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James Otto Blackstone Sr.        

Family Group Sheet     

•  Notes from visits by his grandson:  At the age of 70, I saw him pick up 50 lb bags of fertilizer like they were feathers and work all day in the hot sun in his garden.  He was told that he was named after a German doctor, and this is where the Otto middle name came from. This may have been the doctor that delivered him.  I remember a lot of good times when we went to visit Papa on his farm in Powder Springs, GA.  He gave me all the .22 bullets and BB's I could shoot to help get rid of the Blue Jays in the big oak trees around his house.  He was a good man, and I sure do miss him.  I look forward to seeing him in heaven.  Maybe we can watch some re-runs of old Atlanta Braves games together.

Timeline for James Otto Blackstone Sr.

1909, Feb. 19, Augusta, GA

• Born in Augusta, GA in one of the roughest neighborhoods in town on Clark Street.

1916, Orphanage on St. Simons Island, GA

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• At seven years old his mother died, and he was sent to an Episcopal Orphanage near Blythe, GA because mother had died and father could not take care of him. After about a year there, he went to live with his uncle Claude. Then he was sent to an orphanage off the coast of Georgia on St. Simons Island (Saint John's Haven) and lived there for 6 or 7 years. At the orphanage, they weren't fed well and one time Papa was beaten with wire.  In the winter they walked 2 miles to school barefoot on a shell road. He raised chickens out in the woods so he could have fresh eggs and make money by selling and trading them to the boat captain that brought supplies to the island.

1920, Orphanage, St. Simons Island, GA

•         These are Census records from when James Otto Blackstone III lived at Saint John's Haven on St. Simons Island.

1921, Augusta, GA

• Playing Semi-Pro/Legion Baseball in Augusta (12 Years Old)
  • James Otto Sr., 6-24-1921

1922, Augusta, GA

• Playing Semi-Pro/Legion Baseball in Augusta (13 Years Old)
  • James Otto Sr., 7-2-1922, Page 1, Page 2
  • James Otto Sr., 7-23-1922

1924, Augusta, GA

• At approx. age 15, he worked 60 hours a week for $19 per week. He paid $5 per week for room and board. He never owned a car or had a drivers license. He tried to join the Army at one time and they told him that he was too small. He never weighed more that 115 lbs. soaking wet in his entire life.

1932, June 26, Augusta, GA

• Married Louise Christine Rhoades

Between 1932 and 1968, Moved to Atlanta, Powder Springs, GA

• Worked at Lockheed where he worked on the wiring in the cockpit of the planes.
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2001, October 19, Powder Springs, GA

• 
• Papa died at the age of 92.

Louise Christine Rhoades