Colonel Andrew Jackson Blackwell, (CSA)

Find A Grave #8582134 https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8582134/andrew-jackson-blackwell EWSPAPER ARTICLE: HE DROPPED DEAD A.J. Blackwell Suddenly Passes Away HE WAS A TOWN BUILDER And Was the Founder of Blackwell A.J. Blackwell, the founder of the city of Blackwell is dead. This forenoon John R. May received the following telegram: Chelsea, I.T. - June 1903 Mr. Blackwell dropped dead this morning. Will be buried tomorrow at 4:30. - Rosa Blackwell.

A few weeks ago Mr. Blackwell moved his family from this City to Chelsea, I.T., to be nearer the scenes of some large business transactions he had recently engaged in. The announcement of his death was a great surprise, and the news rapidly spread throughout the city, many people being inclined to doubt the truth of the report, owing to the fact that he has been on one or two occasions during the past few years reported dead. A.J. Blackwell was probably close to sixty years old at the time of his death. He was born in the state of Mississippi, but spent a great many years in the Cherokee Nation, his wife being part Cherokee. During his latter years he accumulated a great deal of property and was a very wealthy man at the time of his death. He leaves a widow and three chhildren. A.J. Blackwell was a town builder. Long before the Cherokee Strip was opened to settlement he conceived the idea of building a city upon the present site of Blackwell. He secured the allotments, three eighties, and when the strip opened to settlement on Sept. 16th, 1893, this town had already been laid out and surveyed into lots, blocks and streets, with one house on the town site, a small frame building that now stands back of the Blackwell hotel on West Blackwell Avenue. The original name of this city was Blackwell Rock, but the citizens soon dispensed with the Rock and adopted the name of Blackwell. He afterwards founded the town of David, in the Cherokee Nation, and was also one of the founders of the town of Chelsea in the same country. (The Blackwell Sun, Blackwell, Oklahoma, June 25, 1903) NOTE: This information was provided by John Ropp.

The Vinita Daily Chieftain. (Vinita, Indian Terr.), Friday, June 19, 1903 A.J. BLACKWELL DEAD. The news was telephoned here today of the death of A.J. Blackwell at Chelsea early this morning of heart failure. Blackwell was a noted character and was the founder of the town of Blackwell O.T. and was interested in numerous enterprises in Chelsea and in O.T. He was at different times considered quite wealthy having in hand large interests in coal and mineral undertakings and in real estate investments. He was in Vinita a few days ago apparently in the best of health and spirits. Contributor: Emily Jordan (47063153) • eejordan104@hotmail.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._J._Blackwell A.J. Blackwell (Andrew Jackson Blackwell) (January 29, 1842 - June 19, 1903) was the founder and namesake of Blackwell, Kay County, Oklahoma. Blackwell, the city, was founded in September 1893 as of one of the Cherokee Allotments.[1] A.J. Blackwell had settled in the area in 1882,[2] having married the former Rosa Vaught who was of Cherokee descent, he was eligible to found the city. Blackwell served as Justice of the Peace and Mayor of Blackwell.[2] He also worked as a merchant in Fayetteville, Arkansas, built the first house in Ottawa, Kansas, and founded the towns of Rock Falls, Oklahoma Territory, David, Indian Territory, and Chelsea, Indian Territory.[3] An entrepreneur, he also established the first hotel in Blackwell,[4] and was president of the North Oklahoma Railroad.[2]

A.J. Blackwell was born on January 29, 1842, in Georgia to Janos and Matilda Blackwell.[3] He enlisted in the Confederate army during the Civil War under the 3rd Confederate Cavalry.[3] A.J. and Rosa Blackwell had two sons and one daughter: King Solomon, King David and Hazel.[5]

Prior to founding Blackwell, Oklahoma, A.J. Blackwell lived in Joplin, Missouri, where he held bear and dog fights and built the town's first opera house.[6] He was arrested on counterfeiting charges and spent time in the Missouri State Penitentiary.[7] Blackwell also was indicted twice for murder, but was not convicted.[8]

Early settlers in the town of Blackwell reportedly viewed A.J. Blackwell as a despot who operated as "practically a one-man government."[9] At one point, Blackwell brought a group of black workmen into town, in defiance of an unofficial but strict ban on their residence or employment there. This prompted a strong reaction from the townspeople, who fired shots at night at the tent where the black workers were staying.[9] Blackwell responded by brandishing a Winchester rifle to hold off the mob. Ultimately, however, the citizenry drove all members of the black race out of town.[7][10] A black family attempted to move into Blackwell in 1902, and was chased by a mob of 1,200 people who burned their home.[11]

In 1894, A.J. Blackwell was arrested by the Cherokee government, sentenced to death for treason, and tortured by being poked with steel rods after refusing to confess to charges of selling land to white settlers.[12] He was rescued the night before his scheduled execution.[13] His wife, Rosa, was deeded the land of the town of David, founded in 1895, as she could legally own it.[13] The Cherokees sued, and the white residents of the town were expelled in 1898.[13]

A.J. Blackwell died June 19, 1903, in Chelsea, Indian Territory, another town he had founded.[14][15] Prior to his death, in July 1902, Blackwell had erected a monument in his honor and publicly read his will.[16]

Andrew J Blackwell in the New York, U.S., Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900

New York, U.S., Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900 DetailSource Name: Andrew J Blackwell Age: 20 Birth Year: abt 1843 Birth Place: Georgia Enlistment Year: 1863 Enlistment Location: Kingston, New York, USA Muster Year: 1863 Muster Regiment: 15th Cavalry Separation Date: 17 Jun 1865 Separation Details: Transferred