- ENOCH J. BLACKFORD, a retired farmer and business man, as
well as the former postmaster
- of Juda, has been for many years a prominent figure in the
business and commercial activities of Green county, and is now
one of the time-honored and venerable residents of Juda.
- Mr. BLACKFORD is the son of William and Rachel (JOHNS) BLACKFORD,
both natives of
- Fayette county, Penn., who came of Welsh ancestry. They were
married in 1822, and to their union were born seven children,
of whom Enoch J., the eldest, was born May 12, 1824, in Fayette
county, Penn. Thomas died in Nodaway county, Mo. William lives
in Monroe, Wis. Samuel is a resident of Louisiana. Rebecca is
the wife of Stephen MANN, and has her home in Page county, Iowa.
Lavina was the wife of Samuel HUTZEL, of Juda, Wis. Rachel married
Peter ROUB, and is a resident of Chickasaw county, Mississippi.
- Mr. BLACKFORD was married to Miss Margaret CHRYST in 1848,
and to this union were
- born seven children: John W., of Albany, Wis.; Rebecca R.,
wife of James STULL, a farmer in Missouri; James E., who died
in Hampton, Iowa; Martin, who died in childhood; Franklin, who
died in childhood; Thomas J., of Juda; and Clella May, who died
in Page county, Iowa. Mr. BLACKFORD's wife died while they were
returning from Iowa to his native State, in 1869. In 1870 he
married Mrs. Jane CLEMMER, of Green county, Wis., who died in
1891. Mr. BLACKFORD married , Harriet MITCHELL, of Green county,
Aug. 3, 1893. She is the daughter of Washington MITCHELL, and
was born in the town of Decatur, Green county, where her father
was one of the pioneers.
- Mr. BLACKFORD came to Wisconsin in 1845, and was rich only
in courage and the resources
- of an honorable and upright manhood. Hiring out to work on
the farm of Rev. G. R. PATTON, he gained a standing for himself.
Afterward he taught school on the Sugar river, and began farming
for himself in Green county while yet a young man. In 1867 he
moved to Iowa, and in 1870 located at Juda, where he engaged
in carpentering, and where his home has been to the present time.
Mr. BLACKFORD has been justice of the peace for ten years, and
was made postmaster at Juda under the second administration of
President Cleveland. He was the first town clerk in the town
of Jefferson, in which he has also served as chairman, and filled
all the principal offices, and was several times nominated by
his party for the position of county clerk. Mr. BLACKFORD is
a member of the Baptist Church, and is a man highly esteemed
by the community in which he has lived for so many years. His
life has been honorable and upright, and he is a good neighbor
and an honorable citizen.
-
- Taken from "Commemorative Biographical Record of
the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin,"
(c)1901 Union Publishing; p. 541.
-
- Courtesy of Carol.
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