Blakeley

Biographical Sketch of Ira J. Blakeley

Blakeley, Ira J., Ferrisburgh, Vergennes p. o., was born in Ferrisburgh, Vt., in 1815. He was a foreman at the Eagle Mills for fifteen years and a keeper in the Denmore prison in New York for over twenty years, and returned to Ferrisburgh, Vt., in 1880, where he now resides. He was married in 1836 to Betsey B. Downing, a daughter of Major Downing, of Bristol, Vt. She died in 1865, leaving one son, Ira J. He married his second wife, Mrs. Cornelia A. (Field) Houghton, in 1880. She was a daughter of Solomon Field. She had two daughters by … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William M. Blakeley

WILLIAM M. BLAKELEY. – The subject of this sketch, a prominent citizen of the rapidly developing upper country, was born in Missouri in 1840. In 1846 he crossed the plains with his father, who located near the present site of Brownsville, Linn county, Oregon, where he still resides. Mr. Blakely was here favored with the educational advantages afforded by the public school, and assisted his father on the farm until 1860, when he moved to a point near the present site of Prescott, on the lovely Touchet river, in Washington Territory. In the spring of 1861 he tried his fortune … Read more

Slave Narrative of Mittie Blakeley

Interviewer: Anna Pritchett Person Interviewed: Mittie Blakeley Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Place of Birth: Oxford, Missouri Date of Birth: 1858 Place of Residence: 2055 Columbia Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana Federal Writers’ Project of the W.P.A. District #6 Marion County Anna Pritchett 1200 Kentucky Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana FOLKLORE MRS. MITTIE BLAKELEY-EX-SLAVE 2055 Columbia Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana Mrs. Blakeley was born, in Oxford, Missouri, in 1858. Her mother died when Mittie was a baby, and she was taken into the “big house” and brought up with the white children. She was always treated very kindly. Her duties were the light chores, which had to … Read more