John and Isaac Blakey: Civil War ~ Part 4



John in Forest Green MO.
While Isaac joined The Union  Army after Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

More clues: The Emancipation Proclamation which was signed on Jan 1, 1863. John remained in Forest Green, MO as a slave. And Isaac somehow ran away and joined the Union Army for three years and nine months.

I began to search more on my Blakey ancestors in 1980 - 1981. One of my sisters heard of some Blakeys living in South Dakota. We set out to find more information.

It wasn't until we visited some cousins in Yankton, South Dakota, we came across some news that we didn't know about. I was surprised to hear that Isaac was on my family lineage. I thought John, Isaac brother was on the direct line.

This information sparked my desire to find out.I was hoping there would be some record on Isaac. So I searched more.

As I searched for information on Isaac Blakey, I found out much more about on the family tree. I thought if Isaac served in the Civil War than there should be some record of it. I received that information through the mail. But it took a while. Isaac's surname was BLAKER.


In the military records: I  came across information that I thought was long lost. I pieced together some of what I discovered. There was listed the names of the slave owners; John and Frances (WHITE) BLAKEY. That explains the two family surnames. It appears that the WHITE slave owners was on Frances' side.


Isaac did joined the Union Army in Natchez Mississippi on Nov 1, 1863. He was between 16 -18 years old. He was honorable discharged on  May 13, 1866. Isaac date of birth was unknown. He's accepted birth was on June 30, 1847. Yet some records stated his birth year about 1845.

A great wonder would be, how did a young teenage slave travel to MS?  It would have been hard to escape without help. Perhaps he was sold to some of the WHITE / BLAKEY relatives in MS.

According to Isaac BLAKER's pension records, Isaac and his mother were sold about the breaking out of the War and they went south. That could explain how Isaac ended up in the army.

There was no mentioning of where the other slaves were . Oral history states that they were in Natchez, MS. What a coincident? Isaac was there too.

Question: Was John the only slave relative left in Missouri? There could have been other relatives with John. As for John, his surname was WHITE. That was the confusion in the article. John took the WHITE surname.

I thought to myself. Who was John BLAKEY, the slave? I came across that answer. He was John WHITE (1858- 1918).  There was a John Blakey mentioned in the article. He was the son of Isaac Blakey, brother of John WHITE.

Blog Continues