On this date in 1966, my Aunt Kate passed away. And the opportunity for any of us to ask her how she ended up being the Respondent in a U.S. Supreme Court Case died that day, too. (Although my mother lovingly says that she probably would never have told us anyway.)

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This is a photo of my grandfather’s sister, Katherine Rebecca Blacker – known in our family as “Aunt Kate”.

She was about 74 years old when my father took this photo. And this is exactly how I remember her.

Very small – about 5′ nothing. Formal. And always neatly dressed, with a few pieces of carefully selected jewelry.

All my cousins of a certain age remember going to visit Aunt Kate and her older sister Aunt Zetta. Were were given very specific instructions by our parents before arriving at the front door. “Only speak when you are spoken to. Be polite and sit quietly. And no fidgeting!” Or something like that. You get the idea.

They were both very sweet and polite – but seemed a little “stuffy” to all of us kids.

But as they say, be careful not to judge a book by its cover.

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Kate was born August 10, 1882, in Radersburg, a mining town in the Montana Territory where her father David Lyman Blacker was a very successful entrepreneur.

Shortly after she was born, the family moved to Helena where she grew up in this house on North Rodney built by her father.

By all accounts, Kate and her siblings enjoyed a comfortable childhood in Helena.

This photo of Aunt Kate has always been one of my favorites. Such a dreamy far-away look for a young girl. Note the shoes – and the jewelry!

When she was 11 years old, Kate went on a six-week trip to the east with her mother and sisters, Zetta and Helen. The trip included a stop in Chicago to attend the World’s Fair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a family story that Kate was fortunate to have attended Mills College, the oldest women’s college west of the Rockies, located in Oakland, California.¹ She eventually obtained a teaching certificate and returned to Helena where she taught grade school for many years.

Here’s another wonderful photo of Kate (on the left) and her younger sister Helen – probably dated about 1910.

Kate’s father died in 1911 but the family continued living in the home on Rodney until sometime between 1923 and 1927 when they moved to another home on 7th Avenue.

After the earthquakes in 1935 destroyed the brick home on 7th Avenue, Kate, her mother Ada and sister Zetta, lived for awhile with their friends Tom and Babe Hauser – together with my grandparents, my mother, and her four siblings.

The Hausers and Blackers were long-time friends – and in fact, my mother and her sister have always referred to Tom and Babe as “Uncle Tom and Aunt Babe”. Here’s a photo that was taken on the front porch of the Hauser cabin – left to right, my grandmother Nora (Kieron) Blacker, Kate Blacker and Babe Hauser.

And a wonderful and fun photo of Kate and friends, also at the cabin. Kate and Babe are 3rd and 4th from the left, respectively.

 

Anyway, when Kate wasn’t having fun with her friends at the cabin, she taught school and lived with her mother Ada and sister Kate in this lovely home on Madison. Ada passed away in 1950 and some time later my grandfather moved in.

On December 15, 1960, the three of them were in a terrible car accident just west of town. Kate and Zetta survived but my grandfather died ten days later on December 25th from injuries he sustained in the accident.

Aunt Kate died in 1966. And Aunt Zetta – the oldest – was 101 years old when she died in 1975.

Kate and Zetta are buried in Forestvale Cemetery in Helena, next to their mother Ada, their grandmother Catherine, and their sister Helen.

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“So where does the Supreme Court Case fit in?”, you ask.

Back to Tom and Babe Hauser . . .

After a long illness during which time she was cared for by Aunt Kate, Babe Hauser died on November 16, 1940. Soon after, Kate became engaged to Tom Hauser. She was 59 years old and had never before been married – or engaged, as far as we know. Sadly, Tom became quite ill and Kate took care of him until he died on November 9, 1941.

Kate and Tom never married.

 

 

 

What happened next is quite interesting but complicated – and deserving of a separate blog post, which I plan to write soon.

But here’s a teaser.

Tom left a handwritten will naming Kate as his principal heir (Tom and Babe had no children). And when Tom’s “estranged” sister claimed she was the rightful heir, the case became tied up in litigation for several years – and ended up going all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

Stay tuned to find out what happened!

Copyright (c) 2016, Lark M. Dalin Robart

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