The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: MA
Qualifying Service: Civil Service
Photo used with permission of Compatriot Mitchell Anderson, 229001, KYSSAR
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
From Logan International Airport: Continue to Airport Rd - Departure Level. Get on MA-1A S. Continue on MA-1A S. Drive to Tremont St, .2 miles
Photo: 1 of 1
Author: Mark Andrew Davis
Increase Blake Jr., a son of Increase Blake and Anne Gray, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 28 October 1726. He married Anne Crafts, a daughter of Thomas and Anne (White) Crafts, on 18 April 1754 in Boston. She was born in Boston on 10 January 1734 and died on 21 March 1762, aged 28. Her headstone, inscribed with her name and date of death, was found at Boston Commons.
The children of Increase Blake and Anne Craft were:
Anne was born on 9 August 1755.
Thomas was born on 20 December 1756.
William was born on 12 March 1758.
Elizabeth [birthdate unknown].
James was born on 29 January 1762.
Increase married Elizabeth Bridge on 7 December 1762. She was born in 1731. The children of Increase Blake and Elizabeth Bridge were:
Mary was born on 5 November 1763.
Persis was born on 31 March 1765.
Thomas Dawes was born on 23 October 1768.
Ebenezer was born on 31 May 1771.
Sarah was born on 25 November 1772.
Susanna was born on 4 April 1774.
Dorothy was born on 15 June 1781.
Elizabeth died of smallpox at Worchester on 22 November 1792, aged 61 years, and was buried in a pasture in the northern part of the city. An obituary notice in the Columbian Centinel, dated December 1792, refers to her as “…one of the noblest women Earth was ever blessed with. A living Christian.”
Mr. Blake was a tinplate worker in Boston, having a shop at King Street (now State Street) in the present Old State House neighborhood. He is said to have supplied the provincial troops with canteens, cartridge boxes, and other articles in his line, but refusing to make them for the royal forces was driven out of town. His wife was equally loyal to the American cause, and several traditions indicative of her courage and devotion are cherished by her descendants. Among those stated is that one day when sitting in front of her door reading from her Bible, a British soldier passing asked her what she was reading. She replied, “the story of the cross,” upon which he answered that he would fix her Bible so she would always remember the cross, and with his sword, he cut a cross deeply through many leaves of the book.
Another version states that the book was open in the fifth chapter of Judith, and, as the soldier drew his sword across it, he exclaimed: “There, I have crossed out my account.” Whichever may be the correct story, the Bible itself is in possession of one of the descendants, Mrs. E. A. Knowlton, of Rochester, Minnesota.
When forced to leave Boston just after the battle of Bunker Hill, he removed with his wife and seven children to Worcester, sacrificing nearly all of his property in Boston.
At Worcester, he continued his trade, having a shop near the present Lincoln Square. In 1780, and for several years he was the town’s jailer, or as the public notices of the day had it, “Gaoler.” He died at Worcester on 28 February 1795.
References:
Blake, Francis E., Increase Blake of Boston, His Ancestors and Descendants, with a full account of William Blake of Dorchester and his five children, Massachusetts. Boston: Press of David Clapp and Son, 1898, pages 44-46.
Send a biographical sketch of your patriot!
Patriot biographies must be the original work of the author, and work submitted must not belong to another person or group, in observance with copyright law. Patriot biographies are to be written in complete sentences, follow the established rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, be free of typographical errors, and follow a narrative format. The narrative should unfold in a logical manner (e.g. the narrative does not jump from time period to time period) or have repeated digressions, or tell the history of the patriot's line from the patriot ancestor to the author. The thinking here is that this is a patriot biography, not a lineage report or a kinship determination project or other report published in a genealogy journal. The biography should discuss the qualifying service (military, patriotic, civil) of the patriot ancestor, where the service was rendered, whether this was a specific state or Continental service, as well as significant events (as determined by the author) of the patriot's life. This is the entire purpose of a patriot's biography.
Additional guidelines around the Biography writeup can be found here:
Send your submission1, in a Microsoft Word compatible format, to patriotbios@sar.org for inclusion in this space 1Upon submission of a patriot biography, the patriot biography becomes the property of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and may be edited to conform to the patriot biography submission standards.
