Mattie Moad
Chapter 1
Martha
“Mattie” Blackburn is born to Black Township, Posey County, Indiana farmer William
Jackson Blackburn (1843-1915) and his
wife Charlotte Duckworth Blackburn (1846-1922) on the 15th of
September 1870.
Charlotte
affectionately called Charlotty, in official
birth returns for her children, was the daughter of Green Duckworth also of
Posey County. She had been born, raised and raised her (7) seven children
during the civil war and post-civil war era. From 1865-1881 Charlotty was
birthing babies! William Jackson Blackburn had deep roots in Posey County as
well. The census records confirm close, large family bonds within the
community. Known as Jack Blackburn he
served in the Union, 25th Indiana Infantry, Company A, as a Corporal
and at the end of the War had promoted to Sergeant.
The
area of Posey County at that time was rural and primitive even for those days
of the 1840’s through 1870’s. Black Township encompasses Mt. Vernon reaching to the river borders and Solitude at its northern border.
Families
were large by nature and out of necessity to manage labor for their farms. The
farms were not generally large scale money making operations such as today. The
farms were raised just to feed the family. The rural farming poor. They were
the civil war veterans who were the descendants of Revolutionary War Veterans
who moved west to claim their land grants in Kentucky and Indiana. Many were
immigrants escaping the escalating conflicts such as the Scotch-Irish and
severe poverty of Great Britain (Ireland and England) and Germany as seen in
this family tree.
Southern
Indiana was growing rapidly in post-civil war and many newly freed slaves
migrated to the Evansville area just in time for the manufacturing boom.
Black
Township School, Posey County, Indiana - Sketch by Anne Doane
As
a young farm girl from Southern Indiana, Mattie probably did have a good grasp
on socially acceptable behavior, Jack was a preacher and Mattie had the benefit
of learning Christianity to guide her through her daily life. Church was
probably a luxury only to be enjoyed by those who could travel to services and did
not have daily choirs to tend to just to keep the family surviving on a small family
farm.
Daily life consisted of choirs, taking care of younger siblings, if you
were able, you could go to church, if you were within walking distance, you
might be lucky enough to have a school house to learn how to read and write.
Your
parents decided when you were ready to marry and keep house on your own. Mattie
was luckier than most girls she stayed at home until she turned 17 years old…
Chapter 2 posting soon!
