The matriarch of a family that saw all kinds of highs and lows will be featured when the Greenfield Historical Society hold its annual Spring Tea on Sunday, May 5.
Emma Drusilla Blackburn, portrayed by Greenfield resident Roxanne Judkins, will be the hosting character this year for the event that will place at 2 p.m. in the Konneker Education Museum at 245 South St. in Greenfield.
“Roxanne has been a presenter at several of the society’s Ghost Walks and did an excellent performance as Addie Ballard Murry at the 2013 Spring Tea,” a news release from the historical society said.
Drusilla Blackburn and her family lived very interesting lives. She was born Drusilla Gossard in 1826. She married John S. Blackburn. He was a farmer and later a cattle buyer. Together they had six children.
“William, their eldest, was killed by a stray bullet in September 1864 as he was walking past the saloon of Newbeck and Hirn,” the news release said. “This led to Drusilla taking part in the women’s raid on the saloons of Greenfield on July 10, 1865, and her involvement in the ensuing court case.
“Drusilla’s husband, John Blackburn, was convicted of murdering Mary Ann Lovell along Cliff Run near Rapid Forge Road in 1871. After appealing to the Ohio Supreme Court, the case was scheduled for retrial. In the meantime, Blackburn was declared incompetent by insanity and was confined to an asylum at Athens, Ohio.”
Drusilla’s son, Thomas, was a foreman in The American Pad & Textile factory when his daughter, Helen, was born in 1910. Helen was a graduate of McClain High School, studied chemistry at Ohio University and eventually lived with her husband, Adrian Hoover, in the wilds of Minnesota near the Canadian border. There she wrote several popular books about their life in the wilderness, according to the news release.
Refreshments will include finger foods, tea, coffee and water.
Presale tickets are on sale for $10 at the Community Savings Bank in Greenfield. With limited seating, there is no guarantee that tickets will be available on the day of the tea so it is recommend that tickets be purchased by noon Saturday, May 4.
For more information, call 937-981-2905.
Information for this story was provided by the Greenfield Historical Society.
