Harrison Gray Otis BLAKE, Congress, OH (1818-1876)

BLAKE, Harrison Gray Otis, a Representative from Ohio; born in Newfane, Windham County, Vt., March 17, 1818; moved to Salem, N.Y., and in 1830 to Guilford, Medina County, Ohio; attended the public schools; studied medicine at Seville for one year; moved to Medina in 1836 and engaged in mercantile pursuits; also studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Medina; member of the State house of representatives in 1846 and 1847; member of the State senate in 1848 and 1849, serving as its president; elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Cyrus Spink; reelected to the Thirty-seventh Congress and served from October 11, 1859, to March 3, 1863; was not a candidate for renomination in 1862 to the Thirty-eighth Congress; entered the Union Army in 1864 as colonel of the One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Regiment; declined the appointment of Governor of Idaho Territory; resumed the practice of law; also interested in banking and mercantile pursuits; delegate to the Loyalist Convention at Philadelphia in 1866; died in Medina, Medina County, Ohio, April 16, 1876; interment in Spring Grove Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present