Memorials › Pvt Gilbert Wilburn Blalock

Pvt Gilbert Wilburn Blalock

5 Feb 1847 – 1928

Birth	5 Feb 1847
Death	1928
Cemetery	Gravel Hill Cemetery Vernon Parish , Louisiana , USA
Added by	Jean plummer on 13 Feb 2010
FaG	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32273275

Bio

Biography researched and written by Evelyn Park Blalock. Please do not publish elsewhere without providing full and proper credit. Thank you. ---------- UPDATED 16 August 2020 Death: Between 1927 and 1930 Gilbert Wilburn Blalock was born to William Blalock and Evelina Burleigh Blalock in Morrow, Louisiana. He was baptized on 5 February 1847 at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Grand Coteau (GC Ch. v.1, p.258 - Reference SWL: vol. 4, p. 41). Growing up near Grand Coteau, Louisiana, he had three siblings: William Stanford Blalock (1849–1927), Louisiana Marie Blalock Reed (1850-1921), and Mary Emerite Blalock Fisher (1854- ). His sister Louisiana went by Louisa Anna later in life. During the Civil War, Gilbert served on the side of his neighbors in Company A of the 2nd Louisiana Cavalry, enlisting at the age of 15 in May 1862. He was taken as a Prisoner of War in April 1864. Gilbert appears as "G.W. Blalock" on the list of prisoners who were paroled in Washington Parish, Louisiana, on 17 June 1865, which indicated he was returning to his residence in St. Landry parish. After the war, Gilbert returned home to help with the family farm, marrying his first wife, Sarah E. (Sallie) Causey, on 20 March 1873. After the birth of their son, David Edward Blalock (1877-1953), all three family members disappear from U.S. Census records until 1900. Family lore is that Gilbert and Sallie divorced about 1879. Additional information regarding the whereabouts of Sallie after this time would be appreciated. When the Pacific & Southern Railroad began construction in Smithfield, Tarrant County, Texas, Gilbert moved there. He met and married Rutha Vermillion, who was the orphaned daughter of Samuel H. Vermillion and Ruth Ann Patten. While still in Texas, Gilbert and Rutha had two sons: William Frankin Blalock and Joseph Ewell Blalock. After the death of Gilbert's father, he returned to the Blalock/Burleigh family farm in Louisiana, bringing along his wife and children. Gilbert and Rutha had six more children in the years that followed: Tallaquah Blalock Dunbar, Tallulah Blalock Jones, Murphy John Blalock, Henry William (Royal) Blalock, Annie Blalock Dunbar, and Gilbert Blalock Jr. Soon after the birth of her youngest child, Rutha also disappears from the family records. A newspaper article in the St. Landry Clarion on 30 December 1905 indicates that the wife of G. Blalock (presumed to be Rutha) was found by her neighbors in a near death condition. She is not found on any records past this time, and death is presumed to have occurred soon thereafter. This article further stated that G. Blalock was arrested in Alexandria for abuse, supposedly for blinding his wife, and was returned to the Parish jail in Opelousas. However, no record of this arrest or arraignment can be found in St. Landry Parish courthouse records. The timing is suspicious, as Rutha had been listed as blind at least five years earlier, on the 1900 U.S. Census. Gilbert had filed suit against a very powerful planter in the area a month before this article was published, accusing the planter of failing to pay rent and royalties for farmland he had leased from Gilbert. Soon after the article appeared, Gilbert apparently fled to Vernon Parish and changed the information he provided for nativity on all future records (claiming to be born in Kentucky rather than Louisiana on future Census records, pension application, etc.). The lawsuit was then dismissed due to Gilbert's failure to appear. It is clear that this is the same Gilbert, as he is specifically listed living in Vernon Parish in family obituaries and in his mother's probate record in 1918. On the marriage records for her sons William and Ewell (who married sisters in Louisiana), Rutha's name is recorded as Authery/Autry. Some descendants have speculated that this indicated Rutha remarried, but it is now believed the boys responded this way because Rutha's only living family known to them was a second cousin, Bell Burnett Autrey . Rutha was living in the same household as Bell when she married Gilbert. The boys would have known her from their early days in Tarrant County, but they likely only knew the family name without any details of the relationship. Additional information regarding the whereabouts of Rutha after the 1900 U.S. Census would be welcomed, and may be submitted via the "edit" button. The family unit had completely changed by the 1910 Census. Gilbert's mother (who was by then 92 years old) is shown at the residence of one of her granddaughters in Evergreen, Avoyelles, Louisiana. Many of the children of Gilbert and Rutha are shown in the Census living in a home adjacent to their stepbrother David, who was by then married. Murphy is listed as the head of household (at the age of 16), with Tallulah, Tallaquah, Annie, and Gilbert Jr. also living in the home. One son, Henry, was singled out from the other children to live with his aunt, Louisa Anna Blalock Reed. This proved quite advantageous for him, as he was provided an opportunity to attend college, whereas some of his siblings had to begin working prior to graduating high school. Gilbert Sr. and two of his older sons, Willie and Ewell, cannot be found on 1910 Census records, but family lore states that the sons were working for the railroad and sending money home to their siblings. On 28 June 1911, Gilbert Sr. remarried again, this time to Margana (Morgan) Johnson. The couple made their home on a farm near Cravens, Louisiana, but they did not take in any of Gilbert's children. Instead, the children continued living in multiple homes, now spread between multiple parishes. Sons Willie and Ewell transferred with the railroad to Addis, Louisiana, and then married sisters Louise and Ella Chenevert. Their families resided in New Roads, Louisiana. Ewell and Ella later divorced, and Ewell remarried. It appears that Gilbert maintained contact with at least one of his sons, as Ewell and Gilbert both worked the same construction locations for the railroad and lived in the same area after Ewell's divorce from Ella. About this time, Gilbert also suddenly changed his response for birthplace on all of his records. He had consistently responded Louisiana on the Census from 1850-1900, but then responded Kentucky on all records after 1910. In his later years, Gilbert attempted to collect a pension for his military service. He applied to the War Department and was denied multiple times. Unfortunately, he listed Company F on his application each time rather than Company A. He also listed Natchitoches as the place of parole at the end of the war, rather than Washington (in St Landry Parish). It appears that Gilbert was forgetful in his old age about more than just the specific company in which he served, as he did not include his time as a Prisoner of War in his application, and also neglected to mention one of three marriages. Applications with this incorrect information were submitted on 14 September 1920, 20 January 1921, 29 September 1923, 6 March 1925, and 13 August 1927. Documentation is now readily available to demonstrate both Gilbert's service and his time as a Prisoner of War, but the War Department apparently could not locate it at the times he applied. Multiple affadavits were required from comrades with whom Gilbert served. Gilbert's last pension application was submitted on 13 August 1927, and this time it was finally granted. An order to begin a Quarterly Allowance for the rank of Private First Class was approved by the War Department Board on 8 September 1927. Gilbert died sometime between 1927 and 1930. He is buried in the same cemetery as his third wife, Morgan, in Gravel Hill Cemetery, Cravens, Vernon Parish, Louisiana. 1st marriage - St. Landry Parish, Louisiana Wed Sarah Eugenia "Sallie" Causey (1858- ) on 10 March 1873 Children from this marriage: David Edward Blalock (#95102514) 2nd marriage - Tarrant County, Texas Wed Rutha Vermillion (#132354588) on 23 June 1886 Children from this marriage: William Franklin Blalock (#71965401) Joseph Ewell Blalock (#55550112) Tallaquah Blalock Dunbar (#171193203) Tallulah Blalock Jones (#142779379) Murphy J. Blalock (#116816113) Henry William Blalock (#131636171) Annie Blalock Dunbar (#7879617) Gilbert Blalock Jr. (1902- ) 3rd marriage - Vernon Parish, Louisiana Wed Margana "Morgan" Johnson (#32273273) on 28 Jun 1911 Children from this marriage: None

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