Hi Group:

I am searching for my Black - Blackstone relatives from Maryland. My gggrandfather, Robert Blackstone was born in Baltimore, MD around 1813 and family history has it that he was born a "Free person of color". He and his wife, Mary Hebron -from Montgomery, Co., MD, moved to Washington, DC around 1850 and worked there. Around 1860, he and his family, wife and 4 sons, moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, so that he could work on the "new" suspension bridge there. Around 1864, he died while working on that bridge. Before he died, he was also a member of "The Black Brigade" a northern, Black Civil War unit.

I have been genealogy research for 27 years and this is one of my most unyielding "brick walls". Anyway, from the data I have found, I believe that Robert's folks may have come from Annapolis, Annie Arundell, Co. Are there any records or data I could use on the Internet or at a LDS library, or National Archives, or any where else, that will help me? I really want to find his parents and more.

Thank you for any assistance this group can give me and please email me if you have any questions.

Janet Keys Benson