My Genealogy Hound

JOHN T. BLAKE, a leading merchant of Marshall County, Tenn., and a son of John and Mary A. (Morgan) Blake, was born on the 3d of January, 1834, in Lincoln County, Tenn., and received the education and rearing of the average farmer’s boy. After attaining man’s estate he attended and taught school a short time and then turned his attention to his trade and farming. He had access to the tools in his father’s shop, and in time became proficient as a worker in wood and iron. Five children were the result of his marriage, in 1857, to Martha Phillips. Their son, John M., is a traveling salesman for Grayfall & Co., of Nashville, Tenn. Both Mr. and Mrs. Blake are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and in politics he votes the Democratic ticket. Since 1857 he has resided on the farm where he now lives. He has a general work shop and as a business man has been fairly successful. His father and mother were born in North Carolina and Virginia, respectively. After marriage they settled in Lincoln County, Tenn., where they spent the remainder of their days as tillers of the soil. Their family consisted of fourteen children, only five of whom are living. The father was an old-line Whig, and after a long and active life died in 1862. The mother, who was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, outlived him several years.