H.G. Blake in the uniform of the 166th Regiment of the Union Army
Harrison Gray Blake (1819-1876) routinely ignored the Fugitive Slave Laws and hid runaway slaves in his handsome home home on East Washington Street. It was a terrible risk in those days to harbor slaves — the fines were prohibitive and could bankrupt a family. Blake had a great deal to lose. He had come to Medina as a penniless orphan and, within a decade, had become a wealthy and influential man: a lawyer, Speaker of the Ohio Legislature, U.S. Congressman, founder of the Old Phoenix Bank.
H. G. Blake's house was a busy stop on the Underground Railroad.
The older of his two daughters, Elizabeth Blake McDowell, told her descendants the story of how she discovered that the family was hiding slaves. She noticed that her mother would occasionally cook very large amounts of food – far more than was needed for their family of four. She began to ask questions, and finally her parents explained the situation to her – that her father had undertaken an important mission and that secrecy was essential
After that, when she saw a large ham disappear or heard strange noises in the attic over the kitchen, she was no longer surprised. To insure discretion, Elizabeth and her sister were kept out of school when slaves were in the house.
Elizabeth Blake McDowell
Another time Blake said to his two daughters, “Come with me, I want to show you something that will make you hate slavery forever.” He took them to the attic and showed them a terror-stricken slave. The man’s back had been whipped and salt had been rubbed in his wounds as a disinfectant. It was a sight that neither daughter ever forgot.
A short time later Blake sent the slave on to Oberlin, the next stop on the Underground Railroad. The next stop after that was Canada and freedom.
In 1848 Blake was elected president pro tem of the Ohio Legislature by a slim margin of one vote and led the effort to repeal the Black Laws. These were statutes in effect in Ohio which curtailed the civil rights of African-Americans, and had been enacted to discourage them from moving to Ohio. To commemorate his role in the repeal of these onerous laws, he was awarded a silver cup by the Young Whigs of Ohio.
Blake later served two terms in Congress — 1959-63. After that joined the Union Army and was appointed Colonel of the 166th Regiment, Ohio Infantry Volunteers.
In a brief biography written near the end of his life, he wrote, “I ardently supported President Lincoln and all measures to put down the rebellion. I was always an ardent anti-slavery man and a friend of the slave.”
Presented to H.G. Blake to commemorate repeal of the Black Laws
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Thankyou for that wonderful article! H.G. Blake was my Great, Great, Great Grandfather. ( Elizabeth Blake Mcdowell’s son, Blake Mcdowell was my great grandfather. His daughter was Elizabeth Mcdowell Bennett- my grandmother. Her daughter is Susan Bennett Paton- my mom! ( My grandfather , Homer Bennett ran Bennett Lumber in Medina with his brothers.) Medina was the place of so many wonderful childhood memories and history! The Greisingers who helped alot with the historical society there were also great friends. Most all relatives from there are gone now. That makes me sad.
Do you happan to know where the silver cup, or portrait of H.G. in his Union uniform are? Maybe my Mom does, but I wondered if you knew.
We are all very proud of H.G. Blake and his place in History.
I remember visiting Jo Jo Mclellan’s house (H.G. Blakes house) as a child and getting the tour of where the underground railroad was, along with the family stories. You did a great job telling them, as I remember being told.
Please E-mail me if you have any other information that you think might be interesting to our family…or if you have questions.
Thankyou!
Sincerely, Carolyn Paton
January 13th, 2011 at 9:02 am
Hey there , great submit .. I m seriously interested in this subject keep on writing and thank you !
April 9th, 2011 at 3:10 am
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July 20th, 2011 at 10:14 pm
Love all the opinions expressed here! How is everyone?
September 4th, 2011 at 11:45 pm
I am excited to have discovered this article by googling Blake’s name. Blake’s wife, Florence is my great great aunt. Florence and my great grandfather Albert Andrews were siblings. I have been researching the Andrews side of my family for 4 yrs. now. Albert’s son has original photos (from 1800s-1900s) of the Andrews side. Just this July 2011, the Andrews’ side had a family reunion and I drove out of state to be there and got to see photos of Blake for the first time and more photos of Florence that I hadn’t seen before. Also, to top it off, there was a photo of one of Blake and Floss’ (her nickname) babies , but no name was on it. The baby looks just like my 9 mo old daughter today. I had to get a copy of it to take home with me. I have been looking for living descendants of aunt Florence’s and would like to get in contact with Carolyn Paton, whom left a message on here, if she is willing to communicate with me. Our side is more than willing to share photos and family info.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:45 am
I must apologize for my incorrect message above. After thinking about the year my aunt Florence Andrews McDowell was born, I realized that this H.G. Blake could not be her husband, but knew her husband has to be related due to the same first 3 names. My ancestry.com membership allowed me to get my facts straight! Phew!! Harrison Gray Blake McDowell is the son of Elizabeth Blake McDowell. My aunt Florence was married to this Blake McDowell (as he went by his 3rd name). I found an 1880 census that had Elizabeth Blake at 59 yrs. old living with her daughter Elizabeth Blake McDowell (pictured in your article above these comments) and son in law Robert McDowell. So, as the family tree goes: H.G. Blake and Elizabeth Blake had a daughter named Elizabeth Blake. Elizabeth Blake (the daughter) married Robert McDowell and they had a son named H.G. Blake McDowell. Then, H.G. Blake McDowell married Florence Andrews (my great great aunt). Blake and Florence had 3 children named Elizabeth, Helen and Theodore. I am wanting to connect with the descendants of Blake and Florence and am willing to connect with any other members of the family whom would like to share photos and stories.
February 4th, 2012 at 4:10 pm
I’m late in seeing these blogs from Eve Carter, but excited, none the less!
Hello! We are related! It is interesting that your last name is Carter, as that is another family name in our family tree from Ohio. More on that later….
The other H.G.” Blake” McDowell ( 1868-1931) that you referred to and his wife Florence Andrews McDowell ( 1872-1968) were my Great Grandparents! H.G. Blake McDowell was always referred to as ” Blake ” McDowell. Yes, his mother and father were Elizabeth Blake McDowell ( 1843-1932) and Robert McDowell ( 1838-1897) . This Elizabeth was the oldest daughter of the more famous H.G. Blake ( 1819-1875) ; the Congressman and operator of the UGRR; whose wife, Elizabeth Bell Blake was known as “Betsy”.
” Blake ” was one of five children born to the McDowells.( Bessie, Blake, Corwin, Kate and Robert)
Blake McDowell had died before I was born, but my Grandmother Elizabeth McDowell Bennett had told me many stories of him, showed me many pictures, and even had a book of his own hand drawn cartoons of animals that he was famous for entertaining the children with. My Grandmother loved her Father very dearly.
Florence Andrews McDowell, my Great Grandmother ( daughter of Marie Louise Provost , who was of French Canadian descent and Theodore Andrews- born 1839) was still alive when I was a child, and I remember her very well. She still lived in the big white house that she lived in with her husband and family (called Windy Hill) just a short walk through the woods from my Grandparents house, in Medina, Ohio. We called her” Mimi.” She had big beautiful flower gardens that I can still see her tending to. I think she died in 1968, when I was about 10 yrs. old. I have a lot of old pictures of her and her family from the 1800’s.,that are beautiful, that my mother gave me. I know she met her husband Blake at Oberlin College, where they both attended school.
I have been doing research myself on all of these people, though predominately H.G. Blake, the Congressman.
I’d be happy to share what I know about Florence, her siblings, parents, etc. as well as The Blakes and McDowells. Much of it comes from family research by my Great Uncle Ted McDowell ( the Theodore you referred to) to accompany the “Descendants of H.G. Blake ” reunion that we had in Medina in the early 1990’s. He and his wife “Toody” Munson McDowell and their daughter lived a short distance also from Mimi’s house in Medina for many years.
I’m thinking that your Great Grandfather Albert must have been the brother Mimi called “Bert” that was from South Haven, Mich., according to his writings. Where was the Andrews family reunion? I know they lived in both Chicago and Cleveland.
The picture of Florence with a baby girl is most likely my Grandmother;” Nana” ( Elizabeth McDowell Bennett) the oldest child; as I have some of those too. (Or, it might be my Great Aunt Helen as a baby. Come to think of it, they dressed baby boys in long white gowns as well….maybe it was Uncle Ted!)
We do have so much to talk about! I’ll contact the original author to see if we can exchange e-mails. Thank you so much for your blog!
February 4th, 2012 at 7:41 pm
Correction: H.G. Blake died in 1876, not 1875.