Blackburn Grave Marker

This monument located in Evergreen Cemetery, Santa Cruz, CA is dedicated to a number of the Blackburn family. William Blackburn (b. 1814, d. 1867) may be considered the most prominent among them. He moved to California in 1845 from Harpers Ferry, Virginia, became alcalde in 1847 and the county's first judge in 1849. In addition to dispensing justice, he had a wide variety of occupations/pursuits while in California: he worked in lumber, operated a hotel in Mission Square, joined the gold rush, served as a soldier in the Bear Flag Revolt, purchased a tannery that he later sold to another prominent Santa Cruzan, and left politics to be a potato farmer. His wife Harriet (b. 1831, d. 1920) was originally from Massachusetts and was heavily involved in charity work. She was related to Almira Kittredge (https://sketchfab.com/models/14706f1dc19b4a08b0dcacea34210a25). W & H had one son, Freddie, who died at the age of two from "teething fever - congestion of the brain". http://familygrove.webjaw.com/?p=3