This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/SNE.2ACIB/1257 Message Board Post: I am researching the family history of a friend, and wonder if anyone has knowledge of Joseph Blackburn, who died on July 20, 1848 at the age of 62y 9m ?d, and is buried in Ellis Cemetery, Cain Township, Fountain County, Indiana. In the 1850 census for Jackson Township, Fountain County, my friend's ancestor, John T. Blackburn, is listed as 25 years old, occupation Merchant, born in Indiana. With him is his wife Mary A. (Powell) Blackburn, 19 years old, born in Indiana; and also Mary Blackburn, 60 years old, born in Virginia. Unless proven otherwise, I assume the elder Mary was John's mother, but can only speculate that she was Joseph's widow based on there being only one Blackburn head-of-household in Jackson Township, Fountain County, in the 1840 census, and that was a Joseph Blackburn, "50 and under 60", with a female in the household, also "50 and under 60". Mary Blackburn is no longer living with John and Mary Ann Blackburn in the 1860 census--they were then living in Cain Township, Fountain County. She is not listed in Ellis Cemetery records as being buried there. It seems possible that John T. Blackburn was related to a George H. Blackburn who died at the age of 39 in July 1850, and is also buried in Ellis Cemetery. In 1850, his widow, Celia (Fowler) Blackburn was living in Cain Township, Fountain County. Their son Moses Blackburn, named his son Hiram P. Blackburn (born in 1889), which was the name of a son of John and Mary Ann Blackburn (born in 1850), named after Mary Ann Powell's father, Hiram Powell. Of course, it could have been just coincidence; and also, by 1889 John and Mary Ann's son was a very prominent attorney in nearby Danville, Illinois, and that may have been the reason Moses gave his son the same name without there being any blood relationship. In each of the 1820 and 1830 censuses, there is a Joseph Blackburn living in Washington County, Indiana--none in Fountain County those years. I have seen reference to a Joseph Blackburn (born in Pennsylvania) married to Mary May, living in Washington County in the early 1800's. But in a couple of sources, Mary May Blackburn is listed as having died in 1826, and a list of children on rootsweb (I think) doesn't include a John (or George). I haven't seen any date of death for the Joseph Blackburn who was married to Mary May. In the 1880 census, John T. Blackburn's father is listed as born in Virginia, and his mother as born in Kentucky. A brief biography of Hiram Powell Blackburn in a History of Vermilion County, Illinois states John T. Blackburn was a native of Kentucky, although in all censuses he is listed as born in Indiana. But it may be that the 1880 census-taker got the birth states of his mother and father turned around. George H. Blackburn's son Moses also has Kentucky as the place of birth of his father (George H.) in 1880 and 1900 censuses. If anyone in their research of Pennsylvania/Kentucky/Virginia/ Indiana Blackburn's knows anything about the Joseph Blackburn who died in Fountain County in 1848 and/or has run across any information that might help me determine the parents of John T. Blackburn, I would very much appreciate hearing from them.