Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
Lawrence County Pennsylvania 1897
[p. 625] a leading physician and surgeon of New Castle, Pa., who has been prominently identified with the medical circles of that city as a regular practitioner for the past quarter of a century, was born in this county, in Slippery Rock township, Jan. 13, 1844.
Dr. Blackwood's father, Rev. James Blackwood, was Irish by birth; he was a minister of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and was a graduate of the Glasgow University. He followed his profession as long as his years would permit, and his last years as a minister of the gospel were spent as a pastor in New Castle. Some among the older residents of New Castle and the surrounding country will remember him to the last of their days as an earnest and forcible speaker, with a convincing power that brought the truth home to many a wavering one, and saved them for usefulness for the Master and His Kingdom. He married Jemima Calderwood, a native of Ireland, and to them were given eight children, as follows: Martha E.; Isabella C.; Thomas J., our subject; William; James, deceased; Jane; Robert; Andrew, and Jemima.
Dr. Blackwood secured an elementary education in the schools of Grove City, Pa., and later attended Beaver Academy of Beaver Falls, Pa.; when he had completed the course of studies prescribed at that institution, he took a medical course at the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, from which institution he graduated in 1866. He also further perfected himself with a postgraduate course at the Polyclinic Institute of New York City in 1883. His first field of practice was in Butler Co., Pa.; in 1873 he located in New Castle, where he has built up a large and lucrative practice, which amply rewards him for his painstaking efforts. His office practice demands the greater portion of the time, which is devoted to his profession.
In 1866 he exchanged mutual vows of fidelity and love with Sarah M. Magee, who accordingly became his wife and trusted helpmeet; she was a daughter of James Magee of Butler Co., Pa. The union of our subject and wife has been cemented with the birth of four children, as follows: Mary J., who married James Armstrong, and has one child, Thomas L.; Jemima C., who married Arthur Foster, and became the mother of one child, Arthur B.; Margaret, who graduated in the class of 1897 from the State Normal at West Chester, with average scholarship of 97; and James M., who is at present attending College at Beaver Falls, Pa. Jemima C. is at present matron of the Elmira Home of New Castle, Pa.—a home for the aged. Dr. Blackwood and his family are in their religious views Reformed Presbyterians, and support the church of that denomination in New Castle.
Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens Lawrence County Pennsylvania
Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897
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