The Blackburn family was a closely-knit , hardy courageous group. They had just begun to establish themselves in the Ozarks (War Eagle,Benton county)when the Civil War tore them asunder.
Slyvanus Walker Blackburn, was the first of the family to come here. He came in 1832, from Tennessee with only a team of oxen seeking new land. He chose a fertile spot in the bend of the War Eagle River for there he saw straight tall trees and hewing logs for his home. There was plenty of wild game and fish for his food, but one wonders what else he may had to eat for this was a forest uninhabited by other human beings. When spring came, Sylvanus returned to Tenn. for his wife Katherine, whom he had married when they were sixteen, and told such glowing stories of the Ozarks to his family, about the beautiful country with its abundant fertile land,clear streams and many kinds of wild game, that they too decided to come to the Ozarks:his mother and father, bringing with them his sisters, Jerusha, Franke, and Lucinda. The brothers *Ambrose, William and James came as soon as they could dispose of their belongings in Tennessee, all eager to homestead the virgin soil and to build their own homes, which they did in and near War Eagle.
Once again, this is a big part of my family tree. I had help from my Mom to help me to get the story of WAR EAGLE. I remember sitting beside my mother in libraries looking up the really old records off the Microfilm. I asked her if it was exciting to find ancestors and how they lived, she said "YES!!"
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