MY RIVERSIDE CEMETERY TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTIONS
SCRAPBOOK PART VII
By Jonathan K.T. Smith
Copyright, Jonathan K. T. Smith, 1995

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BLACKARD (Lots 222½, 206)

LOT 222½, BLACKARD
[Lot 222½, west in Tombstone Inscriptions]

north to south:

WARNER McCOY BLACKARD
Born Feb. 22, 1886
Died Nov. 20, 1905
The golden gates were opened
a gentle voice said come
and with farewell unspoken
he entered into his eternal home.

JAMES RHODES BLACKARD
June 29, 1893-Aug. 8, 1894

WILEY WHITE BLACKARD
Oct. 8, 1884-Aug. 20, 1885

Double tombstone:
LOUISE WHITE BLACKARD, Mother
1858-1944
Rev. JAMES W. BLACKARD, Father
1857-1938
I know not where his islands
lift their fronded palms in
air, I only know I cannot drift
beyond His love and care.

MEMPHIS CONFERENCE YEARBOOK (Methodist Episcopal Church, South), 1938, page 105:

DR. JAMES WASHINGTON BLACKARD Clergyman-Educator         For over fifty years a leader in the Memphis Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was the late Dr. J. W. Blackard, president emeritus of Lambuth College at Jackson. Tennessee. Dr. Blackard was born in Madison County, Tennessee, February 8, 1857, a son of Wiley Freeman and Matilda (Wilie) Blackard. He was educated at Union University of Jackson where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1882 and the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Young Harris College of Georgia in 1900. He was ordained to the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1885 and from then until 1901 held pastorates at Big Sandy, Henderson, Dresden, Somerville and McKenzie, Tennessee; Hickman, Kentucky; Trenton and Memphis, Tennessee. He served as presiding elder of the Jackson, Tennessee district from 1901 to 1905; the Paducah, Kentucky district from 1905 to 1909 and the Brownsville, Tennessee district from 1909 to 1913. From 1913 to 1914 Dr. Blackard was pastor of the Union Avenue Church in Memphis, Tennessee; from 1914 to 1916 pastor of the First Church at Fulton, Kentucky; from 1916 to 1920 pastor of the First Church at Dyersburg, Tennessee and from 1920 to 1922 pastor of Hays Avenue Church in Jackson, Tennessee. In 1919 he became chairman of the building committee of Lambuth College at Jackson and from then until 1935 served as chairman of the board of trustees. In 1920 he accepted the presidency of that institution and remained as its head until 1924. From 1926 to 1930 he was again presiding elder of the Jackson district. Upon the completion of fifty years of active serve, in 1935, Dr. Blackard retired from official duties but continued active in various phases of the church work until his death. Dr. Blackard was a delegate to the ecumenical conference held in London, England in 1901 and to that held in Atlanta, Georgia in 1931. He was a member of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1910 and 1930; a member of the General Education Board of the M. E. Church, South, from 1910 to 1914, and a member of the General Board of Church Extension from 1930 to 1934. He was president of the Conference Board of Education from 1918 until 1922 and financial secretary of that body since 1924. He was also a trustee of McFerrin School and McTyeire Institute and president emeritus of Lambuth College at the time of his death. Dr. Blackard was also prominent in fraternal circles. He was a Knight Templar Mason and a past grand prelate of the Grand Commandry of Tennessee and was a past chancellor commander of the Jackson lodge of the Knights of Pythias. On December 27, 1883 Dr. Blackard was united in marriage with Miss Louisa White, a daughter of James White and Emma Davie White of Jackson, Tennessee. Surviving him were four of their seven children: 1. Lucile Blackard Hofstead of Baltimore, Md. who had one child, James Warner Hofstead. 2. Dr. William F. Blackard of Knoxville, Tenn. who married Edith Warren and had two children, Edith Warren and Louise Blackard. 3. Judge Charles G. Blackard of Nashville, Tenn. who married Mary Frances Blair and had two children, Charles G. Blackard, Jr. and Elizabeth Blackard. 4. Rev. Embree H. Blackard of High Point, N.C. who married Margaret Griffith and had three children, Margaret Lee, Embree H., Jr. and William G. Blackard.         Dr. James Washington Blackard died March 28, 1938 at Nashville, Tennessee, where he had spent several months for treatment of injuries received when he was struck by an automobile in Jackson on the preceding Christmas day. He was eighty-one years of age. Among the many tributes issued upon this occasion, one was published in THE JACKSON SUN which called attention to "his kindly ministry, his devotion to the Lord, his never-failing interest in his fellowman and his problems and a desire to leave the world a bit better for his having lived and worked among his brethren. (basically paraphrased account)

 

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TENNESSEE, THE VOLUNTEER STATE, by John T. Moore (Nashville, 1923), vol. 4, pages 6-7:

CHARLES GALLOWAY BLACKARD.         Charles Galloway Blackard, a member of one of the old and highly respected families of Tennessee, is engaged in the practice of law in Nashville and although one of the more recent additions to the bar of this city, he has already won recognition as an able advocate and safe counselor who has a high conception of the dignity and responsibility of his profession. He was born in Somerville, Fayette county, Tennessee, June 21, 1895, and is a son of James Washington Blackard, president of Lambuth College at Jackson, Tennessee, and a. well known writer on religious subjects. James W. Blackard was born at Huntersville, Madison county, this state, and became a resident of Jackson. When a young man he took up the study of theology and was ordained a minister of the gospel in the Methodist Episcopal church, South. He has filled many important charges in the Memphis conference and for twelve rears was presiding elder of the leading district of the conference. He has been a delegate to the General Conference and in 1901 was one of the delegates to the Ecumenical Methodist Conference, which was held in London, England, that year. He is a man of high intellectual attainments and a talented writer who has made frequent contributions to church papers and magazines, being at present engaged in preparing a book on the Life of Christ. His powers and talents have been a leavening force in making high ideals a tangible asset in the affairs of daily life and his influence has been a beneficial factor for good. He was a son of Wiley F. and Teresa Matilda (Wilie) Blackard, who became residents of Huntersville and later removed to Jackson, Tennessee. Wiley F. Blackard was prominent in civic affairs of that place, serving on the board of aldermen for ten years, and for six years he was sheriff of Madison county. He was a Knights Templar Mason and a veteran of the Civil war, serving under General Forrest. His son, James W. Blackard, married Louise Francis White, a daughter of James and Emma Haraldson (Davie) White. Her father was a successful farmer residing in Madison county, Tennessee, and he also served in the Confederate army, his commanding officer being General Forrest.           After finishing his grammar school course Charles G. Blackard attended the Haywood County high school at Brownsville, Tennessee, winning the declamation medal, and he then became a student at the Emory and Henry College at Emory, Virginia; from which he received the A. B. degree in 1917, being also awarded a medal in recognition of his ability as a debater. He next entered the law school of Cumberland University at Lebanon, Tennessee, from which he was graduated in 1920 with the LL.B. degree, being class orator. In June of the same year he was admitted to the bar at Nashville and he now maintains offices in the Stahlman building in this city. He has a thorough knowledge of statute and precedent and in a profession which requires a keen intellect and untiring application he is steadily advancing, his success coming to him because of his close reasoning, his logical argument, his correct application of legal principles and his ability to present his contention in the strongest possible light. He has already won a liberal clientele for one of his years and his business in the courts is steadily increasing in volume and importance.         Mr. Blackard's military record is a most creditable one. He is a veteran of the World war, enlisting in the First Officers Training Camp at Blacksburg, Virginia, on the 2d of May, 1917, and on the 11th of that month he reported for duty at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. He was transferred to the air service and on July 1, 1917, he became a student at the Military Aeronautic Ground School at Atlanta, Georgia, in which he completed a course of instruction. He was then ordered to Wilbur Wright field at Dayton, Ohio, reaching there on the 15th of August. He was stationed at that point until the 17th of December, when he was sent to Ellington Field, Texas, and on March 22, 1918, was commissioned pilot second lieutenant in the air service. On April 8, 1918, he was ordered to Camp Dick, Dallas, Texas, where he remained until the 1st of May, when he was transferred to Post Field at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and there acted as pilot instructor to aerial observers. On the 7th of June he became pilot instructor to aerial gunners at Selfridge Field, Mount Clemens, Michagan, and was thus occupied until ordered overseas on September 11, 1918. He embarked on the 16th of that month and was assigned as an officer to the Ninth Aero Squadron on the Meuse Argonne front. After the signing of the armistice he went with his squadron and the Third Army to Trier, Germany, with the Army of Occupation and was on duty until May 15, 1919, when he was ordered back to the United States. He landed at New York city on the 22d of June and was honorably discharged from the army August 2, 1919, at Camp Gordon, Georgia. He is a member of the One Hundred and Thirty sixth Tennessee National Guard Aero Squadron, holding a commission of pilot first lieutenant from the time the squadron was organized.         Mr. Blackard is a member of the West End Methodist church of Nashville. He is not actively interested in political affairs. He served as journal clerk in the upper house of the state senate of Tennessee in 1921, but has neither sought nor desired political preferment. He is a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, having represented his fraternity chapter at the National Fraternity convention held at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1919-1920, and while attending high school, college and university played on both the baseball and football teams. He is a young man of high purposes and ideals, who is actuated by the laudable ambition to progress, and industry and ability are carrying him rapidly forward in his profession, while his admirable personal qualities have won for him the unqualified respect and esteem of all with whom he has been associated.

 

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LOT 206, BLACKARD

Large tombstone; on west side inscribed:
WILEY F. BLACKARD
Born Dec. 31, 1833
Died Aug. 28, 1896

Inscribed on south side was an organization's emblem with pertinent info around this circle-emblem and below it, almost totally eradicated.

On the north side is inscribed, "My Husband," "Our Father" with several lines below these words, also no longer readable. The east side seems to have had a pious "verse" inscribed on it.

Next (north) of this tombstone is another and small shaft tombstone, inscribed on the west side:
TERESSA, wife of W. F. BLACKARD
Born in /?eradicated/, Tenn., June 24, 1828
Died in Jackson, Tenn., June 4, 1905

In fairly recent years smaller tombstones have been placed at the foot of these graves, bearing the names barely readable on the older 'stones. These are, south to north:

WILEY FREEMAN BLACKARD
1834-1896
U.C.V. Sheriff Alderman

TERRESSA MATILDA WILIE BLACKARD
1828-1905

WILLIAM THOMAS BLACKARD
Born Feb. 19, 1866
Died Apr. 3, 1916

LELLA WADE UTLEY, wife of W. T. BLACKARD
Born Aug. 20, 1872
Died Mar. 23, 1906

In Part V. of MY RIVERSIDE CEMETERY TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTIONS SCRAPBOOK (1994), page 15, due to misreading Lot 214 for that of Blackards instead of 206, I noted no tombstones to the Blackards. Re-checking the "1939 Index to Lot Owners, Riverside", I found them to have been buried in Lot 206 and subsequently the tombstones on this lot have been examined and the inscriptions therefrom reported just above.

1. U.S. Census, June 16, 1880, Jackson, page 41:
   Wiley Blackard, 46, Tenn. Tenn. Va. Sheriff
   Matilda Blackard, wife, 45, Tenn. Tenn. Tenn.
   James W. Blackard, son, 22, Tenn. Tenn. Tenn.
   William T. Blackard, son, 13, Tenn. Tenn. Tenn.
2. Madison County Marriage record:
   Wiley F. Blackard married Terressa M. Wiley, December 24, 1855.
3. Robert H. Cartmell's "Diary", vol. 14, Jan. -Dec. 1896, page 92:
   August 29, 1896. W. F. Blackard died suddenly last night about 8 o'clock. heart trouble I suppose. had not been in good health for a no. of years. was many years ago sheriff of Madison Co.
4. Buried in the Ararat Baptist Cemetery, Huntersville, Madison Co., Tenn. cemetery are buried two daughters of W. F. and T. M. Blackard (so stated on their tombstones):
   Louisa Alice Blackard, June 8, 1858-Sept. 27, 1861. Aged 3y 2m & 19d
   Martha Ann Blackard, July 21, 1869-Sept. 5, 1871. Aged 2y 1m & 14d
5. U.S. Census, June 6, 1900, Madison Co., Enumerator's Dist. 103, sheet 4:
   W. T. Blackard, b. Feb. 1866, Tenn. (had livery stable)
   Lelia W. Blackard, b. Mar. 1873; married 8 yrs; one child
   Wiley W. Blackard, son, b. July 1896, Tenn.
   Terissa M. Blackard, mother, b. June 1828, Tenn. (parents born in Tenn.)

 

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6. U.S. Census, April 27, 1910, Jackson, Tenn., Enum. Dist. 169, sheet 5-B:
   Will Blackard, age 44, b. Tenn.; parents born Tenn. County Court Clerk
   Emma P. Blackard, wife, age 35, b. Tenn.
   Wade Blackard, son, age 13, b. Tenn.
   Raymond Blackard, son, age 6, b. Tenn.
7. JACKSON SEMI-WEEKLY WEST TENNESSEE WHIG, Jackson, Tenn., Feb. 26, 1887. Capt. W. F. Blackard and wife and James White and wife, partook of a splendid birthday dinner at Pinson Tuesday, the occasion being the first anniversary of their little grandson, Warner Blackard, son of Rev. James Blackard and wife.

 

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