The first record that we have found of Aaron C. Blackard by name is as "Aaron Blackert" in the 1822 Wythe County, Virginia tax list on the tax list of John Strange's district with two other sons of Willoughby Blackard, William and Charles. That Aaron Blackard appears on the 1822 Wythe County tax list indicates that he was over 16 years old as he was charged a pole tax and, therefore; born before 1806. He then continued to be recorded on the Wythe tax lists until 1829.
|
1822 Wythe Co, Virginia - John Strange tax list
Aaron Blakert 1wp 0 horses William Blakert 1wp 0 horses Charles Blakert 1wp 0 horses |
Brother Thomas Blackard was married that same year back in Grayson County and was evidently living elsewhere. The Germanic spelling "Blackert" was often used for the Blackard family in Wythe County probably owning the Germanic origin of many Wythe settlers. In fact, there was a German Blackert family living during this time period in Frederick County, Va.
It is uncertain whether Aaron C. Blackard has any living descendents and his line of the family may have been forgotten and so I decided to make an attempt at telling his story. As I will discuss later, it may be that his only sons may have died in the Civil War, and therefore this male line of the family carrying our family name has been lost to us. However, there is at least one possible surviving line of his descendents from a female line.
However, later, there are numerous younger Aaron Blackards in Virginia, named in his memory, who are descendents of Willoughby Blackard including:
It appears that Aaron C. Blackard was born about 1804 in either Rockingham or adjacent Stokes County, North Carolina before his family's move to Virginia. He was the son of revolutionary war soldier, Willoughby Blackard. The last record of him was 1840 in Patrick County, Virginia. His brother Charles and one possible son of Aaron's left Virginia and moved to Kentucky. Therefore, it could be that Aaron C. Blackard also left Virginia and went to another state where we have not found his record yet. On the other hand, we can identify three young men from Virginia who may have been his sons. Two of these died in the Civil War and the third was in Kentucky by 1854.
We get Aaron's middle initial from an 1836 marriage bond in Caswell County, NC.
His father, Willoughby Blackard, was associated with the Crusenberry family earlier in Grayson County and an Aaron Crusenberry was recorded near his uncle Charles Blackard II earlier in Caswell County, NC. The Grayson Crusenberry (also spelled Quisenberry) also have passed down the memory of an Aaron Crusenberry.
Additionally, Willoughby's daughter Martha Jane Blackard married a Crusenberry in Grayson Va. Furthermore, Willoughby's son Thomas named a son Tobias Crusenberry Blackard after Tobias Crusenberry of Grayson Va.
Therefore, in light of the number of coincidences, it seems possible that his name may have been Aaron Crusenberry Blackard after Aaron Crusenbery of Caswell NC. There appears to have been some now-forgotten connection between the Blackards and Crusenberry family whose ancestor arrived on the James River in Virginia around the same time as our ancestor John Blackard in 1649.
In his own lineage chart, HD "Doug" Blackard, the nephew of the Kate Blackard from whom we know of Charles Blackard records the sons of Charles Blackard I and the "Welsh Girl" as "Thomas, Willoughby, Jobe, Aaron and Charles". HD wrote that he had contacted a descendent of this Aaron Blackard living in Burlingtion, NC. Perhaps this is a confusion of the little-known son of Willoughby Blackard named Aaron. However, it does indicate the memory of an older Aaron in the family.
In a 1937 letter from W.G. Blackard - Manager of the Blackard Chair Company Stuart, Virginia dated June 14, 1937., W.G. Blackard stated that his grandfather was William, his great grandfather was Thomas and his great-great grandfather was Willoughby. W.G. Blackard also stated:
| "I have been told by my father 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." - William Goodwin Blackard |
I believe that this family story goes somewhat astray, but does
have some factual basis. My opinion is that the "Willoughby, Thomas,
William and Aaron" that this story names are, in fact, Willoughby Blackard
(1758-1838) and three of his sons whom were remembered in Patrick County,
Virginia where W.G. Blackards father Jesse lived. For this reason, I believe
that Aaron Blackard who appears in the 1840 Patrick County census was a son
of Willoughby. Earlier census data seem to support this idea as well.
I believe that Aaron C. Blackard was included in the 1820 household of Susannah Blackert on the Wythe Co, Va US Census. Susannah Blackert was, in fact, Susannah Owen Blackard the wife of Willoughby Blackard. Willoughby was, for some reason, missing from the 1820 census. The family had been recorded in nearby Grayson County from 1810 until 1816.
The following is a summary of the public record of Willoughby Blackard in the 1800s:
So sometime in the period 1817-1820 the family moved from Grayson to Wythe, however; there is also the possibilty that they resided somewhere else in the interim.
|
1820 Wythe Co VA US Census
Susannah Blackert - Head of Household ------------------------------------------- 1 male 10 to 16 years - b 1804-1810 = Aaron b.1804 2 males 16 to 18 years - b 1802-1804= Charles b.1803 & Aaron b.1804 3 males 16 to 26 years - b 1794-1804= Charles, William & Thomas b.1798 1 female 10 to 16 years - b 1804-1810 = Susannah 1 female 16 to 26 years - b 1794-1804 = Jane b.1799 1 female over 45 years - b bef 1775 = Susannah Owen Blackard b.1760 |
The 1820 census is extemely confusing because of the overlapping age ranges for the males. What appear to be 6 male enumerations may actually be only 4 sons. Because of the overlapping ranges, sons Aaron and Charles may have actually been counted multiple times. There is even a chance that a 16-year old could have been accidentally counted three times. We now know that the date of birth of 1803 for Charles from the 1870 census is correct because the other dates of birth from the other census years are inconsistent and disagree with his record in the Wythe tax lists.
There are no records of any sons of Willoughby Blackard in Grayson or Wythe County, Va records other than the following:
Given the fact that there is an adequate public record for all four of these individuals, I am inclined to believe that there were no other sons and only confusion and double-counting of these four sons in the 1820 census record above.
However, there is a stray, unknown John Blackard who was born in 1805 in NC and appears only once in the 1860 U.S. Census of Mecklenburg, NC with a profession listed as a pump borer. Because of this profession, he may be another son of Willoughby Blackard and his name would fit into the 1820 Wythe Census instead of either Charles or Aaron being repeated. There is a family story of a John Blackard being a son of Willoughby Blackard, however; there is no record of him ever in Wythe County. Perhaps he could have left home as a tradesman before he became and adult and continued to travel, only once being recorded in the U.S. Census.
We know that Aaron Blackard continued to reside in Wythe County, Va with this brothers at least up until 1829 from the following records.
After that the Wythe records are somewhat spotty with brothers William and
Charles sometimes recorded and sometimes not, but Aaron's name does not appear
again in the tax record after 1829.
|
=============================================================== 1816-1822 no blackards listed 1822 John Strange list Thomas Sanders list no blackards 1823-1830 George W Davis list 1823 Charles Blackert 2wp, 2 horses 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 William Blackert 1wp 2 horse Jos W Davis Dist 1832/33 no Blackards in Wythe tax rolls Thomas Sanders list 1834/35/36 1837 Charles Blackard 1 horse 1838 William and Charles Blackard 1wp, no horses, no slaves 1839 William, Charles, Joel Blackard 1wp, 1 horse each 1840 William 2wp 1 horse each, Charles 1wp 1 horses each, Joel Blackard 1wp |
On 19 December 1836 Aaron C. Blackard received a marriage bond to marry Mary Harrison Caswell NC. The bond was testified to by Paul A Haralson and witnessed by Dr. Allen Gunn, however; these two men did so on many Caswell County marriages of this period so it may have been some official function of theirs.
Aaron would have been about 32-34 when this marriage occurred, so there is a possibility that this was a second marriage since there also appear to be earlier children in Virginia that could have been his.
A recent extensive study of the Caswell County, NC tax lists and U.S. census records indicates no Blackards living in Caswell County after the date of the separation of Person County from Caswell in 1792 and throughout the entire 1800s. Furthermore, there is no indication that Aaron C. Blackard could have been the son of Job, Charles II or William Blackard. Therefore, unless he was the son of an unknown and unrecorded Blackard brother, he was most-likely the same person as the Aaron Blackard who was the son of Willoughby Blackard.
This 1836 marriage bond is the only record of Aaron Blackard yet found in the period of 1830-1839 so it could be that he was living in a non-Blackard household in Caswell NC during those years.
I have begun reseach on Mary Harrison, yet have not been able to identify her among the Caswell County Harrison family yet. It could be that she was a young widow herself as there did seem to be a custom for widower's marrying widows in those days.
One interesting historic note is that Mary Harrison was from the very same Harrison family who were Blackard neighbors over a century earlier in 1714 in Prince George, Virginia. The ties between many of these old colonial families show many such connections.
| PRINCE GEORGE RECORDS 32 Nov 2 1714 Deed from Thomas Harrison of Pr. g. Co and Ellison his wife to Thomas House of the same for 1300 lbs of tobacco, 50 acres on the Blackwater next to Charles Blancherd, part of a dividend of land granted to Joshua Markam, dec'd by patent April 20, 1682 and conveyed by Markam to Thomas and Ellinor Harrison July 30, 1666 [?] Wit: Gilberh Hay, John Wilkes Rec. Nov. 9, 1714 |
Aaron Blackard next appears in the Patrick County, Virginia personal property tax lists in 1839, three years after his marriage to Mary Harrison in nearby Caswell, NC, which borders Virginia.
The next year, 1840, Aaron was joined in Patrick by his brother Thomas Blackard who had been living in adjacent Floyd County, Virginia for at least 10 years. Then in 1841 Aaron disappears from the Patrick County records, while Thomas remained for the rest of his life. This was the last record of this Aaron Blackard and we can only speculate that either he went back to Wythe County or on to Kentucky.
|
Patrick County Virginia Tax Lists
|
|
| 1839 |
-Land tax negative- Aaron Blkard on property tax list |
| 1840 |
-Land tax negative- Archilus H. Carter property tax list |
| 1841 |
-Land tax negative- Archilus H. Carter property tax list |
In 1840 Aaron Blackard was recorded in the Patrick Co Va U.S. Census. Aaron would have been 36 at the time. As I will discuss later, I believe that his new wife, Mary Harrison, died earlier in 1838 in childbirth. Therefore, I am interpreting the other young women in the household potentially as other family members.
He was recorded as of age 30-40 years consistent with his estimated date of birth of 1804 and age of 36. The oldest female in the house was of age 20-30.
However, some of the other members of the household may have been other family members and not his own children. Brother Thomas Blackard was missing from the 1840 census so perhaps these are some of his children in the Aaron Blackard household.
|
1840 - Aaron Blackard in Patrick Co VA Census 1 female under 5 (b.1835-1840) daughter of other family member? |
Names on same page as Aaron Blackard in 1840, in order
-----------------
Jesse Sawyer
Henry Lawson
William Samson
Sherman Lambert
Sara Hanby
Mary Beasley
Austin ???
Saunders Wett?
Isaac Adams
John Burnette
John Hauby
Jordan Keaton
Squire H. Joyer?
Micajah K Hight
Jonathan Elegan?
AARON BLACKARD
Nettey A Adams
William Joyer?
Allen Willard
Roylan R Ress
Anderson Simmons
Christian Sayman
Conrad Alaster
Jon W. Gates
Susan Woods
Thomas Morrison
Hendrick Sutfin
-----------------
An analysis of their neighbors indicates that Aaron Blackard did not live in the immediate area where Thomas Blackard settled in Patrick around 1842-1847.
1840 - same page as Aaron Blackard
=========================
Mary Beasley -10
Saunders Wett -8
Jordon Keaton -4
Jonathan Elegan -1
AARON BLACKARD 0
Nettey A Adams +1
Allen Willard +3
Jon W. Gates +8
Thomas Morrison +10
1850 - Near brother Thomas Blackard
=========================
THOMAS BLACKARD pg353a 0
Anderson Tuggle pg353a +6
-------------------------
Jordon Keaton pg364a
Saunders Witt pg368
Allen Willard pg390
Joseph Bishop pg398
Notley P.Adams pg406a
Thomas Morrison pg409a
Jonathan W. Elgin pg428
John W. Gates pg435
1860 - Near brother Thomas Blackard
=========================
John W. Gates pg0959
Mary F. Beasley pg0975
Saunders Witt pg0990
Allen Willard pg0996
-------------------------
Anderson Tuggle pg1015 -4
THOMAS BLACKARD pg1015 0
Joseph Bishop pg1016
--------------------------
Jordon Keaton pg1048
Notly Adams pg1056
Aaron C. Blackard's three brother who were recorded earlier with him in Wythe County continue to be recorded in Virginia, including the 1850 U.S. Census. However, Aaron was gone from Patrick County before 1850. A study of Patrick County land tax records also shows no record of him. It appears that he was only in Patrick County for a brief time around 1840 and then either died there or moved away. Since James H. Blackard was married in Floyd County, Kentucky in 1852 perhaps Aaron C. Blackard made a similar move.
The 1840 household of Aaron Blackard in Patrick County, Virginia shows 2 people employed in manufacturing and trade and none in agriculture. This is a departure from the normal Blackard family trade of farming but it may provide a clue as there seems to have been several Blackard who were skilled as pump mechanics.
It may be that Aaron's short stay in Patrick County, Virginia was part of a work pattern of moving to find work.
William Blackard, son of Willoughby, was a "Pump Borer" according to census information.
Charles Blackard, son of Willoughby, was a "Pumpmaker" according to census information.
Charles Harris saw a pattern in the Va data that suggests that Joel Blackard was in the 1860 Giles Va census and enlisted there in 1861 only because he appears to have been travelling a lot in his occupation and just happened to be there when the war started (i.e. there was probably no Blackard family in Giles Va at that time; just Joel the lone travelling pump mechanic.) Also there may be some clues in where and when we find the Virginia Blackard pump mechanics.
Charles Clay Blackard believes that the Wythe County school records that we found are actually for "apprentices" in a county trade school. Miles D. Blackard was a teacher wherever these Blackard children were enrolled and he was described as a pump mechanic in the census records which would be consistant with teaching at a trade school.
The 1860 Mecklenburg County, NC includes an unknown John Blackard, age 55 who was described as a "Pump Maker" and living in a household of tradesmen.
It would be worthwhile to investigate if there was employment as a pump mechanic or in pump manufacturing in Wythe County in the 1800s. It may be that several brothers and cousins were employed in the same industry. Most of the individuals below do show a pattern of moving around as if finding new work opportunities.
If we could tie the three known brothers and the unknown John Blackard to a common employer or trade then we may be able to identify the unknown John Blackard.
|
Generation 1
|
Generation 2
|
Generation 3
|
|
Willoughby Blackard
(1758-1838) |
William Blackard
(1792-1860/70 ) pump borer |
Miles D. Blackard
(1830-1903) pump mechanic |
|
Willoughby Blackard
(1758-1838) |
Charles Blackard
(1803-1860/70) laborer/pumpmaker |
Austin Charles Blackard
(1842-1865) laborer |
|
Willoughby Blackard
(1758-1838) |
Aaron C. Blackard
(1804-?) manufacturing/trade |
Joel Blackard
(1831-1865) pump maker/pump borer |
|
?
|
John Blackard, Mecklenburg NC
(1805-?) pump borer |
The following are five possible children of Aaron C. Blackard. This claim is made mainly from a process of elimination: we do not know the identity of Aaron's children and we do not know the parents of these Blackards who are born at the right time to be his children. The first four James (b.1825), Joel (b.1832), Lucinda C. (b.1833) and Granville (b.1836) were born in Wythe County, Virginia during a time when Aaron C. is missing from the record. However, we do not believe them to be children of his other two brothers who were recorded in Wythe at the same time. They appear to be children of Aaron C. Blackard and an earlier wife from Wythe. The fourth appears to be a child of Aaron C. Blackard and Mary Harrison of Caswell County, NC who was adopted in 1838.
James Henry Blackard was born in Virginia about 1825. He relocated to Floyd County, Kentucky before 1852 and eventually his family moved to Terre Haute in Vigo County, Indiana.
James married Louisa Moore, daughter of Obediah Moore of Floyd Co., Ky. Mar 25, 1852
James H. Blackard was recorded on the 1854 Floyd County Kentucky Tax Roll.
He received a Kentucky land grant for 100 acres surveyed 5-12-1859 at Bull Creek Watercourse, Floyd County Ky.
He is recorded as James Blackard on the 1860 Floyd County, KY U.S. Census on page 83 in the Prestonsburg Post Office district.
|
1860
Floyd County KY U.S Census
Blackard, James 35 Va Eliza 40 Ky Mary C. 8 Ky William L. 6 Ky John 2/12 Ky |
His daughter, Mary Catherine Blackard, was recorded on the 1870 Vigo County, Indiana census as "Mary Blockard." She was born in 1852 in Kentucky. Her Indiana descendents may be among the only descendents who can trace themselves back to the Aaron C. Blackard in this study if James Henry Blackard was, in fact, his son
Joel Blackard was born in 1832 in Smythe/Wythe Co Va according to his military records. And Joel Blackard had quite a distinguished military career.
In 1839 Joel Blackard (age 16) reaches taxable age and first appears in the tax lists of Wythe County. This further verifies the birthdate of 1823 given in his Civil War records. Joel was recorded again in the 1840 Wythe County tax list.
|
Wythe County Virginia Tax Lists
|
|
| 1839 | Thomas Sanders list William, Charles, Joel Blackard 1wp, 1 horse each |
| 1840 |
Thomas Sanders list |
Joel was listed alone instead of as a son of William or Charles. I'm assuming
that means he was their nephew. Joel, Charles and an Aaron Blackard named in
the 1840 Patrick Va tax lists seemed to have shared the same trade and were
pump mechanics. The unknown John Blackard who was listed in the 1860
Mecklenburg NC U.S. Census also had the same trade and was described as a pump
borer. His DOB was 1805 NC, so he could have been a son of Willoughby travelling
with a work crew.
According to family information, neither William nor Charles Blackard were the father of Joel Blackard. I've assumed that he was the son of either Aaron or the unverified John Blackard mentioned in certain family stories.
Joel Blackard fought in the US-Mexican War (1846-1848) Joel Blackard enlisted as a private in November 1846 in the First Grenadier Company of Virginia Volunteers in Christianburg, Montgomery County, Virginia "to serve during the existing war between the United States and the republic of Mexico." Joel company marched to Lynchberg and then caught a ship on the James River and sailed to Texas. From there they went to Monterey, Mexico and relieved a company from Ohio. Joel's company served in Monterey until the war ended in June 1848.
Joel return to Virginia and working as a pump mechanic was recorded in various counties in the 1850 and 1860 censuses indicated that he moved a lot in his trade.
|
1850 VA BLACKARD JOEL Montgomery County VA 059 VA Blacksburg 41st District
Federal Census Montgomery County VA, Christiansburg Dist., 13 July 1850, p. 3 Montgomery County VA, Blacksburg, 3 Oct. 1850, p. 59: |
| 1860 VA BLACKARD JOEL Giles County VA 871 Pearisburg P.O. Federal
Population Schedule House 695, Family 641 He is living with the William McClaugherty family. Joel is 40 a Pump borer and born in VA. |
Captain Joel Blackard was killed on June 30, 1862 in the Battle of Frazier's Farm in Virginia in the American Civil War. His cousin, also named Aaron Blackard (b.1833) was shot through the hand in the same battle but lived.
Census records tell us of an otherwise, unknown, Lucinda C. Blackard who was born in 1833 in Wythe County but is first recorded in Washington County, Va in 1850. Aaron C. Blackard was unaccounted for in 1833 so there is the possibility that he was still in Wythe County and there are no other known candidates for her father. She also matches one of the 1840 Patrick County household of Aaron Blackard.
Her middle name is also another possible use of the Crusenberry name which would imply another connection to Aaron C. Blackard.
She was first listed in the 1850 Washington Co VA census as Lucinda "Blackart", age 19 living in the home of Walter & Nancy Warren along with several other boarders. George Warren lives next door and the Warrens and their boarders appear to be all involved in the trade of wagon Making.
Lucinda Blackard 27 VA is listed in the 1860 Abingdon Dist, Washington Co
Virginia Census as a housekeeper with 2 children; total wealth $25
William Blackard 4 VA
Milly Blackard 2 VA
She does not appear to be the right age to have been the widow of a Blackard man. Also her wedding certificate says that she was single and had been living in Washington Co prior to the 1862 marriage. Lucinda C. Blackard married William Clark of Washington Co Virginia 4 Oct 1862 in Washington County VA. The marriage certificate says that Lucinda C. Blackard, age 29, born in Wythe Co VA was single and was living in Washington County VA. Parents unnamed.
Little is known about Granville Blackard or even where his name came from unless that might be a family reference back to the homeplace in Granville County, North Carolina. Granville was thought to have been born about 1836 in Wythe County, Virginia. He appears briefly, listed separately, in the Wythe County tax lists of 1854 and 1855. He is counted as a male over age of 21 in 1854 by the tax lister Daniel Brown, so that information places his date of birth in 1833 or earlier. He is also counted as over 21 in 1855 by a completely different tax lister, Thomas Sanders.
|
Wythe County Virginia Tax Lists
|
|
| 1854 |
Daniel Brown tax list |
| 1855 |
Thomas Sanders tax list |
Granville must have continued to reside in Wythe County until the war. However, the 1860 is in disagreement with the tax list regarding his age. My opinion is that the census taker (or Mr. McTilson) was incorrect because two different tax takers indicate that Granville Blackard was
|
1860 Wythe County VA 846 District 68, pg 846b/ image 97/231 |
Granville Blackard enlisted on May 5, 1862 as a private in Wytheville, Wythe County, Virginia.
He was present at the first engagement of the 51st Virginia Infantry. This regiment was organized in Wytheville with men from Amherst, Bland, Grayson, Nelson, Patrick, Tazwell, Wise and Wythe Counties and commanded by Brigadier General Gabriel C. Wharton. Here is a Roster of the 51st Virginia Infantry Regiment.
Granville died of rheumatic fever at Lynchburg, VA on 17 July 1863.
I have been in e-mail contact with a woman who is a great granddaughter of a Martha A. Blackard who was born about 1838 in Caswell County, NC and died in Rockingham County, NC. Her death certificate names her as Martha Blackard. Her great granddaughter has a copy and also of her marriage certificate to Dejarnette.
Martha A. Blackard appears to have been adopted by her grandparents William W. Price and Susan B. Price before 1840 because she is named in the 1850 Caswell Census in the William W. Price household. Furthermore, in the 1840 census the only child in his household is a female 0-10.
Martha A. was married 13 Dec 1856 according to a Caswell NC marriage bond. to: Dr. James Patton Dejarnette. Dejarnette was born on 16 Feb 1822 in Pittsylvania,Virginia and died on 29 Mar 1873 in Pelham,Caswell, North Carolina.
Information from the Caswell NC Will Book tells us that a Sylvanus Stokes of Surry County, Virginia was Susan B. Price's father. It also shows a family connection to the Harrison family which may be an important clue as to the identity of Martha A. Blackard.
|
Caswell County NC Will Books 1843-58 - Kendall p113- Wm W. Price 1 July 1857....wife Susan B. Price - estate on Wolf Island and Dan River sold....A legacy of $1250 by Sylvanus Stokes to wife Susan B. for life and then to MARTHA A. BLACKARD who has changed her name to MARTHA A. PRICE and since her marriage MARTHA A. DEJARNETTE should be paid to her..... |
The only potential parents that we know of for Martha A. Blackard are Aaron C. Blackard and Mary Harrison and they are viable, especially considering that Martha's adoptive parents had a tie to the Harrison family..
There appears to be many family ties in this story. Martha A. Blackard's grandfather was a Price and her husbands mother was also a Price.
Aaron C. Blackards wife was a Harrison and Martha A. Blackard's great grandfather had a grandson named Thomas Harrison. Perhaps this same Thomas Harrison was even Martha's uncle and therefore Mary Blackard Harrison's brother! Thomas was certainly a popular and historic family name in the Caswell Harrison family.
Marthas birthdate, 1838, is suitable for her to have been the daughter of Aaron C. Blackard and Mary Harrison of Caswell NC. Aaron and Mary were married on 19 Dec 1836 in Caswell County according to their marriage bond.
I think this would mean that a daughter of William W. and Susan B. Price would have to have married a Harrison who was the father of Mary Harrison and brother of Thomas Harrison. Mary Harrison Blackard may have died in childbirth and that is why only Thomas Harrison was named on the Stokes will. That is, if he was the brother of Mary Harrison Blackard, dec'd.
Along with the potential Indiana descendents of James Henry Blackard, the descendents of Martha A. Blackard may be among the only folks able to trace their ancestry back to Aaron C. Blackard.
I am inclined to believe that both Joel Blackard and Granville Blackard were on their own when they lived in Wythe County. No Blackard names appear on Joel's final estate settlement papers and Granville was in a non-Blackard household in 1860.
Assuming, for a moment that Granville lived the majority of his life in Wythe county and the 1854 tax list marks his appearance there listed as a man of 21, then he would have been born in 1833. But I can't figure out if he was already in Wythe as an orphan and turned 21 in 1854, or if he just moved there that year.
But one coincidence seems too much to ignore. James Henry Blackard (born 1825 VA), whom I also propose was a son of Aaron, first appeared in Floyd County Kentucky in the 1854 Kentucky tax lists the very same year that Granville appeared in the Wythe tax lists. If 1854 marks the year following the death of Aaron Blackard, whom I propose was their father, then these events mirror a very common pattern in the Blackard family - the dispersal of the family after the parents died.
Aaron Blackard was listed in Patrick County, Virginia in the 1839-1841 tax lists, the 1840 census and then disappears. So perhaps he died in 1842-1844 in Patrick or Wythe and the family split up.
W.G. Blackard was told by his father that "...Aaron settled near Burlington, N.C. " and H.D. Blackard evidently found a descendent living there. Burlington is in Alamance County today but was only formed in 1849 from Orange County, NC. The census and tax lists did not indicate the presence of any Blackard family in this area but more research is warranted.
James H. Blackard was married in Floyd County, Kentucky in 1852 perhaps Aaron C. Blackard made a similar move. Floyd County, Kentucky is therefore one place where much more research in that county is needed.
Two sons of James Henry Blackard, William L. and John, were recorded in the 1860 census and then the family appeared to continue moving to Indiana by 1870. I have no information on the Blackard name continuing in Indiana that could be from this line but perhaps the family name was carried on there.
Mary Kegley is working on a new publication including a new cache of previously untranscribed Wythe County records. There may be new information for us when this book becomes available.
It would be worthwhile to investigate if there was employment as pump mechanics or in pump manufacturing in Wythe County in the 1800s. It may be that several Blackard brothers and cousins were employed in the same industry. Most of the individuals below do show a pattern of moving around as if finding new work opportunities. If we could tie the three known brothers and the unknown John Blackard to a common employer or trade then we may be able to identify the unknown John Blackard.