker; P. O. Foster's Crossing. The above gentleman is one of the well-known citizens of Warren County; he was born in Monroe, Butler Co., Ohio, in 1828; his parents were Benjamin and Elizabeth (Biggs) Blackburn ; he was born in Cincinnati in 1790; she in Monongahela Co., Penn., in 1792. James, father of Benjamin, was born near Blackburn's Ford, in Virginia, and was a Captain in the colonial forces during the Revolutionary war. He came to Ohio in either 1788 or 1789; came down the Ohio River in a canoe, and was one of the first settlers in Cincinnati, where he purchased a tract of land, living thereon for a few years, after which he came to Warren County and settled in Turtle Creek Township about 1791, in which he lived till his death, which occurred in 1825; he was a farmer and gunsmith by occupation, and, in an early day, a renowned hunter. Benjamin was married, in Lebanon, in 1813, to Elizabeth Biggs. After the sale of his father's property, in 1826, he went to Butler Co., and, in 1829, returned to Warren, in which he lived till his decease, which occurred in 1852; his wife departed this life in 1871. They were parents of eleven children, seven living, viz., Wiiliam [sic], James, Thomas, Sarah, Dorothy, Lucinda and Elizabeth. The deceased are Permelia, Mary J., Hannah and Phineas. He served as Justice of the Peace for twenty-one years, this official life ending in 1851; he was a Commissioner for about the same length of time, Mayor of Lebanon for a number of years, and also served as Trustee in his township for a long period of time. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, under Gen. Hull. Our subject was reared in Lebanon, receiving his education in the village schools |
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and the academy. In Lebanon, he learned the harness-maker's trade, living there till 28 years of age, when he moved to Mason, where he followed his trade; was appointed Postmaster of Mason, by Lincoln in his first term, and served consecutively till 1878, going out during Hayes' administration. Hi first marriage was celebrated in Mason with Miss Thisbe Gillespie, in 1858. She was a daughter of Simon Gillespie, one of the early settlers in Warren County, who came from Botetourt Co., Va., in the year 1799, and located in Hamilton Township. Our subject resided in Mason till 1878, when he removed to his farm near Foster's Crossing- He was Justice of the Peace of Deerfield Township from 1867 to 1869, and again from 1878 to 1881, and while in Mason, for a time, was Mayor of the village. Mrs. B. died in 1867, aged about 42 years His second marriage was celebrated with Dorcas L. Woodruff, daughter of Ezekiel and Ann Woodruff, distant relative of the well-known Morrow family. To them have been born three children, viz., Anna E., John M. and Mary P. He is a member of the Masonic order, Emory Lodge, No. 258, of Loveland, Ohio. He own 65 acres of land in the home place and a 13-acre tract in the corporation limits of Mason. Politically, he is a Republican in the broadest significance of the term, and before the organization of that party was an Old Line Whig. In politics, he is true to his party and a representative man in the broadest acceptation of the term. |
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© 2005 Arne H Trelvik
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