For a genealogist, vital records, such as marriage documents, hold great significant for research and for adding details about a relative’s life. An application for a marriage license can provide information about the couple, including ages or birth dates, occupation, and the couple’s parents, which can extend the family line back an additional generation. Until the 19th century, Pennsylvania kept no official records of marriages. Continue reading
Blackson
Commemorating David W. Blackson
This Memorial Day I remember David W. Blackson, my 2nd great-grand uncle, who served during the Civil War, fighting to preserve the Union. The son of Joseph and Mary Weaver Blackson, David was born about 1840 in Unity Township, Westmoreland County, PA, where he grew up. In the 1850 census, David was 10 years old, residing with his parents, and his siblings Louisa, Mary, Isaac, Jacob, Catherine and Permelia. In 1860, David was listed as 18, and was now the oldest child in the household with five younger siblings. Continue reading
IRS Tax Assessment Lists–1862
The 2022 tax deadline has arrived! In past April posts, I included various Pennsylvania county property tax records. These records showed taxes on property, including land, buildings, and some livestock. Sometimes an occupation or a militia tax was conducted. This year instead of property tax records, I am highlighting the federal IRS Tax Assessment Lists, particularly 1862. Continue reading
Catharine Reclaimed
When I was younger and I drove through Pleasant Unity with my mother, she would often point out a house up a long driveway where her grandmother Mary Frances, known as Fannie, grew up. The house was owned by Fannie’s grandfather Joseph Blackson. My mother mentioned Fannie spoke about growing up in Pleasant Unity as a girl although my mother couldn’t recall the details; my impression was that Fannie’s childhood was not the happiest. Fannie was illegitimate and her step-grandmother did not look favorably on her. Continue reading
Census Through the Years: Alpheus Ludwick
Alpheus Henry Ludwick, my great grandfather, lived the latter part of his life in the small town of Youngwood, PA. My mother remembered Alpheus, her grandfather, who would walk through town and shake his cane at motorist he thought were driving too fast. From her stories I picture him as a gentle and loving man, despite a number of sad life experiences.
No Deed Unturned—Searching Westmoreland County Deeds
When early records are scarce for a family, land records, especially deeds, can sometimes provide clues. A deed can establish residency and provide information about immediate neighbors who were sometimes relatives. When a married man sold property, his wife was named and interviewed, apart from her husband, to determine that she was in agreement with selling the land—perhaps as a way for her to protect her dowry. Family members often sold property to their children or siblings, keeping it in the family. If an owner died, a deed might list the heirs who inherited the land—quite useful if no will was made. It was my hope that deeds might help with my search of the Blackston family. Continue reading
Maryland Mission: The Blackstone File
“I’m looking for information in a vertical file that might be here,” I explained to the librarian. We were recently in Baltimore on our way to D.C. and I was trying to find documents that would fill in some gaps for my 4th great grandfather James Blackston—also spelled Blackson, Blackstone, Blacksen, and Blackiston. Earlier last year I stumbled upon a post on Genforum.com by a distant cousin mentioning a vertical file in a Baltimore library containing something that seemed to substantiate James’ parents–although it didn’t indicate what the actual information was. I have lost touch with that cousin, and I hadn’t printed out the query. So I went back to the site before our trip only to find it had been archived by another company; searching was greatly inhibited and the particular query I needed could not be found to identify the library. A quick online search of Baltimore libraries with vertical files had 2 possible candidates, so we stopped at the first one I found, where I tried to explain, without sounding like a complete novice, my quest. Unfortunately, the vertical files there didn’t contain any Blackistons, but the librarian, from a quick card catalogue search, indicated some Blackiston material was at the Maryland Historical Society Library (MHSL), which we decided to visit on our way back home. Continue reading
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