Eli Whitney Blake Jr.
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Eli Whitney Blake Jr. (April 20, 1836 – October 1, 1895) was an American scientist. His father and namesake was an inventor and partner of the Blake Brothers manufacturing firm. The origin of the name Eli Whitney comes from Blake senior's uncle Eli Whitney, who changed the face of the cotton industry with the invention of the cotton gin.


Early life

Blake was born on April 20, 1836, in
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...
. He was one of twelve children born to
Eli Whitney Blake Eli Whitney Blake, Sr. (January 27, 1795 – August 18, 1886) was an American inventor, best known for his mortise lock and stone-crushing machine, the latter of which earned him a place into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Early life Blak ...
and Eliza Maria ( née O'Brien) Blake.Alida Blake Hazard: ''The Blakes of 77 Elm Street: A Family Sketch''. Quinnipiac Press, New Haven 1925. pp. 33–34. Through his mother, he was a descendant of the Rev. James Pierpont, one of the co-founders of Yale. Blake graduated from
Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
in 1857, after which he spent a year at
Sheffield Scientific School Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut, for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffiel ...
. He was a member of
Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...
, class of 1857. Following his time at Sheffield, he traveled to
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, where he studied chemistry and physics in the universities of
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
,
Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approxima ...
, and
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
.


Career

On his return to America, he was made professor of chemistry and physics at the
University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...
(1867). After less than a year, he went to
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
, where he was professor of physics and mechanic arts (1868–1870). During this time he also acted temporarily as professor of physics at Columbia College from 1868 to 1869. From 1870 to 1895, he filled the chair of physics at Brown University. Although not a well-known figure in the scientific community, Blake was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and other similar associations. He also contributed to various scientific periodicals, such as the '' American Journal of Science and Arts''.


Publications

* *


Personal life

On March 8, 1860, Blake was married to Helen Mary Rood (1832–1869), the daughter of Rev. Anson Rood and Alida Gouverneur (née Ogden) Rood (daughter of Rev. Uzal Ogden). Among her family was uncle Nicholas Gouverneur Ogden, a partner of
John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor who made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by History of opium in China, smuggl ...
. Together, Eli and Helen were the parents of: * Alida Gouverneur Blake (1861–1938), who married Barclay Hazard, the son of
Thomas Robinson Hazard Thomas Robinson "Shepherd Tom" Hazard (January 3, 1797 – March 26, 1886) was an American author, social reformer, and advocate of Modern Spiritualism. Early life Hazard was born on January 3, 1797, in the village of South Kingstown, Rhode I ...
and nephew of
Rowland G. Hazard Rowland Gibson Hazard (October 9, 1801 – June 24, 1888) was an American industrialist, politician, and social reformer. Early life Hazard was born on October 9, 1801 in South Kingstown in Washington County, Rhode Island. He was one of nine ...
. * Eli Whitney Blake III (1867–1902), who died aged 35. Blake died on October 1, 1895, in
Hampton, Connecticut Hampton is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,728 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, is land and (1.96%) is water. Histo ...
.


See also

* John Peirce


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Eli Whitney Jr. Cornell University faculty 1836 births 1895 deaths Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Marburg alumni Heidelberg University alumni Brown University faculty Columbia University faculty American expatriates in Germany