Enoch was born abt. 1764 in Avening, Gloucestershire, Eng., d. Jun. 3, 1816 in Jersey Shore, Lycoming Co., PA. In some versions of the oral history, his birthplace was transformed to "Haven Parish". [It's really Avening, I've been there and to Horsley.-wbt.] Enoch's parents were John Blackwell, b. May 1733/34 in Horsley, Gloucestershire, Eng., d. Nov. 22, 1824 in England; and Sarah Cole, b. Abt. 1742 in Avening, d. there Jun. 23, 1789. Enoch was the 2nd of 10 children. [The Anglican church in Horsley has many Blackwells on its list of WW1 & WW2 veterans. And the graveyard has a fairly recent tombstone for a Blackwell who was its sexton.-wbt]
He first married Hannah Perrine (or Perrin) Dec. 3, 1787 in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire [several of our Clinch cousins were born there], died in England after 1800, but before Enoch emigrated in 1804. Sometimes her name is given as "Mary Perrine". She was a daughter of John Perrine and Sarah Ryder.
The Blackwells owned textile mills around the nearby community of Nailsworth, but the industry went through a number of boom and bust cycles. Several of the Blackwells participated in The English Company, a group of investors who bought more than 110,000 acres of wilderness in Lycoming Co., PA, intending to farm there. A key organizer of the English Company was the Rev. John Hey. One of Enoch's sons accompanied Rev. Hey to Philadelphia to buy the land. One of Enoch's brothers, Joshua, married Rev. Hey's daughter, Amelia. Two communities were established, both of which failed because the heavily wooded hills' soil would not support the kind of farming they knew. But Enoch later became wealthy logging it
In 1804, Enoch, all his children, and some of his siblings sailed from Bristol to Philadelphia. Also on board were neighbors from Avening (it's a small village) --- Thomas Clinch, his wife, Sarah Lugg, and baby daughter, Ann Clinch.
In 1805, Thomas Clinch died. Widower Enoch, and now widow Sarah, were married Sept 9, 1805, in Jersey Shore, Lycoming Co. Sarah gave daughter Ann to the care of one of Enoch's brother's and his wife. Ann's daughter, Jane CAMPBELL Tubbs, said it was Peter Blackwell. [Amateur genealogist Stella MAUGERI Blackwell believed it was Joshua and Amelia Hey Blackwell.]
Enoch and Sarah settled in Pine Twp., Lycoming Co., where their first child, Mary Blackwell was born. Enoch became a wealthy lumberman, owning a lot of property around Pine Creek. Later they moved to Jersey Shore, where their 2nd child, Enoch Blackwell was born. In the spring, the elder Enoch would take rafts of logs downstream to sell in Williamsport or Harrisburg. In 1816, trying to break up a log jam he fell into the chilly waters of the creek, got pneumonia, and died in Jersey Shore June 3, 1816.
[12/21/2011; last rev. 8/12/2019 - wbt]
View his record on our family tree.
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