My great grandmother Ada Cordelia Buchenau Blacker was born February 7, 1853 in St. Joseph, Missouri. Her parents were John Buchenau, born in Germany, and Catherine B. Tyler Buchenau, born in Pennsylvania.
At the age of 18, she married David Lyman Blacker in Wathena, Kansas on February 27, 1871. Shortly afterwards, she moved with her new husband to the Montana Territory.
My great grandfather, David Lyman Blacker, was born August 29, 1829, in Pennsylvania. Between that time and 1864, we don’t know much about his whereabouts. But we do know that in 1864 he ended up in Virginia City, Montana – and from then on, we have a great deal of information due to his success as both a miner and stock raiser.
The main evidence we have as to the specifics of his arrival in Montana is a letter he received from the Society of Montana Pioneers in January 1899 (see below). The letter asked for specific biographical information which was to be published in an upcoming “Register”. I think it’s very likely he filled in the blanks himself – or if not, he probably directed someone on how to fill them out.