Blake Family History & Genealogy

Faumia Ruth (Hampton) Blake of Kew Australia was born on June 6, 1921 at Victoria in Australia County, Victoria, and died at age 100 years old in August 2021 in New South Wales.

Jonathan W Blake was born on May 25, 1989 in Mesquite, Dallas County, Texas United States. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Jonathan W Blake.

Doreen Mavis Doreen Mavis (Clarke) Blake of Fitzroy Australia. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Doreen Mavis Clarke Blake.

Mary (Dauterman) Blake of Dennison, Tuscarawas County, Ohio was born on August 20, 1898, and died at age 80 years old in February 1979.

John Deloss Blake of Dennison, Tuscarawas County, Ohio United States was born on September 25, 1897 in Butler, Butler County, PA, and died at age 65 years old on November 26, 1962.

Darleen Lorraine (Blake) Pershing was born on January 17, 1932 to Mary (Dauterman) Blake and John Deloss Blake. Darleen Pershing married John Joseph Pershing on September 6, 1052 in United States, and died at age 92 years old on July 7, 2024 in Columbus, Ohio United States. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Darleen Lorraine (Blake) Pershing.

John Stephan Blake Sr. of North Vernon, Jennings County, IN was born on May 22, 1926 in Warren, Warren County, Pennsylvania United States. He was married to Gertrude Nadine Baniszewski in 1945 and they later divorced in 1955. He had children Paula Marie Pace, Stephanie K. Serikstad, John Stephan Blake, Marie Suzann Shelton, Shirley Baniszewski, and James Ronald Baniszewski. John Blake died at age 81 years old on October 31, 2007 in Greenwood, Johnson County, IN.

John Stephan Blake Jr. of Millersville, Lancaster County, PA was born on February 23, 1953 in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana United States to John Stephan Blake and Gertrude Nadine Baniszewski. He had siblings Paula Marie Pace, Stephanie K. Serikstad, Marie Suzann Shelton, Shirley Baniszewski, and James Ronald Baniszewski. John Blake died at age 52 years old on May 19, 2005 in Lancaster, Lancaster County, PA.

James Hubert Blake (February 7, 1887[1] – February 12, 1983), known as Eubie Blake, was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. In 1921, he and his long-time collaborator Noble Sissle wrote Shuffle Along, one of the first Broadway musicals to be written and directed by African Americans.[2] Blake's compositions included such hits as "Bandana Days", "Charleston Rag", "Love Will Find a Way", "Memories of You" and "I'm Just Wild About Harry". The musical Eubie!, which opened on Broadway in 1978, featured his works. Blake was born at 319 Forrest Street in Baltimore, Maryland, to John Sumner Blake (1838–1917) and Emily "Emma" Johnstone (1861–1927), both of whom had been slaves. He was the only surviving child of eight, all the rest of whom died in infancy. In 1894, the family moved to 414 North Eden Street, and later to 1510 Jefferson Street. John Blake earned US$9.00 weekly working as a stevedore on the Baltimore docks Music Cover of sheet music of "I'm Just Wild About Harry", from the musical Shuffle Along, by Blake and Noble Sissle, 1921 Blake's musical training began when he was four or five years old. While out shopping with his mother, he wandered into a music store, climbed on the bench of an organ, and started "foolin’ around". When his mother found him, the store manager said to her, "The child is a genius! It would be criminal to deprive him of the chance to make use of such a sublime, God-given talent." The Blakes purchased a pump organ for US$75.00, making payments of 25 cents a week. When Blake was seven, he received music lessons from a neighbor, Margaret Marshall, an organist for the Methodistchurch.[3] At age fifteen, without his parents' knowledge, he began playing piano at Aggie Shelton's Baltimore bordello. Blake got his first big break in the music business in 1907, when the world champion boxer Joe Gans hired him to play the piano at Gans's Goldfield Hotel, the first "black and tan club" in Baltimore.[citation needed] According to Blake, he also worked the medicine show circuit and was employed by a Quaker doctor. He played a Melodeon strapped to the back of the medicine wagon. Blake stayed with the show only two weeks, however, because the doctor's religion didn't allow the serving of Sunday dinner.[4] Blake said he composed the melody of the "Charleston Rag" in 1899, when he would have been only 12 years old. It was not committed to paper, however, until 1915, when he learned to write musical notation In 1912, Blake began playing in vaudeville with James Reese Europe's Society Orchestra, which accompanied Vernon and Irene Castle's ballroom dance act. The band played ragtime music, which was still quite popular. Shortly after World War I, Blake joined forces with the performer Noble Sissle to form a vaudeville musical act, the Dixie Duo. After vaudeville, the pair began work on a musical revue, Shuffle Along, which incorporated songs they had written, and had a book written by F. E. Miller and Aubrey Lyles. When it premiered in June 1921, Shuffle Along became the first hit musical on Broadway written by and about African-Americans. The musical also introduced hit songs such as "I'm Just Wild About Harry" and "Love Will Find a Way."[5] Blake made his first recordings in 1917, for the Pathe record label and for Ampico piano rolls. In the 1920s he recorded for the Victor and Emerson labels among others.[6] In 1923, Blake made three films for Lee DeForest in DeForest's Phonofilm sound-on-film process: Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, featuring their song "Affectionate Dan"; Sissle and Blake Sing Snappy Songs, featuring "Sons of Old Black Joe" and "My Swanee Home"; and Eubie Blake Plays His Fantasy on Swanee River, featuring Blake performing his "Fantasy on Swanee River". These films are preserved in the Maurice Zouary film collection in the Library of Congress collection. He also appeared in Warner Brothers' short film Pie, Pie Blackbird (1932), with the Nicholas Brothers, Nina Mae McKinney, and Noble Sissle.[citation needed] Blake receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Ronald Reagan (1981) In July 1910, Blake married Avis Elizabeth Cecelia Lee (1881–1938), proposing to her in a chauffeur-driven car he hired. Blake and Lee met around 1895, when both attended Primary School No. 2, at 200 East Street in Baltimore. In 1910, Blake brought his newlywed to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he had already found employment at the Boathouse nightclub. In 1938, Avis was diagnosed with tuberculosis. She died later that year, at the age of 58. Of his loss, Blake said, "In my life I never knew what it was to be alone. At first when Avis got sick, I thought she just had a cold, but when time passed and she didn’t get better, I made her go to a doctor and we found out she had TB … I suppose I knew from when we found out she had the TB, I understood that it was just a matter of time."[3] While serving as bandleader with the United Service Organizations (USO) during World War II, he met Marion Grant Tyler (1896-1982), the widow of the violinist Willy Tyler. Blake and Tyler married in 1945. She was a performer and a businesswoman and became his valued business manager until her death in 1982. In 1946, as Blake's career was winding down, he enrolled in New York University, graduating in two and a half years. Later his music career revived, culminating in the hit Broadway musical, Eubie. In the 1950s, interest in ragtime revived and Blake, one of its last surviving artists, found himself launching yet another career as ragtime artist, music historian, and educator. He signed recording deals with 20th Century Records and Columbia Records, lectured and gave interviews at major colleges and universities all over the world, and appeared as a performer and clinician at top jazz and rag festivals.Blake was a frequent guest of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin. He was featured by leading conductors, such as Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Fiedler. In 1977 he played Will Williams in the Jeremy Kagan biographical film Scott Joplin.[7][8] By 1975, he had been awarded honorary doctorates from Rutgers, the New England Conservatory, the University of Maryland, Morgan State University, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn College, and Dartmouth. On October 9, 1981, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded by President Ronald Reagan. Eubie!, a revue featuring the music of Blake, with lyrics by Noble Sissle, Andy Razaf, Johnny Brandon, F. E. Miller, and Jim Europe, opened on Broadway in 1978. The show was a hit at the Ambassador Theatre, where it ran for 439 performances. The production received three nominations for Tony Awards, including one for Blake's score. The show was filmed in 1981 with the original cast members, including Lesley Dockery, Gregory Hines and Maurice Hines. Blake performed with Gregory Hines on the television program Saturday Night Live on March 10, 1979. Death Blake continued to play and record until his death, on February 12, 1983, in Brooklyn, just five days after celebrating his purported 100th birthday (actually his 96th birthday; see below).[9] He was interred in Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. His headstone, engraved with the musical notation of "I'm Just Wild About Harry", was commissioned by the African Atlantic Genealogical Society (AAGS). The bronze sculpture of Blake's bespectacled face was created by David Byer-Tyre, curator and director of the African American Museum and Center for Education and Applied Arts, in Hempstead, New York. The original inscription indicated his correct year of birth, but individuals close to him insisted that Blake be indulged and paid to have the inscription changed.[citation needed] If I'd known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself. — Eubie Blake Blake was reported to have said this on his birthday in 1979,[10] but it has been attributed to others and appeared in print at least as early as 1966 (when it was attributed to an anonymous 90-year-old golf caddie).[11] Birth date In later years, Blake listed his birth year as 1883; his 100th birthday was celebrated in 1983. Most sources, including the Encyclopædia Britannica, and a U.S. Library of Congress biography, incorrectly list his birth year as 1883. Every official document issued by the government, however, records his birthday as February 7, 1887. This includes all official documents issued in the first half of his life, including the 1900 census, his 1917 World War I draft registration, 1920 passport application, 1936 Social Security application, and death records as reported by the United States Social Security Administration. Peter Hanley writes, "In the final analysis, however, the fact that he was only ninety-six years of age and not one hundred when he died does not in any way detract from his extraordinary achievements. Eubie will always remain among the finest popular composers and songwriters of his era."[14]

Helen May (Frost) Blake was born in Kansas United States, and had a brother Dean Blake. Helen Blake died in 1959 in San Diego, CA.

Dean Blake of San Diego, San Diego County, California was born on November 3, 1882, and had a sister Helen Mae (Frost). Dean Blake died at age 95 years old in June 1978.

Charlotte L Blake of Las Vegas, Clark County, NV was born on June 19, 1924, and died at age 71 years old on January 12, 1996.

Sandi Blake was born on April 1, 1958 to Edna Mae Staples and Eugene Staples, and has siblings Susan Louise Rissler, Jeanette Hatt, Sheri Bowles, and Eugene Staples Jr. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Sandi Blake.

Jessie (Jervies) Blake of Warrnambool, VIC Australia was born on April 6, 1889 in Woorndoo, and died at age 64 years old on March 13, 1954 in Warrnambool.

Henry Blake of Devonport, TAS Australia was born on May 25, 1891 at Mersey, Tas, and died at age 78 years old on June 27, 1969 in Devonport. Henry Blake was buried in Devonport, City of Devonport County.

Henry Joseph William Smith Obrien Blake of Horsham, Horsham Rural City County, VIC Australia was born in 1836 in Tuam, G Ireland, and died at age 74 years old on October 6, 1911 at Green lake in Horsham, VIC Australia.

Jane Louisa (Martane) Blake of Horsham, Horsham Rural City County, VIC Australia was born in 1845 at Gortbeg in G Ireland, and died at age 85 years old on November 12, 1931 at Green lake in Horsham, VIC Australia.

Catherine Jane (Blake) Studd of Newcastle, NSW Australia was born on July 8, 1861 in Hamilton, Southern Grampians Shire County, VIC to Jane Louisa Martane and Henry Joseph William Smith Obrien Blake. She had a brother Robert French Blake. She married Robert Arthur Studd in 1883, and had children Alice Victoria Studd, Jane Margaret Amelia Studd, Frederick Henry Studd, Katie Studd, Charles Blake Studd, Mary Elizabeth Studd, and Nellie Bedelia Studd. Catherine Studd died at age 79 years old on December 6, 1940 in Newcastle, NSW.

Mary (Blake) Clay of Sandhurst Australia. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Mary Blake Clay.

Jane (Blake) McDaniel was born on April 27, 1687 in Dublin, D Ireland, and died at age 82 years old on September 30, 1769 in Oxford, North Carolina United States. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Jane Blake McDaniel.