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Fact or Fiction? Finishing Up Research on Dewitt Blackman's Mug Book Claims

 FINISHING UP   I've been working hard to finish up the research on Dewitt Samuel Blackman's "mug book" biography. You can catch up on the project here and here . I'm 99.5% finished, with just three claims needing further research. What have I discovered? Are these claims fact, fiction, or undetermined?  Facts about Dewitt: Dewitt's siblings were Permelia, Delia, Maria, Mary, and Fanny. This is partially true . Dewitt's sisters were Permelia, Adelia (Delia), and Ruffina (Fanny). It's unclear where the "Maria" came from. Permelia death certificate names Sylvester Blackman and Clarissa Peak as her parents. 1   Delia married William Haymaker in 1840, and in another "mug book" bio regarding her husband, "Mary" Blackman is noted as his first wife. This could account for the Mary in the bio.  2 Ruffina was Dewitt's half-sister by his father Sylvester's marriage to Mary Bruner Zellers. Ruffina was living in Sylvester Blac...
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FAVORITE PHOTO

by Nancy Gilbride Casey


This favorite photo of many I have taken over the years comes with a special anecdote.

When our daughter Anne (then known as Annie), was preschool age, she dedicated great parts of each day drawing with markers, painting with watercolors, coloring in books. In summer, she drew with chalk on the sidewalk. 

Every gift-giving occasion was another opportunity to buy a new box of crayons or paints, and reams of paper, tablets large and small, and sheaves of manila and construction paper to feed her never-ending appetite to draw.

Her artwork covered our refrigerator, was sent on to grandparents, and hung on our office bulletin boards. 

Art was already ingrained into her little personality.

Each day Annie created literally a dozen or more creations, in a free flow of imagination, wild, exotic, and uniquely from her sometimes funny and observant perspective.

On the occasion of this photo, I captured her one morning, sitting at her little art easel, paintbrush in hand, engrossed in one of that day's many creations.

"Are you going to be an artist when you grow up, Annie?" I asked.

Without taking her eyes off her artwork, and without skipping a beat, she replied,

"But Mommy...I already AM an artist!"

To this day, I can't argue with that.

 

Until next time...
 
This post was inspired by Amy Johnson Crowe's 52 Ancestor in 52 Weeks Challenge. 

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