Bio: Alfred Blackman, Claiborne Parish, LA
Source:  Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana
The Southern Publishing Company, Chicago & Nashville, 1890
Submitted for the LAGenWeb Archivesby: Gwen Moran-Hernandez, Jan. 2000


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Alfred Blackman.  A worthy history of Claiborne Parish, La., could not be
given without mentioning the name of Mr. Blackman, as, for the past forty
years, he has been a prominent resident of this section of the country. 
During this long period his good name has remained untarnished, and he has
well and faithfully performed every duty which has fallen to his lot.  He was
born in Lancaster District, S. C., in 1823, but in 1830 was taken to Georgia
by his parents, and in Harris County, of that State, he attained manhood and
acquired a practical education.  In 1848 he was elected to the position of
sheriff of that county, and was a faithful servant of the people until his
removal to Claiborne Parish, La., in 1850.  In El Dorado County, Ark., he
married in 1854 to Miss Margaret K., a daughter of Daniel Norwood, an eminent
divine of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  To Mr. and Mrs. Blackman a family
of six children were born five sons and one daughter: James W., Edward W.,
John L. (a resident of Nevada, Tex.), henry M. (married and a resident of Fort
Worth, Tex.), Iola (wife of John M. Brown, of Homer, La.), and Alfred H. (who
is now a student in the medical department of the Vanderbilt University of
Nashville, Tenn.).  Mr. Blackman, at the opening of the war, was the owner of
sixty slaves, and although he is now the owner of about a section of land with
200 acres under cultivation, he was immensely wealthy prior to that time. 
Upon the bursting of the war cloud, which had threatened the country for some
time, he espoused the Confederate cause, and became a member of a company
called the Moore Fencibles in April, 1861, and was a participant in the first
battle of Manassas Junction.  He then served on detached service west of the
Mississippi River until the close of the war.  He was a member of the old Whig
party until its dissolution, then becoming a Democrat, with which party he has
he has at all times affiliated, being very active and successful in its
support, but has held aloof from office, although positions have been
frequently tendered him.  He is strictly temperate in all his habits, and is a
strong advocate of prohibition.  Socially he belongs to the A. F. & A. M., and
he and wife are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, having
been so from childhood.  His wife was born near Selma, Ala., to Daniel H. and
Emily (Goodwin) Norwood, natives, respectively, of North Carolina and Alabama,
she being one of their twelve children of whom only three are now living; her
sisters, Mrs. Browning and Mrs. White, being residents of Norwalk, Fla. Mr.
Blackman inherits Welsh and Irish blood of his ancestors, who came to the
United States at a very early day, settling in Virginia.  He was the youngest
in a family of six children, all of whom grew to maturity.  His parents were
born in Virginia and North Carolina in 1782 and 1787, respectively.  The
following are the names of his brothers, the only ones of the family whom the
subject of this sketch can remember: Jonathan, Joseph, Nathaniel and John. 
Members of this family served in the Revolutionary War, John holding the rank
of colonel under Francis Marion.

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