Harriet "Hallie" Love Theobold Barrickman
(1870-1939)

 

 

Harriet "Hallie" Barrickmann
(1870-1939)

If you look at the stained glass window, 4th medallion from the front of the sanctuary on the Guadalupe side, you will see one which says, "In loving memory of Hallie Barrickman, 1870-1939."

Hallie Barrickmann was the maternal grandmother of Matt Blackstock. Check Matt's biography and you will see that Matt says this about his grandmother, "In many ways, Grandmother Barrickman was the most important person in our family, that is, on Mother’s side of the family. She had a powerful presence and was a quiet and loving person. She enjoyed taking my brother, David, our cousin, Barbara, and me out in the woods. We’d walk a couple of hours and she would teach us all kinds of things about nature. The year that they moved to Austin, 1930, Grand-mother Barrickman introduced me to the Congregational Church and that’s one of the best things that has happened to me." Hallie Barrickman was one of the early members of the church, and the fact that she was responsible for bringing Mathis into our midst certainly means she should be held in our loving memory, too.

Harriet "Hallie" Love Theobald was born March 11, 1870, on a plantation near Vicksburg, MS., and she died in Austin, TX, on July 2, 1939. Her parents were Nathaniel Bacon Theobald (1842–72), a carpenter and a captain in the Confederate Army, and Lucy Ann Edney Jones Theobald (1845–1870), They were married April 15, 1865 in Lauderdale County, MS. Both parent died during a yellow fever epidemic near Vicksburg. She was named for her aunt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the death of her parents, she was adopted by her uncle and aunt, Major Griffin Philip (1830-1912) and Harriett Love Theobald, of Louisville, Kentucky. Major Theobald, shown at left, was in the insurance business, Theobald & Young and later, Theobald & Reinecke. She grew up in Louisville and was graduated from the old Louisville Female Normal School seen at left. The curriculum at the time was one year for women teachers. Following graduation, she was a teacher in the Louisville schools. Her adopted mother died in 1891. Marriett Love Theobald died in 1892 and Major Griffin Theobald married Lena James . He died in 1912.

In 1897, she married Wilhoite Carpenter Barrickman of Harrod's Creek, Kentucky. Their children, Elizabeth (Mrs. Herbert Ash) and Harriet (Mrs. Leon Blackstock) moved with them to Texas in 1903 and settled in Dallas in 1911. Mrs. Barrickman established the Camp Fire Girls in Dallas. While in Dallas she was active in the parent-Teachers Association and in the Congress of Mothers. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. (This came about throught the fact that her grandfatheer, Henry Theobald, with a group of Kentuckians rode to New Orleans and then to Texas shortly after the Battle of San Jacinto.) After moving to Austin in 1930, she was very active in the Girl Scouts and in the summers, she was a favorite nature counsellor at Camp Blanco. Her knowledge of birds, wild flowers, astronomy, and Indian lore was endless.

The Barrickman's had three grandchildren, Mathis and David Blackstock and Barbara Ash Clark (Mrs. Frank Clark). All were members of the Congregational Church of Austin at one time.

Harriet was a woman of great determination. She she sufferd with arthritis, she was determined that she would not end up n a wheel chair. She told the family that she tried all the "cures" she heard of, including a diet of celery. When none of these helped, she enrolled with her two daughters in an interpretive dance class and soon she was improving. She and her daughters continued dancing for exercise.

In 1932, Mrs. Barrickman organized a dance group in the Fellowship Room, and every week they met and danced. All the windows had to be shut because to the north was a boys' rooming house and on the south side a fraternity, the boys loved to watch and heckle them. They were soon known as the "Burrerflies".

Her ashes are in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, next to her husband.

Harriet Barrickman was an artist and a naturalist. In the mid 1930s, she made an artbook about Texas wildflowers. The medium was tempera paint on black paper and she used a fine sable brush. The black paper was from a construction paper photo album. The book had a cover, preface, table of contents and fifty-seven paintings.

Seven years ago, Harriet’s great-grandson David Clark, digitally-scanned the original pages to share with the family. Her grandson, Mathis Blackstock worked with the Ladybird Wildflower Center at Austin to exhibit the pictures. These were reproduced on a color copier for display in frames for the two week showing in October 2006.

Known as "Dama" to her grandchildren, grandaughter, Barbara Ash Clark, said "we lived on unpaved Kenwood Avenue in Austin in the mid-1930s and we would walk along Kenwood Avenue to collect samples along the edge of the street. On one occasion she found a small orchid which gave her a lot of pleasure.” [included in the collection].

She pricked her finger on a thorn which caused blood poisoning and shortly thereafter her death in 1939. Sulfa drugs became available about a year later, which might have precluded her death.

Dama’s love of nature and flowers is best expressed in the preface where she wrote for her book:

“And tis my faith that every flower enjoys the air it breathes.”

From Williamson County Native Plant Society of Texas Newsletter, February/March 2010

Article by

Valerie Kinnamon Clark

Hallie married Wilhoite Carpenter Barrickman on February 20, 1897. Wilhoite is, shown at right. He was born March 7, 1871 near Shepherdsville, Bullitt County, Kentucky. He was a lawyer. Wilhoite Barrickman graduated from the University of Louisville Law School and practiced law in Louisville. In 1907, he moved to San Antonio, and in 1911, he moved to Dallas. He was secretary of Texas Industrial. He was a member of the Texas Society of the American Revolution. He died of a heart attack on October 2, 1958 in Austin, TX. Matt was the informant on his death certificate. Wilhoite and Hallie's ashes are buried in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky.

Wilhoite and Hallie had two children, Elisabeth Barriackman Ash (1900-79) and Harriett Barrickman Blackstock (1901-90). They are shown below with Hallie.

 

 

 

 

 

Below are some scans from Hallie's book of her flower paintings.