Fact or Fiction? More Answers on the Dewitt Blackman Mug Book Bio

In "Fact of Fiction: Dewitt Samuel Blackman and the 1890 Mug Book," I wrote about my project to see how accurate a county history "mug book" biography was for my husband's great-great-great-grandfather. His biography appeared in the book  Portrait and Biographical Album of Sumner County, Kansas, Containing Full-Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County, published in 1890.

For this just-for-fun project, I entered each fact noted in the bio into a spreadsheet and researched each to determine if they were true, false, or somewhere in between. Some claims were about Dewitt, his wife, and their family, while others involved his parents, his wife's parents, and even some generations further back.

There were many claims to document, and I didn't complete the task with that first post. I've continued to research the facts, and here's my latest update.

The following facts in the biography are true:

• Dewitt and Elizabeth Butler Blackman's children were Clara, Vinal, John, Dewitt, Jr, Elizabeth, Mary, Allen, Albert, Mattie, and Maude. The 1870 census noted Clara, Vinal, John, Elizabeth and Dewitt, Jr., and the 1880 census added Mary, Mattie, and Maude to the Blackman household. Sons Albert and Allen both died very young. Allen lived only a few days and died on 25 March 1869, while Albert lived to be just over a year old, and died on 3 May 1870.¹ They lived and died between the 1860-1870 censuses enumerations and their parents are noted on their headstones.

Allen Blackman's parents are noted as "D.S. & E. Blackmon" on his headstone.

 

• Dewitt's parents were Sylvester Blackman and Clarissa Peek. A Buffalo newspaper announced that the marriage of Sylvester Blackman and Clarrisa Peck occurred on 16 May 1815 in Cayuga Creek, New York. On 5 December 1838, Sylvester and his wife Clarissa signed a deed in Defiance County, Ohio. In 1850, Sylvester Blackman's household included Dewitt as a 26-year-old laborer. By then, Sylvester's wife was Mary Bruner Zellers, who he married in 1840, indicating that Clarissa had already died.² Dewitt and his wife Elizabeth Butler Blackman named their daughter Clarissa, possibly after Dewitt's mother. 

• Dewitt's great-grandfather served in the Revolutionary War. True, but there's more to the story. Dewitt's great-grandfather—named Samuel Blackman—served for 10 days in 1781 on an alert. Dewitt's grandfather—also named Samuel Blackman—served for nine months as a private under Colonel Brewer on the Massachusetts Continental Line. He drew a pension and received bounty land for his service, and his widow, Jerusha Babcock Blackman, drew a widow's pension.³

The following facts are inaccurate or incorrect:

• Dewitt was born on 24 November 1829. An 1847 tax record transcription book for Defiance County, Ohio, notes Dewitt's name on the list of over-21 taxpayers. That would place his birth year as late as 1826. At the time of the biography interview, Dewitt might have misremembered his birth year, or the author wrote it incorrectly.⁴
• Dewitt's father, Sylvester Blackman, moved to Defiance, Ohio, about 1839. In a newspaper advertisement in July 1837, Sylvester announced taking over an inn in Brunersburg, Ohio, near Fort Defiance.⁵ 

Dewitt's father Sylvester advertised opening an inn in 1837 in Brunersburg, near Defiance, Ohio.

 

• Sylvester Blackman, Dewitt's father, died in 1864. That is incorrect. He died on 5 April 1865 as noted in the Defiance Democrat published on 8 April 1865. The term "inst" indicates the event happened during the current month.⁶

 

 

And this fact is somewhere in between:

• Dewitt's mother Clarissa died in Defiance, Ohio, when Dewitt was a boy. Clarissa did die sometime after being party to a deed in Defiance County on 5 December 1838 and before 19 August 1840, when Sylvester married Mary Zellers there. If Dewitt was born about 1826 and Clarissa died about 1839, Dewitt would have been about 13 years old. It could be that at that time Dewitt was considered a "boy" until he reached the legal age of 21. Hard to call on this one.⁷

Mug books are sometimes discounted for their accuracy, but I am finding there is usually at least a kernel of truth in the claims And using this biography has definitely given me a head start on names, dates, and places connected with Dewitt and his family that I can verify or disprove.

I'm not quite done researching all the facts noted, so stayed tuned.

Until next time...

 

 

NOTES

¹ 1870 U.S. census, Defiance County, Ohio, population schedule, Richland Twp., page 13 (penned), dwelling 93, family 95, Dewitt Blackman household; imaged, "1870 United States Census, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4277787_00339 : accessed 15 Sept. 2026). Also, 1880 U.S. census, Sumner County, Kansas, population schedule, Walton Twp., enumeration district (ED) 195, page 12 (penned), dwelling 119, family 120, Dewitt Blackman household; imaged, "1880 United States Census, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4241342-00256 : accessed 15 Sept. 2026). Also, Find a Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87223735/allen-blackmon : accessed 14 Sept. 2026), "Allen Blackmon," (1869-1869) memorial created by and headstone photo by Rita Zipfel; citing Independence Cemetery, Independence, Defiance, Ohio. "Allen" and "Son of D.S. & E Blackmon," is legible in the image as is the death date of March 27, 1869. Also, Find a Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87223766/albert-blackmon : accessed 14 Sept. 2026), "Albert Blackmon," (1869-1870) memorial created by and headstone photo by Rita Zipfel; citing Independence Cemetery, Independence, Defiance, Ohio. "Albert" and "Son of D.S. & E Blackman," are barely legible in the image. The death date is now illegible.

² "Married," Buffalo Patriot and Commercial Advertiser, 16 May 1815 p. 3, col. 3, Sylvester Blackmor and Clarissa Peck; imaged, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/255004188/ : accessed 8 June 2026). Also, Williams County, Ohio, Deed Records, Vol 4, p. 396, Sylvester & Clarissa Blackman to M. Arrowsmith, 5 Dec. 1838; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-9943-CQSK : accessed 14 Sept. 2026); citing Williams County Recorder, Bryan. Also, 1850 U.S. Census, Defiance County, Ohio, population schedule, Richland Twp., page following page 57 (penned), 29 (stamped), dwelling 396, family 396, line 5, Dewitt Blackman in Sylvester Blackman household; imaged, "1850 United States Federal Census," Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8054/images/4191063-00572 : accessed 14 Sept. 2026). Also, Williams County, Ohio, Record of Marriages, Vol. 1, p. 76, Sylvester Blackman and Mary Zellers, 19 August 1840; imaged, "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-S59C-8T : accessed 14 September 2026); citing Williams County Records Center, Bryan.

³ "US, Revolutionary War Pensions, 1800-1900," database with images, Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/image/12696875/blackman-samuel-page-6-us-revolutionary-war-pensions-1800-1900 : accessed 15 Sept. 2026), entry for Samuel Blackman, W 23625, of Massachusetts; citing microfilm publication M804, Record Group 15, Records of the Veterans Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

⁴ Defiance County Genealogical Society, Enumerations of Males in Defiance County, Ohio, 1847-1895, (Defiance, Ohio: 2006), p. 33, Dewit Blockman; citing Midwest Genealogical Center, Independence, Missouri. 

⁵ "Gillespie's Exchange," Maumee City Express (Defiance, Ohio), 15 April 1837, p. 4, col. 3, Sylvester Blackman runs inn; imaged, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com/article/maumee-city-express-sylvester-blackman/160810054/ : accessed 14 Sept. 2026).

⁶ "Recent Deaths," Defiance Democrat (Ohio), 8 April 1865, p. 2, col. 2, Sylvester Blackman death, 5 April 1865; imaged, NewspaperArchive.com (https://0-access-newspaperarchive-com.library.cityofdenton.com/us/ohio/defiance/defiance-democrat/1865/04-08/page-2 : accessed 13 September 2026)

⁷ Williams County, Ohio, Deed Records, Vol 4, p. 396, Sylvester & Clarissa Blackman, 5 Dec. 1838. Also, Williams County, Ohio, Record of Marriages, Vol. 1, p. 76, Sylvester Blackman and Mary Zellers, 19 August 1840.

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