My great grandfather, David Lyman Blacker, was born August 29, 1829, in Pennsylvania. Between that time and 1864, we don’t know much about his whereabouts. But we do know that in 1864 he ended up in Virginia City, Montana – and from then on, we have a great deal of information due to his success as both a miner and stock raiser.
The main evidence we have as to the specifics of his arrival in Montana is a letter he received from the Society of Montana Pioneers in January 1899 (see below). The letter asked for specific biographical information which was to be published in an upcoming “Register”. I think it’s very likely he filled in the blanks himself – or if not, he probably directed someone on how to fill them out.
The first interesting bit of information is his birth date. I have come across multiple birth dates for him but because I think he probably filled out this letter, this is the date I use – August 29, 1829. The “place of birth” is listed as Pennsylvania – another vital record for which I have several locations. The names of his father (Lewis Blacker) and mother (M.R. Blacker) are also quite useful, since that information is only contained in one other record – David’s death certificate.
He also gives the route by which he came to Montana: from Denver to Virginia City, via Soda Springs, Idaho. I’m in the process now of doing research to determine his mode of travel, although I assume it was by stagecoach. He states his arrival date as being August 20, 1864.
And lastly, he states his occupation as “miner and stock raising“.
I can’t even remember when I first saw this letter – it’s been passed down through the family since my great grandfather died in 1911. But it wasn’t until about five years ago that I really sat down and took a close took at it – and realized how useful the information is, due to the probable source of the information – my great grandfather. It’s as though he’s talking to me!!
Lesson learned? It’s worth taking some time to go back and look at all records in order to analyze every bit of information and consider the probable source of that information.
