Richard Blackstone Biography


	This biography appears on pages 103-105 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				RICHARD BLACKSTONE.  

	Richard Blackstone, of Lead, occupies a position of commanding 
importance in mining circles of the state as the superintendent of the 
Homestake Mining Company, which is the largest wealth producing concern 
in the commonwealth and operates the largest mine of its kind in the 
world. Mr. Blackstone was born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, on the 
16th of October, 1843, a son of James and Nancy Campbell (Johnston) 
Blackstone. The father was a farmer and prominent citizen of that 
locality, which was also his birthplace Henry Blackstone, an uncle of 
our subject, was a well known railroad man in Pennsylvania and 
Maryland. The family was early established in those states, four 
generations being buried in the same locality in western Pennsylvania. 
James Blackstone passed away in 1894 after having reached the advanced 
age of eighty-one, and his widow survived for nine years, dying in 
1903. They were parents of fourteen children, Richard being the sixth 
in order of birth.  

	Richard Blackstone attended the common schools and a select 
school of Connellsville and when a youth of seventeen years enlisted in 
Company C, Thirty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, at Mount Vernon, 
Ohio, on the 20th of July, 1861. As soon as the organization of the 
company was completed it was sent to the front and was in action 
throughout the West Virginia campaign. It was under General Milroy at 
Camp Cheat Mountain and took part in the battle of Bull Mountain. 
Thence it went into the Shenandoah Valley and joined General Fremont's 
forces, following Stonewall Jackson on his retreat up the valley to 
Harrisonburg. Returning to Winchester, the command assisted in the 
fortification of that city and later, upon Lee's crossing into 
Maryland, the Union army abandoned the city and retreated to Harper's 
Ferry and engaged in the battle of Maryland Heights. Most of the men of 
the Thirty-second Volunteer Infantry were taken prisoners and later 
paroled. They could hear the firing during the battle of Antietam, but 
were not allowed to participate in it as they were on parole. The 
regiment subsequently went to Baltimore, thence to Camp Douglas, 
Chicago, and later to Columbus, Ohio, where their exchange was 
effected. In the spring of 1863 the command was again ready for duty 
and proceeded by way of the Mississippi to Memphis, where it became a 
part of the Army of the Tennessee under General Grant, being assigned 
to the Third Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps. After lying in 
camp at Milliken's Bend for a time the regiment crossed the Mississippi 
below Vicksburg and took part in the march to the rear of that 
Confederate stronghold, engaging in the battle of Raymond on the 8th of 
May, after which it proceeded as far as Jackson, Mississippi, from 
which point it returned and was in action in the battle of Champion's 
Hill on the 16th of May. In the charge of that day the Thirty-second 
Ohio captured two entire regiments from Alabama. It then advanced and 
took part in the siege of Vicksburg until the 4th of July, or until the 
surrender of the city. The regiment was then engaged in provost duty 
throughout the summer. In the fall Mr. Blackstone was made first 
sergeant of his company and re-enlisted as a veteran volunteer, 
although his term of original enlistment did not expire until a year 
later. He received a thirty day furlough, which he spent at his old 
home, after which he was detailed on recruiting service. In the 
meantime his regiment had been moved northward and he rejoined it at 
Cairo, Illinois, whence they proceeded up the Tennessee river to 
Athens, Georgia, where Mr. Blackstone was given his come mission as 
second lieutenant. The Thirty-second Ohio marched onward and joined 
Sherman's army at Big Shanty, Georgia, and participated in the Atlanta 
campaign, advancing against General Johnston. After numerous skirmishes 
and the battle of Kenesaw Mountain the army reached Atlanta, 
participating in the siege of that place and the battle of Jonesboro 
and was with Sherman on his march to the sea. The regiment to which Mr. 
Blackstone belonged was in the thickest of the fray. He was sent to the 
hospital at Wilmington, North Carolina, owing to a stubborn case of 
malaria and upon his recovery was ordered to join his regiment at 
Raleigh, South Carolina, as they were then with Sherman on his march to 
the sea. Mr. Blackstone proceeded northward with his command through 
the Carolinas and was with Sherman's army when Johnston surrendered. 
The Union forces marched on to Washington and after participating in 
the grand review he was sent to Louisville, Kentucky, where he was 
assigned to provost duty and where he received his honorable discharge 
in July, 1865. On the 27th of that month he was mustered out as captain 
of his company.  

	Mr. Blackstone returned to his home in Pennsylvania and for some 
months was a student in the Pennsylvania Military College at Chester, 
Pennsylvania, and subsequently attended the Rensselaer Polytechnic 
Institute at Troy, New York, for two years, studying engineering. 
Obeying a desire to see something of the great west, he went to 
Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1868 and thence to Colorado, locating in 
Breckenridge, that state, where he engaged extensively in placer mining 
for two summers. He then removed to Denver and began work as a 
draftsman in the United States surveyor general's office. He was soon 
afterward transferred to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and remained there, being 
employed as a draftsman, until 1878. In March of that year he removed 
to the Black Hills and took charge of a placer mining company near 
Deadwood. As this proved unsuccessful, he was compelled to seek other 
work and again became a draftsman. He served in that capacity and as 
engineer for the firm of Rohleder & Smith of Deadwood for a year. In 
1880 he entered the employ of the Homestake Mining Company, doing odd 
jobs for them, and in 1881 was engineer in charge of the Black Hills 
and Fort Pierre Railroad. In 1882 he was made chief engineer of the 
Homestake Mining Company and has continued with them throughout the 
intervening thirty-two years. At no time has he ceased to study the 
conditions and to endeavor to find a way of solving more satisfactorily 
some vexing problem, and his initiative and knowledge gained him 
promotion to the position of assistant superintendent in April, 1903. 
He proved equal to the added responsibility placed upon him and his 
executive ability developed with the heavier demands upon it. After the 
death of Mr. Grier, who was for three decades superintendent of the 
company, Mr. Blackstone was made general superintendent, assuming that 
important position on the 1st of October, 1914. He took up the task of 
the general direction of all of the operations of the Homestake Mining 
Company with the confidence of the owners and directors of the 
corporation and with the respect and good will of those under him. His 
long connection with the mine and his more than ten years, experience 
as assistant superintendent form the best possible preparation for the 
work of superintendent and his experience, keen intelligence, 
authoritative knowledge of mining and undoubted ability to secure the 
cooperation of the men under his direction all make certain his success 
in his new position of authority. In 1912, while assistant 
superintendent, he designed and erected the Spearfish Hydro Electric 
plant, which is a model of its kind and which has been of great value 
to the Homestake mine. The new hoist and pumping plant to be installed 
at the B. & M. hoist is also one of the finest achievements of mining 
engineering in existence and Mr. Blackstone had much to do in securing 
it for the Homestake, which excels all other mines in the world in 
foundations and permanent work. Mr. Blackstone gives his entire time 
and attention to his business and takes the greatest pride in working 
out some improvement that will increase the efficiency of the mine and 
give it another claim to leadership. He is constantly reading and 
studying along lines connected with his work and is a member of the 
American Institute of Mining Engineers.  

	On the 28th of December, 1871, Mr. Blackstone was united in 
marriage at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Miss Mabel R. Noble, of that 
city, and to them have been born three children: Alexander J., 
assistant engineer of the Homestake Mining Company; and Mary Louise and 
Flora W., twins, both of whom are married, the former being now Mrs. D. 
C. Regan, of Lead, and the latter the wife of C. L. Williams, an 
operator in the Hydro Electric at Spearfish.  

	Mr. Blackstone has supported the principles and candidates of the 
republican party at the polls since attaining his majority and 
manifests a citizen's interest in good government. His home is his club 
and he spends there the greater part of his leisure time. He is a 
member of the Ohio Commandery of the Loyal Legion and also belongs to 
the Homestake Veterans Association, of which he has served as president 
since its organization. The society is composed of those who have been 
in the service of the Homestake Mining Company for twenty-one years or 
more and does much to foster a spirit of loyalty and cooperation. The 
record of the achievement of Mr. Blackstone testifies to his marked 
ability and is an earnest of still greater accomplishment in the coming 
years.