BLAK E F AM I L Y . GENEALO GICAL H I STO RY WILLIA LAKE F D CH ES ER M B , O OR T , AND H I S DE S C E NDANT S , SAMUEL ANDPATIENCE ( W H ITE) BLAKE. W ITH A N A P P E N D I X , F T E F Y C O N T A I N I N G W I L L S , & c . O F M E M B E R S O H A M I L , AND O TH ER I NTER ESTI NG M ATTER . BY SAM U L BLAK E E , ADH I S TOR IC L S C ETY “EMB EB O F TH E DORCH ESTER ANTIQUARIAN N A O I . ' O ne generation pafle th a way an d an othe r ge nera tion cometh : bu t ” fo r e er the e ar th a bide th v . B O S T O N APP JR 1 84 W ASH INGTO NST NEZ ER CL , EBE , PRI NTED BY DAVID OLAPP . I T R O DU I N C T O N. To TH E R EADER To I gratify an inclination which have long had , and which has increased as age advances , I have undertaken of the task looking up the history of my ancestors , and putting it together, for my own pleasure , and more espe cia lly for the benefit of posterity . Although it may be v ery imperfect, yet it will serve as a connecting link with the past, and assist some more persevering hand in collecting a history of the good men and true wh o have gone before us . There are many obstacles to be encountered in col Iectin g materials for a genealogy . Aperson thus engaged i n is soon brought in contact with the doubting, who will on e quire , What possible good will all this be to any n wh o a o The the timid , are fearful that a neighbor may it quire by some knowledge of their family, their connex o r . h ff ions , their associations And t en the indi erent, who would willingly answer the questions proposed , if they o im could only get about it, but consider them of s little portance as not to be worth their while to undertake it . w And then, to balance the scale , a friend may be met ith, who enters into the project with his whole heart, and thinks he t i can do the greates honor to his ancestors , by leav ng a record of them to posterity . To those who have responded to my inquiries and helped w w me for ard in this ork , and especially to those who have 4 I T TI N RODUC O N . v h gi en me pecuniary aid in publishing it, I return my earty r w thanks , t usting that they ill all feel that they have done r An something for which thei posterity will be grateful . d w f I ith those who have turned away with indi ference , shall u not q arrel, but leave them to settle the matter with their o wn a s . consciences , and their own feelings dictate It is very difficult to get at facts of long standing . There is a great discrepancy in dates . If in a printed oration a wrong word creeps in through mistake , the intelligent read , w in n er ill readily correct it but a genealogy, if the wro g i s a n " figure occurs , it leads the reader astray, it error with it w out a remedy, and, rather than have it such, ould be better that it were a blank . I have endeavored as far as w possible , in this small work, to get the dates , and that ith fi n d t w d accuracy ; but I that family records , o n recor s , and - grave stone inscriptions , in many cases disagree . I have , a as much as possible , taken my dates from the original fam s o ily records , believing they would not be likely to err as the copies . After giving all the information I could gather E B of our ancestors in ngland , I begin with William lake, who was the pioneer of the family in this then n ew world . w . He , with his ife and children, were early here I have B followed the line down in direct succession to Samuel lake , - 1 1 7 54 wh o w who died in Dorchester , May , , and ith his t fi ve wh o a wife , Patience ( White) , lef children lived to mar r f y and have families , and I lattered myself that I should get a n account of every on e of their descendants I think I have found nearly all, but I lack more dates than I had anticipated . n few : The orthography of christia names , and in a in va r y . stances of surnames also , will be found to I have follo wed the record from which I copied , conceding to all persons their undoubted right to call their children by what . name they please , and spell that name as they fancy I ” “ f have adopted the plan of the Book O the Lockes , by E . s J . G Locke , q , which is the most perfect genealogy INTRODUCTION . 5 h v w t at I ha e ever had the pleasure of perusing, and ith him I say that the daughters and their descendants are as i n . important, the history of a family, as the sons The n n w umbering of the families and their childre , ill be ex plained hereafter . The of B la ke i d etymology the name , , was furn she me by J H E y . LAK s O N H B E, q , of Roxbur , and is as follows n e B L AKE The a cient and r spectable family of , is of B AP ritish extraction, and traditionally descended from LAK o n e of K E , whose name appears as the nights of King ’ r . w Arthu s round table Succeeding generations , ho ever, seem to have paid little attention to the orthography of s o we wr . the name , variously do find it itten In the first e Wa s n instance , by dropping the initial l tter it re dered P- LAK PLAK r w E, and then, by compression, E , one enti e ord , b of u u oth which, alike , prod ce a sound and tterance uncouth . wa s LA U and unharmonious It corrupted into B G E, to the o confusion of all etymological explanation, had it s conti a r i nue , but chance or design applied a emedy by substitut ng BLAAKE BLAK , and ultimately E , which latter reading took u place many centuries back, and has contin ed invariably " the same fro m that period to the present d a y . The Appendix contains m uch that is interesting to anti ua ri e s of q , being abstracts Wills , Inventories and other w the B matter, in hich some members Of lake family were . W W ha the principal actors Through the hole ork , it s been my Object to bring in much collateral matter in relation to persons , places and events . I have constantly kept in w n vie the utility of placing landmarks alo g the line , from generation to generation, to guide those who would know . i s something of their ancestry In future years , it to be hoped that there will be many inclined to follow back their B pedigree to William lake , who left Dorchester, in Dorset , 6 INTRODUCTION . E w E Old ngland, for an unkno n home in New ngland , which Ba . was subsequently called D orchester, in Massachusetts y It does not require a great prophet to foretell , that as o ur w country proceeds from infancy to ards maturity, there will be an increasing desire to study the history of the men and times that have passed before u s . The people will n ot s o be completely absorbed in acquiring wealth, and in w indulging in luxury, and mak g a show ; neither ill there be a necessity for s o much personal exertion to acquire a competence , as the nation advances in age and resources . hi l T s work, though it be sma l and imperfect , I place a s before my kinsfolk and the public, feeling assured that , ffi they contemplate the di culty of the task, they will readily excuse the errors that occur , and I shall then feel that I u . have not spent my time in vain, nor labored for no ght Dor ch es ter Decem ber 4 1 8 5 6 . , , C N T NT S O E . B e s E lak in ngland , B e W lak , illiam , Will , Autograph , B e E e lak , James ( ld r) , hi s s e hou , Will , " Autograph , B e e s e c lak , Jam (D a on) , Will , Autograph , B s the s lake , Jame ( Annali t) , ‘ Su rv e o f the w s y Cedar S amp , Autograph , Will , e Po try , B e lake , Samu l ill W , e Inv ntory , B e e R ev e lak , Jam s , ” di d , w e M r s . Ho , Diary , s e s o f B ak De c ndant Samuel l e , i a t at Mr .