Joseph Blanchard (11 February 1704 – 7 April 1758) was born in

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the fou ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

(now Nashua) on February 11, 1704 to Capt. Joseph Blanchard and his wife Abiah Hassell. In 1724 he joined the

New Hampshire Militia The New Hampshire Militia was a militia of what is now the U.S. state of New Hampshire. First organized in 1631, it was redesignated as the New Hampshire National Guard in 1879. History The Militia was first organized within the Province of Ne ...

as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

and served in Capt. Eleazer Tyng's Company. On September 26, 1728 he married Rebecca Hubbard of

Groton, Massachusetts Groton is a town in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, within the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The population was 11,315 at the 2020 census. An affluent bedroom community roughly 45 miles from Boston, Groton has a ...

. They had 12 children, including Jonathan Blanchard, a New Hampshire delegate to the

Congress of the Confederation The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States from March 1, 1781, until March 3, 1789, during the Confederation ...

in 1784. Joseph Blanchard would serve as town selectman, a surveyor for the state of

, Counsellor of the State by

mandamus A writ of (; ) is a judicial remedy in the English and American common law system consisting of a court order that commands a government official or entity to perform an act it is legally required to perform as part of its official duties, o ...

from the Crown, and Judge of the Superior Court of New Hampshire. At the start of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, Joseph Blanchard was already a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in the militia, and in 1754 he ordered Capt. John Goffe along with a company of men ( Robert Rogers was part of this company) to patrol the upper reaches of the

Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...

valley. In 1755, Joseph Blanchard was appointed as Colonel of the

New Hampshire Provincial Regiment The New Hampshire Provincial Regiment was a provincial military regiment made up of men from the New Hampshire Militia during the French and Indian War for service with the British Army in North America. It was first formed in 1754 with the sta ...

sent to serve under

Sir William Johnson Major-General Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet ( – 11 July 1774), was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Ireland known for his military and governance work in British colonial America. As a young man, Johnson moved to t ...

in an attack on Crown Point on

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

. Along the march they built Fort Wentworth at

Northumberland, New Hampshire Northumberland is a town located in western Coös County, New Hampshire, United States, north of Lancaster. It is part of the Berlin, NH– VT micropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 2,126, of whom 1,06 ...

on the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges into Long Isl ...

. The regiment was at Fort Edward and fought at the

Battle of Lake George The Battle of Lake George was fought on 8 September 1755, in the north of the Province of New York. It was part of a campaign by the British to expel the French from North America, in the French and Indian War. General Jean-Armand, and Jean Erdma ...

. The regiment returned home in December 1755. Col. Joseph Blanchard died on April 7, 1758. In 1761, a new more accurate map of New Hampshire that Joseph Blanchard had prepared in connection with

Samuel Langdon Samuel Langdon (January 12, 1723 – November 29, 1797) was an American Congregational clergyman and educator. After serving as pastor in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, he was appointed president of Harvard University in 1774. He held that pos ...

was published. Vt 1756 Blanchard&Langdon 1m.jpg, Map of New Hampshire, Blanchard Langdon, 1761.jpg,

External links

Massachusetts Historical Society copy of the Blanchard/Langdon map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard, Joseph 1704 births 1758 deaths People from colonial New Hampshire People of New Hampshire in the French and Indian War Blandchard, Joseph People from Nashua, New Hampshire Surveyors from the Thirteen Colonies