Blackwell, Joseph, son of Samuel Blackwell of Northumberland
County, was born July 9, 1715. He moved to Prince William county,
which he represented in the house of burgesses from 1749 to 1755.
He married Lucy Steptoe, daughter of Capt. John Steptoe, and left issue
named in his will proved in Fauquier county, 1789. He was a grandson
of Joseph Blackwell, a matriculate of Trinity College, Oxford, in 1658,
who emigrated to Virginia.
Blackwell, Samuel, son of Samuel Blackwell, was
born in Northumberland County Jan. 19, 1710, and was a member of the house
of burgesses in 1742-1747. He was brother of Joseph Blackwell ( q.v.).
Blackwell, Joseph, born in Fauquier county, Virginia,
in 1755, son of William Blackwell, high sheriff, and Elizabeth Crump, his
wife. he served in the Revolutionary war in the Tenth Virginia Regiment
(afterwards Sixth), as second lieutenant and captain, and was in the battles
of Harlem Heights, Princeton, Trenton, Brandywine and Charleston.
At Charleston he was taken prisoner, May 12, 1780, and exchanged in June,
1781. He received 5,333 acres of land for his services, and 7,000
acres from his father's estate. He married (first) Ann Grayson, daughter
of Col. John Gibson and Mary Brent, his wife; and (second) Mary Waddy,
daughter of Capt. William Brent and Hannah Neale, his wife. He died
in 1823.
Blackwell, Robert Emory, born at Warrenton, Virginia,
November 14, 1854, son of Rev. John Davenport Blackwell and Julia Anna
Butts, his wife. The father was a minister in the Methodist
Episcopal Church South, who held charges in important southern cities,
and served as chaplain in the Confederate army. Joseph Blackwell,
the founder of the family in Virginia, was a native of England, and when
he came to this country made his home in Northumberland county. One
of his descendants, also named Joseph, received the first land grant ever
recorded in Fauquier county, and later served as a major in the revolutionary
war; he was the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch.
The early years of Mr. Blackwell were for the most part spent in the country.
His education was commenced at Bethel Academy Fauquier county, Virginia,
from whence he went to Randolph-Macon College, and there received the degree
of Master of Arts in 1874. Two semesters were then spent in study
at the University in Leipsic, and he received the honorary degree of Doctor
of Laws from Washington and Lee University and from Wofford College, South
Carolina. In 1871 he entered upon his duties as a teacher at Randolph-Macon
College, his branches being Latin, German and French. He has been
identified with the profession of teaching continuously since that time.
In 1899 he was elected Vice-President of Randolph-Macon College, and in
1902, president, but retained his professorship. From 1903 to 1905
he served on a commission appointed by the Bishops to prepare a ritual
and catechism to be used in common by the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
In the field of literature he is well and widely known, and has collaborated
with Dr. James A. Harrison in preparing "Easy Lessons in French," and with
Dr. W. W. Smith in "Parallel Syntax Chart of Latin, Greek, English, German
and French." While a student at college, Dr. Blackwell distinguished
himself as a pitcher, and was captain of the baseball team. His fondness
for outdoor sports and recreations has never deserted him, and he stills
spends considerable time in hunting, bicycling, tennis, golf, etc.
His home is at Ashland, Virginia. Dr. Blackwell married, August 28,
1877, Theela Epia Duncan, daughter of Dr. James A. Duncan, the distinguished
president of Randolph-Macon College; they have one child.
Robert Blackwell, D. D. S.
Many years prior to the revolutionary war, a great-great-great-grandfather
of Robert Blackwell, of Danville, was deeded land in Lunenburg county,
Virginia, which descended from father and son, and where Robert Blackwell
was born. His father, William T. Blackwell inherited it from his
father, Benjamin Blackwell, who was also born at the homestead farm, as
was William T. Benjamin Blackwell married (first) Miss Jones, of
Mecklenburg county, Virginia, who bore him three children. He married
again, and left issue by his second wife.
William Thweatt Blackwell lived
all his life on the homestead in Lunenburg county, and there died in 1884,
aged sixty years. He was an invalid during the greater portion of
his life, and though a man of means, was so in sympathy with the cause
of the Confederacy, that he parted with a large share of his fortune in
relieving the suffering caused by the war. Not being able to take
a part in actual warfare, he showed in that way his loyalty and devotion.
He married Sallie Orgain Penn, born in Lunenburg county, Virginia, in 1835,
died 1875, daughter of William Penn, born in Pittsylvania county, Virginia,
a farmer; his wife, a Miss Edmunds. Children of William T. and Sallie
O. (Penn) Blackwell: William; Benjamin, died in infancy; Elizabeth,
married R. W. Manson, and resides at Olo, Lunenburg County; Sallie Penn,
married S. M. Hawthorn, of Lunenburg county; Robert, of whom further; Mary
Constance, married C. J. Hawthorn, of Lunenburg county; Pattie Edmundson,
widow of Thomas Saunders, now residing in Lunenburg; Lucy F., widow of
Dr. Cage, resides in Woodford, Tennessee; Thomas, resides in Lunenburg.
Robert Blackwell, son of William
Thweatt Blackwell, was born at the old Blackwell plantation in Lunenburg
county, Virginia March 15, 1860. He was educated in the local schools
and began business life as a clerk with his father, who was proprietor
of a general store at Holydale. He continued as his father's assistant
in store and farm management until about twenty-five years of age, then
became a student at Baltimore Dental College, whence he was graduated Doctor
of Dental Surgery, Class of 1888. He began the practice of his profession
at Marion, Virginia, remaining there four years. He then located
in Syracuse, New York, practice his profession there a short time, then
returned to Virginia, locating in the city of Danville in 1893. He
has practiced continuously in that city for the past twenty years, has
acquired high professional standing, and is interested in the business
prosperity of his adopted city. He is president of the Danville Drug
Company, and is one of the public-spirited men of his community.
He is a member of the Masonic order; the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks; a Democrat in politics, and a member of Mount Vermin Methodist
Episcopal church.
Dr. Blackwell married, November
16, 1898, Ida Neal Blackwell (unrelated), born in Caswell county, North
Carolina, in 1873, daughter of John B. Blackwell, who died in 1882, a farmer
and a soldier of the Confederacy, serving in the Home Guard. Her
mother, Mary Elizabeth (Reed) Blackwell, now resides in Danville with her
daughter. Children of Dr. Robert Blackwell: Mary Orgain, born
October 12, 1899; Sarah Elizabeth, April 3, 1901. Dr. Blackwell's
business office is located in the Dudley Block of Danville.
William F. Blackwell. Among the business men of
Randolph County, Ark., who have won distinction as successful merchants,
and who have, by personal industry and genuine business ability, succeeded
in establishing a desirable trade, may be mentioned Mr. Blackwell, whose
name heads this brief biography. He was born in Lawrence County, Ark.,
December 20, 1851, and is a son of James and Parnesia Jane (Smith) Blackwell,
the former being a native of Virginia. He died while our subject was two
years old, while on his way home from New Orleans, whither he had been
on business, he having been a merchant and stock dealer at the time of
his death. After removing from his native State, he first came to Tennessee,
and afterward to Arkansas. His wife was born in Lawrence County, this State,
in 1828, and after his death she married a Mr. Ellison, who left her again
a widow some time after, and she next wedded Bennett Holder, who is also
dead. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church; she became the
mother of four children, two being now dead. Those living are Isabella,
wife of Frank M. Baker, and William F., who was educated in the schools
of Lawrence County, and from boyhood up has been familiar with mercantile
life, having acted in the capacity of salesman at Powhatan, Smithville.
Walnut Ridge, Delaplaine, Lauratown, and then in his present location.
One year after coming to Randolph County, he engaged in business for himself,
forming a partnership with W. W. Tanner, the firm being known as Tanner
& Blackwell. This partnership lasted until 1883, and since that time
Mr. Blackwell has been in business alone. The first money he earned for
himself was at picking cotton, and in all the enterprises in which he has
been engaged, his labors have been attended with good results. He was so
unfortunate as to be burned out in February, 1888, but he has since retrieved
his fortunes to some extent, and, in connection with his business, is engaged
in farming. He received his last appointment as postmaster in 1888. February
10, 1878, he was married to Miss Mollie F. Tanner, daughter of W. W. Tanner,
and by her he is the father of four children: Jennie May, Pearl Grace and
William Harry. James Marvin, the eldest child, died in his third year.
Mrs. Blackwell was born in Obion County, Tenn., and is a member of the
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and her husband belongs to the Methodist
Episcopal Church. South. He is a Democrat. His career has placed him before
the public as a successful financier, and his reputation has been obtained
by tireless industry, a keen foresight of events, and a judicious use of
his means.
