William Blake (1620 - 1703)

Born 6 Sep 1620 in Pitminster, Somerset, England

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Tolman) Blake — married 22 Nov 1693 in Milton, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 3 Sep 1703 at age 82 in Milton, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

William Blake immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

William married (1) Anna Breck, the daughter of Edward and Mary Breck by about 1649. William and Anna had 10 children. [Note: William did NOT marry an alleged daughter of John Lyon, he did marry in 1693 to his second wife Hannah (Tolman) Lyon widow of George Lyon, see further info described below]. Their children were Samuel (1650-1719), Anne (1652-1722), Mary (1655-1721), William (1656- ), Nathaniel (1659-1720), Edward (1662-1737), Experience (1665-1746), Agnes (1667-1668), Susan (1670-1676) and Mehettable (1673-1732). Children 1-7 were born in Dorchester MA and children 8-10 were born in Milton MA.

William married (2) Hannah (Tolman) Lyon 22 Nov 1693 in Milton MA, daughter of Thomas Tolman and Sarah _______. She was born 27 May 1642 in Boston MA, and died 04 Aug 1729 in Bridgewater MA.

William Blake , son of William and Agnes (Band) Blake, born in England, baptized at Pitminster, Sept. 6, 1620, came to America with his father. His name does not appear in connection with Dorchester town affairs as often as that of his father, or his brother James. In 1660 he was one of the number receiving an allotment of lands in that part of the town set off in 1662 as Milton. ^[1]

In 1665 he sold to Thomas Davenport his " now dwelling house " with 17 acres of land, the location of which has been previously described, and probably removed about that date to Milton, where he owned a large farm on Brush Hill. In the Dorchester records there are several references to the "way leading ouer brush-hill" near Mr. Blake's estate.

He was very closely identified with the town of Milton in its business affairs, and also with the church, which latter was organized in 1678. He served on a committee to build the new meeting house, as selectman several years, sergeant of military company, and in many other important positions. He was evidently one of the principal men of the place, as he was chosen Deputy to the General Court in 1680, 1683, 1690 and 1697.

He was a farmer, but it may reasonably be inferred that he was a carpenter also. " 1 2-2-1676 ther was granted to William Blake Sen libertie to gitt fiue load of Clobord out of the Comon Swamp ; " and in 168 1 he had the same liberty to "get 1400 Clobords for his own vse." And in 1683 Rev. Peter Thacher records : "Sargent Blake and myself went to my pasture and righted up the hedge," and a few days later " Sargent Blake agreed to ground sill my house and lay a double floor and new sleepers."

His pleasant relations with the minister of the town are here- after referred to in connection with his brother Edward, both of them being among Mr. Thacher's firm supporters in the church. Mr. Thacher records in his diary, January, 1684, "Sargent Blake, Brother Clap, Mr. Taylor and I went out to see for deer, but saw none and at our return we supped at Sarg Blake's."

The records of the County Court held Dec. 4, 1682, show that Mr. Blake was authorized to keep an "ordinary" or inn ; " Upon consideration of the necessity of a house of entertainment for Travellers in the new Road from Taunton et new Bristol Etra [et cetera] over brush hill William Blake of Milton is allowed to keepe an Ordinary untill April next." Nothing more in relation to this matter has been found.

There is no record of his marriage and the surname of his first wife Anna does not appear, in fact even this name is not found until the year 1665, and it is only a supposition that she was the mother of his children born previous to that date. The church records show the admission of "uxor William Blake" on the 25th April, 1652 ; she was living in 1680, but the date of her decease is not known. Mr. Blake married a second wife, Hannah (Tolman) Lyon, in Milton, Nov. 22, 1693. She was the daughter of Thomas and Sarah Tolman. The church records give the baptism of Hannah Tolman "2 mo. 6 to vicesimo 1640 (married Mr. Wm. Blake last and to Mr. Lyon ffirst)."

By her first marriage in 1661 with George Lyon (who died early in 1691) she had several children. She died in Dorchester, Aug. 4, 1729, "in the 91st year of her age."

Mr. Blake died in Milton, Sept. 3, 1703, "at the age of 82 years." He was laid to rest at Neck of Land, Taunton, Massachusetts.^[2] His will, executed a few weeks before his death, made provision for the comfort of his "dear loving wife," bequeathing the homestead and other property to his sons Nathaniel and Edward, with legacies to his son Samuel and daughters Anne Gilbert, Mary Willis, Experience Carver, and Mehitable Briggs. Inventory £343.6.0.

Of his children eight were born in Dorchester and the remaining three in Milton.

Children of William and Anna Blake:

1. Samuel,' b. at Dorchester, May 14, 1650; m. Sarah Macey, dau. of George and Susanna, of Taunton; and d. in Taunton, 1719. Six children (the order of their birth not determined) :
2. Jerusha" b. .
3. Anne,' bapt. at Dorchester, March 7, 1651 ; d. in infancy.
4. Anne,' b. at Dorchester, March 6, 1652/3; m. Dec. 18, 1676, in Boston, Thomas Gilbert, son of John and Jane Gilbert, of Taunton, and had six children : Hannah, Sarah, Mary, Thomas, Nathaniel and Mehitable.
5. Mary,' b. at Dorchester, March 20, 1654/5 ; m. 1st, in Milton, Dec. 15, 1679, Joseph Leonard (who d. in Taunton, Oct. 19, 1692), by whom she had six children: Mary, Experience, Joseph, Mehitable, Edward and William. She m. 2d, Willis, as appears by her father's will ; but no further record has come to hand.
6. William,' b. at Dorchester, Feb. 22, 1656/7. In 1675 his father petitioned the Council for the discharge of this son from "y*^ service of y'^ countrey " on account of his bodily infirmities ; nothing more is known of him, except the record of his brief military service under Capt. Moseley, and subsequent service in 1690 in Capt. Withington's Company in the expedition to Canada. He d. before 1699.
7. Nathaniel,' b. in Dorchester, July 4, 1659; m. Oct. 9, 1695; Martha Mory, daughter of Walter Mory ; resided at Milton ; d. Oct. 5, 1720; seven children:
8. Edward,^ b. in Dorchester, April 13, 1662; m. June 26, 1696, Elizabeth Mory, sister of his brother's wife ; res. in Milton ; d. in 1737.
9. EXPERIENCE,^ b. in Dorchester, June 17, 1665 ; m. Eleazer Carver, son of John and Millicent Carver, probably as his second wife. Settled in South Bridgewater.
10. Agnes,^ b. in Milton, Sept 29, 1667; bapt. at Dorchester, " 12-2- 1668," "being about 6 months old."
11. Susan, b. at Milton, July 20, 1670; d. May 4, 1676; (Dorc. rec.)
12. Mehitable,^ b. at Milton, April 2, 1673; m. June 16, 1696, William Briggs, Jr., of Taunton, b. Jan. 15, 1667 ; res. Taunton.

Research Notes

Many published genealogies for members of this Blake family were affected by fraudulent work by 19th-century genealogist Horatio Gates Somerby. According to Paul C. Reed in "Two Somerby Frauds, Or 'Placing the Flesh on the Wrong Bones'" (The American Genealogist, 1999), Somerby linked three apparently unrelated Blake families to create a pedigree for William Blake of Dorchester, Massachusetts.^[3] The fabrications included (but were not limited to) falsifying William Blake's origin; making Humphrey Blake of Over Stowey, Somerset, into a brother of Nicholas Blake of Andover who died in 1547; fabricating parents for Humphrey and Nicholas; and fabricating a will for Eleanor (Blake) Clark of Over Stowey.^[3] Thus, no lineage for this Blake family is currently credible prior to Humphrey Blake.

Caution: William Blake - Senior/Junior. In the source "Fourth Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston, 1880: Dorchester Town Records" (Internet Archive), William Blake (1594-1663) is often, but not always, listed with the suffix "Senr" and his son William Blake (1620-1703) is often, but not always, listed with the suffix "Junr". HOWEVER, after the death of the elder William, the younger William is then sometimes recorded with the suffix "Senr", likely due to having a son also named William.^[4] To complicate the matter further, the elder William was also the son of a William, but never referred to as Junior because there was no need to distinguish a colonial inhabitant from his father back in England. These records demonstrate the fluidity of the use of these suffixes during this time period based on practical reasons rather than a purpose designed for the convenience of future family researchers.

Sources

1. ↑ Blake. Increase Blake of Boston. (1898): pages 25-28.
2. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial #92674748, for William Blake, d. 1703. No photograph of gravestone. Said to have been buried at Neck of Land, Taunton, Massachusetts. Caution contains errors, including incorrect name of first wife.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Reed, Paul. Two Somerby Frauds, or Placing the Flesh on the Wrong Bones, The American Genealogist (TAG), Volume 74 (1999), New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), Boston, Massachusetts, pages 15-30. https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/american-genealogist-the/image?volumeId=13222&pageName=15&previousPage=DatabaseSearch&databaseId=283
4. ↑ Fourth Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston: Dorchester Town Records, Second Edition (1883), pages 58, 72, 84, 86, 88, 90, 93-94, 99, 101, 106-107, 111, 114, 117, 119, 140, 184, 215, 218, 224, 256-257, 285, 292, 295, 297-298, 304, 308. https://archive.org/details/fourthreportofre04bost/page/224/mode/1up

• William Blake profile on FamilySearch: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LBC7-YXK
• New England Historic Genealogical Society. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston: The New England Historic Genealogical Society.

Name: Mr William Blake

Marriage: 22 Nov 1693

Spouse: Mrs Hannah Lion

• Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).

Name: William Blake

Birth: abt 1620

Death: 3 Sep 1703 Milton, Massachusetts

Death Age: 83

• Robert Carver & His Descendants, page 57

• Blake, Francis Everett. Increase Blake of Boston, His Ancestors and Descendants. (Boston, 1898). Internet Archive link.

• Find A Grave Memorial #92674748, for William Blake, d. 1703. No photograph of gravestone. Caution contains errors, including incorrect name of first wife.

• Willcox, Doris Schreiber. "Edward¹ Breck’s Baptismal Record and Identification of His “Daughter Blake," in The New England Historical & Genealogical Register, vol. 164 no. 3. (Boston: NEHGS, July 2010): [pages 175-183]. AmericanAncestors.org link

• Stott, Clifford L. "Humphrey Blake (1494?–1558) and His Descendants in New England and South Carolina: Blake, Richards, Selleck, Torrey, and Wolcott," in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 163 no. 4. (Boston: NEHGS, October 2009): Pages 278-295. AmericanAncestors.org link.

• James Savage. Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Vol. 1, pages 192-195.