Genealogy, n.: --Ambrose Bierce I can be contacted Last update: Jan 6, 2004
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Welcome to the Blackwelder Genealogy page. My interest in creating this page is to share history with those of you who have a similar interest. The collection of names and dates is merely a means to an end for me. Outside of my own direct familial descent from the Blackwelder patriarch, Johannes Schwarzwalder, I really have no interest in collecting this data by itself. Over the years I've found the Blackwelders spreading to every state in the country. I want to know how they got there and what their experiences were. That is my impetus. Starting at age 8 my grandparents took me on several vacations where eventually I was able to visit over 40 US states. Each night when we stopped at a hotel I would always get out the phone book in the night stand by the bed and look to see if there were any Blackwelders nearby. I do not know why I did that, but it was certainly the beginnings of my interest in where the Blackwelders were. These days my job takes me all over the globe from Europe to Asia and I still find myself getting out that phone book to see if I have any kin nearby. I was in Singapore in early 2002 and I found myself looking up Blackwelders even there. I did not find any, but I still sensed those who had passed close by. Maybe that was just the spirit of my grandfather, Aaron A. "Buster" Blackwelder, who passed that way shortly before WWII while serving in the US Navy. I think I push myself to finish this thing which I started shortly after his death in 1989 because of his love of Americana and the love for this country's history that he instilled in me at an early age. This web site is dedicated to him. Here's a quick look at some of the major things I'm still working on:
That last item is what really keeps me going so I'm going to have a lot of fun with that where I track the Blackwelders from their arrival in Philadelphia all the way up to today. Visitors to this site are encouraged to share their own stories to be incorporated into our family's saga. Copyright ©2002, 2003 Greg Matthews |