LEVI LOWELL BLAKE

 
    Levi Lowell Blake served in the Mexican American War. He then made a small fortune in the California gold fields.  He was in Montana with the Gov. Stevens Railroad Survey and worked closely with John Mullen who pioneered the first wagon road from Fort Benton to Walla Walla, Washington.
    In an election held July 14, 1862, Levi was elected representative to the Wash. Territorial Legislature.  However, “on his way to the legislative session in Olympia, he was side tracked by the gold fields near present day Boise, ID, and never assumed the office.”  He earned the title of Major Blake in 1867 for his services to the government, acting as Indian Agent on the Jocko Reservation near Polson, MT.  He was officially elected to the post in 1869 but did not accept it.  He returned to the east to live. 
    In 1870 Levi located in Wash. D. C. where he became part owner in the Marshall Hall Steamship Company.  He traded the title of Major Blake for that of Captain Blake. He was the Captain of several pleasure steamers that plied the Potomac River to Mt. Vernon and the Marshall Hall Amusement Park. He was variously listed as captain of the “Mary Washington,” the “W.W. Corcoran,” the “Charles Macalaster,” and the “Steamer Arrow.”  The Marshall Hall Steamship Co. later acquired the famed “River Queen,” of 1864.  The “River Queen” had frequently been referred to as “Lincoln’s Favorite,” a/c his frequent use in the closing days of the Civil War.

            At the age fifty-six, Levi married Marie (Robinson).  They had a daughter, Marion, and a son Lowell Blake.

Levi died in Wash. D. C. in 1904 and, “with the consent of his wife, his burial expenses were assumed by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association as a gesture of appreciation and thanks for his many services.”  His body was shipped, via Penn. R.R. to Northfield, VT, where he is buried with other members of his family.
by: Pat Close