Lucius Sawyer Blake (March 14, 1816November 4, 1894) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

carpenter, businessman, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

pioneer. He was an early settler at

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

, and contributed significantly to the economic development of the city. He also represented Racine in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

during the 1871 session.

Early life

Lucius S. Blake was born March 14, 1816, in

Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...

. He had little education in his childhood, and worked as an assistant in his father's shops, following him from Vermont to Erie County, New York, and then apprenticed as a carpenter and

joiner A joiner is an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ship, etc. Joiners may work in ...

. About 1834, the family started moving west by wagon, settling briefly in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, before making a claim on 600 acres of land in the area that is now

Caledonia, Wisconsin Caledonia is a village in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 25,361 at the 2020 census. The residential community of Franksville is located within the village. Franksville is a former census-designated place. The resi ...

. Lucius and his two elder brothers went first with their father and Lucius and his brother, Albert, were left to occupy and improve their claim until the rest of the family could arrive. They were among the first American settlers in Racine County.

Pioneer businessman

After working several years helping his father establish their homestead, he set off on his own in 1838. After working for a short time employed by Samuel Hale and

John Bullen John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

for construction of buildings in Kenosha, he came to

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...

and opened his own carpentry shop in 1839. In this era before the invention of

threshing machine A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of farm equipment that threshes grain, that is, it removes the seeds from the stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out. Before such machines were developed, threshi ...

s, Blake's main work product was manual fanning mills for the grain farmers of Racine County. This was highly profitable for him, and he soon incorporated horse power and steam powered machines into his manufacturing, producing as many as 3,000 mills per year. His business earned him the nickname "Fanning Mill Blake". Beyond his own company, he was described as a critical pioneer and investor in many of the manufacturing businesses of Racine, serving as incorporator and president of Racine Woolen Mills, incorporator and president of the Chicago Rubber Clothing Company of Racine, incorporator and director of the Huffman-Puffer Trunk Manufacturing Company, incorporator and director of the E. H. Pease Manufacturing Company, president of the Turner Stove Manufacturing Company, incorporator and director of the Racine Steam Knitting Company, director in the Nail and Tack Manufacturing Company, and director in the Manufacturers National Bank.

Political career

Politically, Blake was originally a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and cast his first vote for

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

. As a Democrat, he a member of Racine's village board in 1844, and then served as county treasurer in 1845, following his father's term in that office. He joined the Free Soil Party when it split from the Democrats in the late 1840s over the issue of slavery, and then joined the

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when it was organized in the 1850s. After Racine became a city, he served as city railroad commissioner in 1860 and then served as a member of the city council in 1869, 1871, 1873, 1874, and 1877. At the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, he was appointed provost marshal and draft commissioner at Camp Utley in Racine, and managed the first draft in the state of Wisconsin. He ran for mayor of Racine in 1862, but was defeated by Alvin Raymond. He was chosen as a delegate to the

1872 Republican National Convention The 1872 Republican National Convention was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 5–6, 1872. President Ulysses S. Grant was unanimously nominated for reelection by the convention's 752 delegates. Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson replaced s ...

, and served as a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

for

James A. Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

, in 1880. He was elected to the

in 1870, running on the Republican Party ticket. He represented Racine County's first Assembly district, which then comprised just the city of Racine. He served in the

24th Wisconsin Legislature The Twenty-Fourth Wisconsin Legislature convened from to in regular session. Senators representing odd-numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first year of a two-year term. Assembly members were elected to ...

but was then defeated running for re-election in 1871. He ran again for mayor of Racine in 1878 and 1879, but was defeated on both attempts. At the time, he was described as the largest individual taxpayer in the city. He died of a sudden heart failure at his home in Racine, on November 4, 1894. He was described as a millionaire at the time of his death.

Personal life and legacy

Lucius S. Blake was the third of ten children born to Captain Levi Blake and his wife Mary Ann (' Sanford). His father served as an officer in the New York militia during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

and served as county treasurer of Racine County in 1844; he later moved further west and was one of the founders of Sparta, Wisconsin. Two of Lucius' brothers, Edward and Levi, served as officers in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

. Levi died of wounds near

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

. Lucius married Caroline Elliott on December 26, 1843, at Racine. Caroline was an English American immigrant who had settled in

Raymond, Wisconsin Raymond is a village in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,903 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Kneeland and Raymond are located in the town, as was the ghost town of Raymond Center. The unincorpora ...

, with her parents in 1840. Lucius and Caroline had five children, though their first two children died young. Their eldest surviving son, Byron Bradbury Blake, worked as a superintendent at the J. I. Case Company. In addition to his business and political pursuits, Blake was a deacon and member of the board of trustees of the First Baptist Church of Racine. He was also an early and prominent supporter of the Racine Fire Department—they named their second steam-powered fire engine in his honor. The former Blake family residence at 936 Main Street, in Racine, was restored in 1976, and is now operated as private apartments by the company Preservation Racine Inc.

Electoral history

Racine Mayor (1862)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 1, 1862

Wisconsin Assembly (1870, 1871)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 8, 1870 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 7, 1871

Racine Mayor (1878, 1879)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 2, 1878 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 1, 1879

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Lucius S. 1816 births 1894 deaths People from Burlington, Vermont Businesspeople from Racine, Wisconsin Wisconsin city council members Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly 19th-century American businesspeople