The Blackard "First Family" - Thomas (Jackson?) Blackard (est 174? - ????)

The existance of this Thomas Blackard is speculative and identifying him as a son of Charles Blackard is solely my opinion. However, there is information that supports his existance.

The name, Thomas Jackson Blackard, has also been passed down at least one line of the family as the name of an early American Blackard in Maryland or North Carolina.

The early American Blackard family seems to have used a naming custom of naming their first sons after their elder brothers. William, Willoughby and Job are all known to have sons named Thomas suggesting that they may have had an older brother named Thomas.

Jesse D. Blackard of Stuart VA (1850-1915) passed down the family story that "...there were only four of the boys came over from England. These being Willoughby, Thomas, William and Aaron. Willoughby settled Stuart, Virginia and was buried near Stuart, Va. Aaron settled near Burlington, N.C. William settled at Blacksburg first and afterward moved to Washington Co. Va. and I am not sure where Thomas settled." I believe that these "four boys" are actually the sons of Charles Blackard I as is consistant with his remarks about Willoughby.

Willoughby named a son Thomas possibly after a brother as was their custom. Additionally, in his Grayson County, Virginia marriage record young Thomas was referred to as "Thomas Jr." implying that there was an older Thomas Blackard in the family. The names Aaron, Thomas, Charles and William continued to be used among Willoughbys descendents for many generations.

The name Thomas Blackett was recorded in the Rowan tax lists of 1762 and 1767 where Willoughby was recorded in the 1790 U.S. Census. Perhaps this was the same Thomas Blackard as names were often spelled phoenetically. Willoughbys name was spelled Willibee Blackheart and Willube Blackhart in Rowan records.

Another possible reference to him is in the estate records of Dr. Thomas Henderson of Mecklenburg County, NC (adjacent to Rowan) recording a Thomas Blanckard [sic] owing a debt to that estate upon the death of Dr. Henderson.