Ephraim Blakeslee (May 12, 1838 – February 22, 1911) was a member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

in the 1880s.

Biography

Blakeslee was born on May 12, 1838, in

Fenner, New York Fenner is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 1,668 at the 2020 census. The town is in the north-central part of the county, east of Cazenovia Lake. History The area was settled around 1795. The town was fo ...

. While he was a young child his family moved to Wisconsin, where they settled near Ironton in Sauk County. At the age of 23, he married Mary Ballard and six months later, in September 1861, volunteered to serve in the Union Army during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. He joined Company B, 12th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment as a 1st Sergeant and served in that capacity until accepting a commission as 2nd Lieutenant of Company H in May 1862. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant of the company in January 1864 and in August, he was detached to command Company E. A member of that company, Hosea Rood, later wrote about Blakeslee, "We liked him very much – I think all our men who marched to the sea would vote with both hands that Eph. Blakeslee was not only a most excellent company commander, but a royal good fellow, besides." Blakeslee took part in the Atlanta campaign, the March to the Sea, and the Carolina campaign with the 12th Wisconsin. In April 1865, he received a promotion to

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of Company H, and was mustered out with his men in July. Returning to Sauk County, Blakeslee sold the family farm and moved into Ironton, where he engaged in the mercantile trade. He and his wife Mary had three children before she died in 1871. He married Caroline Swift two years later. Blakeslee died on February 22, 1911, and is buried at Resting Green Cemetery in Ironton.

Assembly career

Blakeslee was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly during the 1880 and 1881 session. He was a Republican.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blakeslee, Ephraim People from Madison County, New York Politicians from Sauk County, Wisconsin Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War Union army officers 1838 births 1911 deaths 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature