My father has compiled as much information as he could find about his relations, and I have summarized what I know in the documents linked below. I have recently been able to take the Blackwells back much further, from a Robert Blackwell who came from England to Virginia some time before 1640 back to several generations of his English ancestors. The path is a bit speculative, but solid enough.

Jim Goolsby has provided me with a lot of information about our common ancestor, Rev. John Blackwell, who was probably born in Virginia, and founded a Baptist church that still exists in Green Creek, NC. He was the last of our line to live in Virginia, where the earliest Blackwells had substantial holdings of land. There seems to be some confusion between the Rev. John, father of George Hawkins Blackwell (in my line), and an Elder John Blackwell, born in Culpepper, VA, with descendants in Georgia. I have accepted Jim Goolsby’s suggestions to resolve this confusion. The descendants of Reverend John in my line moved from Virginia into North and South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana and then points west.

The earliest Blackwell I have any personal account of was James Hawkins Blackwell, son of George Hawkins Blackwell, who married Malinda Harrell in Ripley County, Indiana around 1832. Their son Richard Deacon Blackwell was my great-grandfather. After serving in the Union army, Richard married Mary Frances Doty, my great grandmother, and moved West to Kansas. Richard Deacon lived until 1919, and was the town Marshall in Douglass, Kansas. Mary Frances lived until 1953, and although I “met” her, I don’t remember it. The pictures here show Mary Frances ca 1870 (standing on the right) and then with me in 1946.

I know from my father that Mary Frances was a very strong personality, and I like to think that you can see her spirit and confidence in her picture. I imagine her as a strong-willed young woman who made a good life for herself in a very tough time, and I often wish I could talk to her. Would my life measure up to hers? Could we find common ground? Wouldn’t it be fun to try?

I will eventually have more data on Richard Deacon. I have his Civil War pension records. There are newspaper files at the town museum in Douglass, and I hope to fill out what I know with material from the local paper.

My father’s second wife is Boon-Nam Sarojaman, a Thai lady with another strong personality. I’ve included as much as she knows about her background. All of the information we have is verbal, as no records exist. If you’re looking for reasons to be happy that you come from British stock, be glad that they were such careful record-keepers.

Just recently I have been able to trace another American branch of the family. My father’s mother, Ina Laverne Paisley, died in 1918. Ina’s father, John G. Paisley, left Kansas after her death, and that’s as much as I knew. I have now traced him back to a Paisley that came to this country from County Tyrone (Ulster) in/about 1700.

Here’s how the generation charts fit together: My father R. Quentin Blackwell, married Boon-Nam Sarojaman, who is in the Srisakorn tree. My great grandfather Richard Deacon married Mary Frances Doty. Her mother was Mahala Bowles. I really don’t know anything about the Bowles branch, but there is a lot of research on them, which I have included here.

Blackwell

Doty

Paisley

Bowles

Srisakorn