. . . my great great grandmother Margaret R. “Rebecca” (Loury) Blacker died in Macomb, McDonough County, Illinois. She died of “old age” and was buried on September 16th in Oakwood Cemetery in Block 2, Lot 50.

I know this information based on the record above, which was obtained from Oakwood Cemetery.¹

Here’s what else I learned:

1. Rebecca had at least three siblings: “Chris, Kate (Smith), Lydia, and “others”.
2. Her maiden name – which I always thought was LOURY – may have been LOWER.
3. Her mother’s name was MARY ULLERY.
4. And my great grandfather David Lyman Blacker (listed above as “David”) was one of 14 children. Wow! Prior to obtaining this record, I only knew about three of those siblings, namely Elizabeth, Sarah and Jacob.

Lots and lots of new information! Sounds great, right? Wrong!

Armed with all this new information, I have searched and searched the names of Rebecca‘s siblings and the children I had never heard of and have come up with – absolutely nothing!  And I really am surprised by that outcome. Especially since I have maiden names for several of the daughters (i.e., Goudy, Mental and Stone).

One thing I have learned over the years, however, is that I have to be patient. I know my efforts and this “great new information” will result in some good stuff one of these days.

In the meantime, since I’m unable to visit the cemetery where Rebecca was buried, I was able to capture some interesting images using Google Earth and Google Maps.

And I can also share this wonderful photo of her grave stone, provided by a descendant of Rebecca‘s daughter Elizabeth (Blacker) Pearce.²

So ever onward. And here’s hoping for some “good stuff” in the near future!

NOTES