Eli Whitney Blake | |
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| Born | Eli Whitney Blake (1795-01-27)January 27, 1795 |
| Died | August 18, 1886(1886-08-18) (aged 91) New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Education | Leicester Academy |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
| Occupation | Inventor |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 12 |
| Parent(s) | Elihu Blake Elizabeth Fay Whitney Blake |
| Relatives | Eli Whitney (uncle) William Phipps Blake (nephew) |
Eli Whitney Blake, Sr. (January 27, 1795 – August 18, 1886) was an Americaninventor, best known for hismortise lock and stone-crushing machine, the latter of which earned him a place into theNational Inventors Hall of Fame.
Blake was born on January 27, 1795, inWestborough inWorcester County, Massachusetts. He was the son of Elihu Blake and Elizabeth Fay (néeWhitney) Blake. His older brother, also named Elihu Blake, was the father ofWilliam Phipps Blake.[1] His sister, Maria Georgianna Blake, was married to Archibald Burgess.[2]
He was a nephew ofEli Whitney, the inventor of thecotton gin. His maternal grandparents were Eli Whitney Sr., a prosperous farmer, and his wife Elizabeth (née Fay) Whitney. His paternal grandparents were Tamar (née Thompson) Blake and Ebenezer Blake Jr., a descendant of William Blake, who emigrated from England toDorchester between 1630 and 1635, and later helpedWilliam Pynchon settleSpringfield, Massachusetts.[citation needed]
Blake studied atLeicester Academy, and was graduated atYale in 1816, after which he studiedlaw with Judge Gould atLitchfield Law School inLitchfield, Connecticut.[3]
Blake soon abandoned the study of law at the request of his uncle,Eli Whitney, who desired his assistance in erecting and organizing thegun factory atWhitneyville. Here he made important improvements in the machinery and in the processes of manufacturing arms.[1]
On the death of his uncle in 1825, Blake associated with himself his brother Philos, and continued to manage the business. On December 31, 1833, he, with brothers Philo and John, patented an "Escutcheon Latch", the firstmortise lock produced in the United States.[4] In 1836, under the firm name of Blake Brothers, they established atWestville a factory for the production of door locks and latches of their own invention. The business was afterward extended so as to includecasters,hinges, and other articles of hardware, most of which were covered by patents. In this branch of manufacture, Blake Brothers were among the pioneers, and long held the front rank.[1]
In 1852, Blake was appointed to superintend themacadamizing of the city streets, and his attention was directed to the want of a proper machine for breaking stone. This problem he solved in 1857, by the invention of the Blake stone breaker, which, for originality, simplicity, and effectiveness, was justly regarded by experts as unique.[5]
Blake was one of the founders, and for several years president, of theConnecticut Academy of Science. He contributed valuable papers to theAmerican Journal of Science and other periodicals, the most important of which he published in a single volume asOriginal Solutions of Several Problems in Aërodynamics (1882).[6]
On July 8, 1822, Blake was married to Eliza Maria O'Brien (1799–1876),[3] a daughter of Edward J. O'Brien and Mary (née Pierrepont) O'Brien, a great-granddaughter of the Rev.James Pierpont, one of the founders ofYale College.[7] After the death of Eliza's father, her mother remarried to prominent lawyer Eleazer Foster and had several more children, includingEleazer Kingsbury Foster. Together, Eli and Eliza were the parents of many children,[8] including five boys who graduated from Yale:[9]
His wife died on April 15, 1876, and Blake died on August 18, 1886, inNew Haven, Connecticut.[13]
Through his daughter Mary, he was the grandfather of four, including homemaker Dotha Bushnell (1861–1921) and Mary Pierpont Bushnell (1859–1936), who married Rowland Gibson Hazard (1855–1918) (a grandson ofRowland G. Hazard), the parents ofRowland Hazard III, a founder ofAlcoholics Anonymous.[16]
Through his daughter Frances, he was the grandfather of chemistThomas Burr Osborn and Arthur Sherwood Osborn.[8]
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