Eli B. Gilbert Family Collection (DeKalb)

Eli B. Gilbert was born April 12, 1822 in Laurens, New York, the son of Abner and Betsy (Balcom) Gilbert. After completing his education at Norwich Academy, Eli taught school for six years, the last three in Sycamore, Illinois where he had moved in 1847. He learned the carpenter’s trade in 1850 and built homes in the area, and on the side he studied law. 1856 was an important year for Mr. Gilbert. He was admitted to the bar and opened his office in DeKalb in April, was elected Justice of the Peace (an office he held until shortly before his death), and it was also the year he moved his family to DeKalb. Eli had married Lois Annie Needham (1830-1910) on December 25, 1851, and they eventually had three daughters, Josephine Lodica, Viola May, and Jessie Luella. The Gilbert’s built their home at 210 N. 1st Street, ca. 1865. In 1860 he was editor of the DeKalb Leader, and was strongly pro-Lincoln. Gilbert’s political leanings are also shown by his membership in the Union League, and the Spartan Band. Among his other activities he was elected President of the Village Board in 1866, was a notary public, served on the school board, and was a member of a number of organizations including the DeKalb Masonic Lodge. Eli B. Gilbert died at his home on August 30, 1895. Josephine “Fena” Gilbert (1853-1928) married Austin B. Blackman on April 23, 1873, and they had one son, Gilbert Needham Blackman. Following their divorce in 1876 she married John S. Orr (1853-1915) in October 1883. Orr, a former school teacher, was a salesman for Excelsior Glove factory at the time of their marriage. He later became police magistrate, a lawyer, and a justice of the peace in DeKalb. Gilbert N. Blackman was born April 8, 1875. Following his graduation from DeKalb High School in 1895, he studied business at the Chicago College of Commerce. He married Myrtle Montgomery (1882-1957) of Sycamore, in June 1905. Their only child, Alice was born in 1915. Gilbert Blackman held various bookkeeping and accounting positions throughout his lifetime, among them chief clerk of the DeKalb-Sycamore Electric Company. He was elected DeKalb city clerk in 1912, a position he held for 20 years. He died May 3, 1968 in the family home. Alice Blackman married Curtis Elwyn Jackson in January of 1938. They were the parents of two children, Richard and Elaine Jackson. As of 2007 Elaine Jackson Cozort and her husband Dale reside in the family home on North 1st Street.

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