At 4:40 p.m. on this date in 1911, my great grandfather David Lyman Blacker passed away in Helena, Montana. He died at the family home at 335 N. Rodney and according to newspaper accounts was surrounded by his wife Ada, three daughters Muzetta, Katherine and Helen, his brother Jake, and close friend Moses Morris. His son Jack was in Seattle at the time.
The doctor who signed his death certificate – C. B. Miller, M.D. – stated that the cause of death was “senile debility” and that Mr. Blacker1 had “been feeble for years”.
I know it happens. It happened to my own father. But it’s always sad to think that a man who was so smart and so vital was reduced to “senility” in his later years.
Montana Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate no. 46 15, David Blacker (1911); Office of Vital Records, Helena.
On a completely different note, I just want to point out one interesting bit of information regarding the death certificate – which is that his birth date was stated to be January 12, 1830. His brother “J.C. Blacker” is the informant on this record. Of all the sources available for his birth date, this is the only one that states this particular date. All others state either “August 1829”, “August 29, 1829”, or are unclear as to a specific date. I have written previously about this issue (click here) and have concluded – for the time being – that his birth date is most likely August 29, 1829.
Tomorrow I will post two newspaper articles that were published in the Helena papers in the days following Mr. Blacker’s death.
Copyright (c) 2016, Lark M. Dalin Robart
NOTES
My mother said her grandmother Ada always referred to her husband as “Mr. Blacker” so I’ve always found myself doing the same. ↩
My great grandfather David Lyman Blacker (1829-1911) and his partner, John Keating, were quite busy with their mining prospects in the fall of 1871.
I came across a wonderful article from The New North-West, Deer Lodge City, Montana, dated October 28, 1871, which details their endeavors.
Below are a few excerpts.
FROM KEATINGVILLE.
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Mining and Other Items.
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Editor New North-West:
QUARTZ.
In a former letter I gave you a sort of birds-eye view of the county-seat of Jefferson, and then promised an account of the quartz interest of this locality in the next issue, which, consequent upon a change of base. I have failed to do until the present. At this time even only the lodes most prominent and developed can be noticed, for were I to undertake a full account of all the leads staked and surface-developed in this vicinity, the list would be too lengthy for publication.
THE KEATING LODE.
For one of the owners of which the town of Keatingville received its name, has probably gained a wider notoriety than any other mine in the district, not because of its excessive valuation, but its name and thorough development. The discovery was made in 1866, by Mr. John Keating and David Blacker, its present owners, and worked with arastras until the spring of ’70, when the Postlewait mill was purchased and put up and reduction commenced in earnest, and since June of ’70 its 15 stamps have continued to hammer away almost incessantly, not a day having been lost for want of ore. Two levels have been run in this mine, one at 100 feet and another at 172 feet depth, which have been worked north of discovery shaft 370 feet and south of it 600 feet, taking out a body of ore which has averaged $20 per ton from a crevice varying in width from 20 inches to 2 ½ feet. The mill is under the superintendence of Mr. Saulsberger, has a capacity of 25 tons per day, and has paid $9000 to $10,000 per month from the date of starting up. Mr. Geo. Richards, to whose courtesy we are indebted for much valuable information, has charge of the development, and is prosecuting the work with most encouraging success. Keating & Blacker are also owners of the
OHIO AND LEVIATHAN MINES,
Which have given incontrovertible evidence of hidden treasures. The Ohio has a 70-feet shaft on No. 1 south, and has been worked to that depth, uncovering a 3 feet crevice of No. 1 ore. They are at present driving in a 250-feet level and letting the ore rest awhile.
It is said the Ohio yields $50 per ton, and is finer gold than the Keating. The Leviathan has a 180 feet shaft, the ore from which has paid upwards of $50 per ton. Messrs. Keating & Blacker, both hard working, substantial men, have delved year after year in Colorado and Montana under the most adverse circumstances after the goal which has at last been reached in their present locations, and for their indomitable perseverance and pluck, deserve the thanks of every one who has the interest of the Territory at heart. The firm give employment to nearly 100 men.
THE LEFT-HAND LODE,
Situated in close proximity to the Keating, is owned by Messrs. Clancy & Davis, and not a man who is familiar with the past history of never varying hard luck with which the efforts of the former have been attended, but will join us in congratulating Judge Clancy upon his present prospects. The Left-Hand was discovered in January 1871 by the present proprietors and the ore from Discovery from the top to 25 feet down yielded $21 per ton. They have since stoped out 150 tons from the top to 25 feet down, which run $35. Within the past two months a second 60 feet shaft has been sunk and connected with discovery by a 200 feet level. The present developments on the Left-Hand indicate it will prove one of the richest mines in the Territory. The crevice averages only 20 inches, but descend the shaft, take a lighted candle and hold it to the vein and you will find it fairly freckled with free gold – an artery of wealth coursing the hill from east to west, and running up to within 50 feet of the Keating, which runs northerly and southerly. Keating & Blacker had the Left-Hand in litigation as a spur of their lode, but the suit was amicably adjusted before trial, and the mine development continues to progress.
This blog post is Part 2 of “Who is the woman in this photo?” Click here to read Part 1.
For starters, I’ve re-posted the photos discussed in Part 1 which I will continue to discuss in Part 2.
Photo #1, date unknown but estimated early 1880s to early 1890s
Photo #1 (back)
Photo #2
Photo #2 (back)
Photo #3
Photo #3 (back)
The next two steps involve my attempt to identify the type of photography and clothing style in order to place the photos in a particular time period.
STEP #1 – Identify and date photo type
With the help of this great website, PhotoTree.com, it was fairly easy to determine that all three photos are “carte de visite”, otherwise known as “CDV”. First appearing in 1859, CDV was the first process to use a glass negative – which meant that customers could afford to purchase several copies for sharing with family and friends.
Some hallmarks of CDVs are –
Size: Typically 2 3/8″ x 4 1/4″, although the size may vary up to 1/4″.
Corners: Square corners until 1870, then rounded corners.
Image size: The more the image fills the card, the later the date. By 1874, the image completely filled the card.
Thickness: Early cards were very thin but became thicker by 1870 and even thicker by 1880.
Conclusion: Since all three photos measure roughly 2 3/8″ x 4 1/4″, have rounded corners, large images, and the cards are very thick (although Photo #2 is thicker than the other two), it’s likely that Photos #1 and #3 are dated sometime after 1874 and Photo #2 after 1880.
STEP #2 – Identify and date clothing style
Next, I did some research regarding women’s fashion styles of the 19th century and came across this interesting article on the history of fashion, 1840-1900. The description of clothing in the 1880s seemed to be the closest match – tightly fitted bodice with narrow sleeves and high necklines.
Dresses in the prior decade (1870s) had more “flounces” and “ruching”, and low necklines were fashionable. By contrast, dresses in the next decade (1890s) were similar to the 1880s, except that the sleeve shape began changing in about 1893 – tight at the lower arm and puffed out at the upper arm.
Conclusion: Based on women’s clothing styles, Photos #1 and #3 are likely dated anywhere from the early 1880s through the early 1890s.
And then it happened – The “Ah Hah Moment!” when I realized that placing Photo #1 in the early 1880s through the early 1890s time frame meant that the woman in Photo #1 could be Brita. And if the woman was Brita, the small boy could be her son John. And perhaps John is also the boy in Photo #2?1
STEP #3 – Locate a record for “John”
I decided it was time to try and find some type of record for John. And I really lucked out here. It turned out Ancestry had recently acquired some Swedish records, so I easily located a birth record which I wrote about here – showing there was a baby boy named “Johan”, born to an “Andrew Dalin” and “Brita Johansdotter” in Hudiksvall, Sweden in 1887.2
Finally, everything seemed to be falling into place. My father’s story about the little boy named John appeared to be validated – and as a bonus, assuming the birth record is valid, I had possibly located a record indicating that Brita’s maiden name was “Johansdotter”.
STEP #4 – Now what?
I wasn’t sure what to do next – but as luck would have it, I came across the name of a woman who specializes in helping people analyze their family photos. Her web site is The Photo Detective and her name is Maureen Taylor. I scheduled a phone appointment and then emailed the following three photos:
Photo #1, date unknown but estimated early 1880s to early 1890s
Photo #2, ca. 1910
Photo #3, date unknown
All the information I had about Photo #1 has been previously stated. Here’s some information about the other two photos:
Photo #2:
The boy in the front row, Walter Dalin, was the son of Andrew and Brita Dalin.
At least one of the other two girls, and possibly both, are daughters of Andrew and Brita.
The man second from the left in the back row is probably Andrew and the woman standing next to him is probably Brita.
Photo #3:
Several family members have identified this woman as Brita Dalin.
The handwriting on that photo appears to be Brita’s handwriting (based on a few other examples of her handwriting).
This is the end of Part 2. Part 3 includes a report on my phone call with Maureen. Stay tuned!
Copyright (c) 2016, Lark M. Dalin Robart
FOOTNOTES
As for Photo #3, I decided for the time being to set it aside because I am unable to place this family – presumably a family consisting of a wife and husband with two children (girls, boys or one of each??) – in any scenario, given the information I currently have for Brita and Andrew. Assuming this photo was taken during the same time period as Photo #1, the only scenario of which I can currently conceive is that the adult female or adult male is a sibling of either Brita or Andrew. Another research project for another day. ↩
Sweden, Indexed Birth Records, 1860-1941, digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 04 April 2016), “Swedish Church Records Archive; Johanneshov, Sweden; Sweden, Indexed Birth Records, 1880-1920; GID Number: 100021.2.24500; Roll/Fiche Number: SC-1110; Volume: :937; Year Range: 1888, Johan Lars Anders Dahlin entry. ↩
Thanks to J. Paul Hawthorne, author of the GeneaSpy blog, many of us out here in the genealogy-blogging world spent some time this last week creating these fun birthplace pedigree charts.
As a brief explanation, the first cell represents my birthplace, the next two are my father and mother, then their parents, and so on. I used colors that “sorta” reflect the flags of the particular states and countries. And it was interesting to have a visual showing just how much German ancestry I have on both sides of my family. It certainly explains my DNA results – 54% Europe West!
And then I thought it would be fun to do another chart that shows the birthplaces by continent only (blue = North America and yellow = Europe). So I created this one.
This chart is interesting because it reminds me – and should remind most all of us – that we are immigrants. And in my case, fairly recent – except for my great great grandmother (in the 5th generation) who was born in Pennsylvania in 1829. Her line dates back to my 8th great grandfather who ended up in Rhode Island in about 1638. But even he was an immigrant from England.
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At 4:40 p.m. on this date in 1911, my great grandfather David Lyman Blacker passed away in Helena, Montana. He died at the family home at 335 N. Rodney and according to newspaper accounts was surrounded by his wife Ada, three daughters Muzetta, Katherine and Helen, his brother Jake, and close friend Moses Morris. His son Jack was in Seattle at the time.
