Mary E. Blacker died November 19, 1920, at the home of her son Robert, in South union, at the age of 91 years.
The funeral took place from the residence Sunday November 21, 1920 at 2 p.m. She was laid to rest by her husband, who preceded her to the Great Beyond 9 years ago.
Mary Elizabeth Duignan was born in Ireland in 1829. She came to this country at the age of nineteen years, settling in Philadelphia, where she spent three years with friends. She then left for San Francisco to join a brother who was living there. She journeyed by water to the Isthmus of Panama and crossed overland on mules to the Pacific; taking a steamer on to San Francisco. Later, while living in San Francisco, she met and married Lot A. Blacker. From here they moved to Scott’s Bar, Siskiyou county, in northern California, then to Walla Walla, Washington, then to Auburn, Baker county, Oregon, and later to Union, Oregon, where she lived until her death.
She was resident of Oregon sixty-one years and of Union county forty-nine years. She was the mother of eight children, seven boys and one girl, three of whom are living-George W., of Pine, Oregon; Robert and Schuyler, both of Union. One child died at Auburn, Oregon, and four were taken by diphtheria during the diphtheria epidemic at Union in 1879. Her husband preceded her to the Great Beyond in 1911 at the age of eighty-five years.
Mrs. Blacker was an industrious and active woman until the time of her illness; three weeks before her death. Besides her immediate family, she leaves to mourn her loss, a host of friends and acquaintances.
Newspaper obit, 1920
Contributed by: Larry Rader