Nina was curled into the large overstuffed armchair absorbed in reading a mystery. Perri was sitting at the head of the bed, propped up by numerous pillows, and with her laptop on the bed in front of her. She had her notes next to her and was scrolling through city directories for Guthrie, Oklahoma, trying to find a clue to Jonathan Blackwell’s business. She hit paydirt when she saw a listing in the 1894 directory: ‘Blackwell’s Water Company: Wells and Supply.’ The owner was listed as Mr. Jon. Blackwell.
“I think I found something,” said Perri. Nina looked up from her book inquisitively. “Looks like our renegade owned a water supply company.”
“Water supply?” asked Nina.
“Mmm,” Perri’s fingers clattered over the laptop’s keys as she did a couple of searches. Nina resumed reading until, nearly half an hour later, Perri said, “Ok, I think I see what he was doing, or did.”
Nina put the bookmark back in her book and turned around to sit upright. “What did he do?”
“In a nutshell, back in 1889, Oklahoma land that had been the home to Native Americans was opened up for settlement by the federal government. There was a massive land grab on April 22, 1889, that started at noon with a pistol shot; more like a huge race of thousands and thousands of people to snatch acreage. Some greedy guts snuck in early, days or weeks prior, to cherry pick sites they wanted, some even hid and camped out. That’s where the Oklahoma term “Sooners” comes from.”
“Can you imagine what chaos that must have been?” asked Nina, amazed.
“No, I can’t. They even had trains bringing people in to make the run. Hopeful land grabbers ran, rode horses, drove wagons, anything you can think of to get ahead of the others.” Perri clicked through several tabs on her computer. “The University has an archive of old maps, plats, and other drawings. Our MIA Blackwell appears to have acquired some very prime real estate north of Guthrie, stretching from the current edge of town to the Cimarron River, including the area where Cottonwood Creek branches off the river and flows through Guthrie. His land also had large subterranean water resources.” Perri looked at Nina, thinking.
“What does that mean?” asked Nina.
“Well…given the reports of food and water shortages in towns in Oklahoma immediately after the land rush, and also for some time afterward because of the massive increase in population, it would seem to me that Mr. Blackwell had a pretty firm grip on a water supply to the town of Guthrie. He would have made a killing since he essentially controlled the water supply.”
“Couldn’t people have dug their own wells?”
“Yes, but that takes time and it doesn’t supply an entire growing city, including all the businesses and farms. He also controlled a section of the River and streams. Blackwell’s Water Company not only dug wells, provided maintenance and supplies, but probably had a stranglehold on the larges sources of water in the area. According to this Guthrie City Directory, in 1894, Blackwell’s occupied the entire top floor of a building on Oklahoma Avenue called the Adler Building. He was doing well enough by 1894 to have a large office.”
“So, he ran off, dumped his wife and kids, became a land and business owner, and never came back?” frowned Nina.
“Yep. And there’s more. By 1910, Mr. B evidently was also in the oil business, because he is listed in the Directory for that year as owner of Blackwell Oil. I don’t see anything that says if the oil was found on the same property, if he bought more land, or just bought into the business somewhere else, but he was doing a bang-up business out there.”
“No wonder Patricia was interested in finding out more if she discovered her great-great-grandfather ran off to make a fortune somewhere else and never came back.”
“If that didn’t interest her, this sure did,” said Perri.
“What’s that?” Nina got up from the chair and sat on the end of the bed. Perri turned her laptop so Nina could see it. She clicked on a document, which opened and slowly came in to focus.
“This is a marriage certificate between Jonathan Blackwell of Guthrie, Oklahoma and a Miss Prudence Noble of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, dated 1891.”
“Oh wow, that scoundrel ran off and got married again, but, this would not be valid, would it?”
“Yes, because Susannah filed for, and got, a divorce in 1887 based on Jonathan’s abandonment,” responded Perri.
“That’s right. Do you think he knew that or just went ahead and married someone else anyway?”
“I have no idea. He doesn’t seem like the type to care and back then there was very little chance of being caught out if no one is looking for you anymore.” Perri shook her head.
“What a creep!” Nina had a look of revulsion on her face, “Runs off and leaves his family and just goes on with another life like it never happened.”
“The next thing I want to find out is if Mr. Blackwell had another family. He was thirty-five years old when he married Prudence, who was nineteen at the time. Chances are they had children. Jonathan could have had a second family.”
“Oooo. Now that would be a real thorn in the side if Patricia knew, especially since her family had such a long history of difficulties. And it would also be…”
“…a reason for Amy to be removed if she was poking around in the records. Patricia may not have gotten this far without Amy.” Perri pulled the laptop closer to her and said, “Let’s check the census records for 1900, 1910, and 1920 and see if Jonathan is listed with a family. His mother died in 1901 and we know he was still in Guthrie then, because her Will placed him there. Unless the name is misspelled or not transcribed correctly, it shouldn’t take long to check.”
Nina sat cross-legged on the bed and leaned forward on her elbows. Perri first searched the 1900 census. “It’s either ironic or a sick coincidence that Guthrie is also located in Logan County, Oklahoma.” She bit her lower lip as she typed in the name to search and wait while the arrow circled round and round.
“Let’s see, not too many Blackwells. There he is. Let’s have a look at the actual image of the census record. The image appeared, there were numerous areas of scrawly writing that was crossed out and rewritten, and a couple of dark areas that looked like water stains. “At least it is legible, and this is the year they included the birth month and year. Awesome. Here they are, living on Warner Avenue. The Head of the Household is Jonathan Blackwell, his wife is Prudence, and there are three children: Edward, age eight, born April 1892; Phillip, age six, born May 1894; and Catherine, age two years and eight months, born October 1897. Jonathan’s occupation is listed as Merchant,” Perri looked at Nina and made a face.
Nina curled her upper lip, “He did have another family. What a jerk. It’s one thing to divorce and move away, but to just abandon your family...” her voice trailed off Perri picked up her phone, “I need to call Sarah and let her know what I found. It’s getting kind of late.”
“Absolutely.” Nina was thoughtful, “I wonder if we’ll be able to find out how this turns out in the end. I mean, if they ever catch who killed Amy, and Rodney, if it was the same person. I guess it could have been someone else.”
“I bet not, they happened too close together and Rodney was involved with the car used in Amy’s murder.” Perri dialed Sarah’s number.