This may be a bit wordy, who knows, it may be read by a Garden Island neighbor. I'm hoping to fill in some facts regarding James Blackwell's parents and his exact place and date of death. He did not emigrate to the USA and probably died about 1890 on Garden Island.

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Addendum; 12/15/95 JWB
James Blackwell. He was a British soldier stationed at Fort Frontenac ( now called Fort Henry) in 1864. Fort Henry, according to old letters that I have, was located near Kingston, Ontario on the St. Lawrence River. James was discharged from the service with a pension at the close of the Civil War in the States. He and his wife Eliza Lambourne Blackwell decided to remain in Canada, settling on Garden Island, one of the Thousand Islands, two miles east of Kingston, Ontario, directly under the guns of Old Fort Henry. James obtained employment in the ship yards of the D.D.Calvin Company. While employed by D.D.Calvin James also organized a brass band and orchestra which is identified as the Garden Island Choral Society in a bible presented to him by the group on May 1, 1872.

I have the bible in my possession along with other documents that support the above notes. JWB 12/20/2000

Today 12/20/2000 I have also found James Blackwell in the 1871 Ontario, Canada, Census Records;

3. Match Ranking: *
James Blackwell found in:

Family Archive #116 Census Records: Ontario, Canada, 1871
District: Frontenac Sub-district: Garden Island
Birth year range: 1826 Age: 44
Gender: Male Birthplace: England
Ethnic origin: English Religious affiliation: Baptist
Occupation: Weaver
Microfilm roll #: C-9998 Page: 1 item 6
Head of household comment: This person is listed as a head of household.

On September 19, 2001 I viewed the 1871 Ontario Census records via microfilm at the Bolingbrook library. I have thus substantiated all of the dates found in the James Blackwell family tree as of 1871 and a copy has been placed with my records.
JWB 9/22/2001

___________________________________________________________________________________________________
On February 18, 2003 I received the following documentation from daughter Cheryl Blackwell who enlisted the help of an English Military Archivist. The following is the content of the Archivist's cover letter which explains the military records included in the package. The actual military records are not included in this program as they don't copy very well. They are kept in the family tree archives located at - private.
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Royal Regiment of Artillery -- Service Record of James Blackwell

James Blackwell was born October__, 1827 in the town of Macclesfield, in the Parish of Macclesfield, in the County of Cheshire, England. His father George Blackwell was a Millwright. On September 21, 1846, at the age of 18 and 11 months, James Blackwell joined the Royal Regiment of Artillery in Ashton-Under-Lyne in the County of Lancashire, England. He joined as a Driver and Gunner. Gunner James Blackwell - No. 1749 - served in the Royal Artillery for 21 years (1846 - 1868). 13 years of this service was spent abroad: Ceylon (Sri Lanka?) 4 years, 10 months, Hong Kong 2 years, 3 months, and Canada 6 years, 3 months ( 1861 - March 23, 1868).

After his 21 years of service his conduct record on his pension application stated the following: private…

Source -- Cheryl Blackwell / Royal Artillary Archives / February 2003
Documented in Family Tree Program -- Joe Blackwell February 18, 2003

Hi Joe,
Do you think this could be him in this Ontario Death Certificate?


Ontario, Canada Deaths, 1869-1934
about James Blackwell
Name: James Blackwell
Death Date: Sep 1917
Death Location: Peterborough
Gender: Male
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1827
Birth Location: England

I can attempt to link his death record for you if you think it could be.

Nuccia,

Yes, I guess it could be. He certainly lived to be much older than we thought. But yes it definitely could be. His death record would be interesting. Thank you very much for your help. If there are any fee's please let me know. Joe B.

Nuccia,
Also, after looking at Google-Earth, I realize that Peterborough, On, Canada is just 50 or so kms from Kingston on the St. Lawrence Seaway, which is approximately where Garden Island is (or was) located. I'm beginning to think that my G-GM left him and brought my G-Father to Chicago. His military conduct record which I decided not to include in my original post indicated that he was quite the rascal. This may be starting to make more sense since none of the documents I have on the family ever mention his name. I always thought that was odd? Oh well, maybe a family secret is about to be revealed. Thanks again for your help...Joe B.

Here you go Joe..Lets see if it's him.

Hi again Nuccia,

I'm afraid the James Blackwell you found is not my G-GF. I have attached a copy of his wedding certificate ( which I should have done in the first place...sorry) and as you can see his wife and father were different. But I appreciate your going through the trouble to help. This is the best genealogy site I have ever run across.

Joe B.

Well after going through the records on ancestry and on this site:

ontariocensus.rootsweb...700-1.html

I am almost certain James was either dead or moved away by 1891 since I can find no mention of him. The problem is that I can not even find his death record so far but I plan to keep looking.

Yes, I keep running into a stone wall for his date of death. Thanks for trying though. Maybe he was in prison, being the rascal that he was?