Col. Ephraim Blaine and Sarah E. Postlethwaite
Husband Col. Ephraim Blaine 1 2
Born: 26 May 1741 - northern Ireland 1 3 Christened: Died: 16 Feb 1804 - Middleton Twp, Cumberland Co, PA 3 4 Buried:
Father: James Blaine ( -1792) 1 3 Mother: Elizabeth [Unk] ( -Aft 1792) 1 3
Marriage: 20 Sep 1797 4
Other Spouse: Rebecca Galbraith (1742/1747-Abt 1780) 1 2 - 26 Jun 1765 3 4
Wife Sarah E. Postlethwaite 4 5
Born: Abt 1760 Christened: Died: Abt 1850 - Philadelphia, PA Buried: - Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA
Father: Col. Samuel Postlethwaite ( - ) 4 5 Mother:
Other Spouse: Judge John Duncan ( -1793) 5
Children
1 M Ephraim Blaine 4 5
Born: Christened: Died: Cause of Death: Drowning Buried:Spouse: Did Not Marry
General Notes: Husband - Col. Ephraim Blaine
He was born in Ireland, and came with his parents to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1745, when he was but a year old. He was a prominent man and served his county and country. He was a friend and confidant of Washington, and was sheriff of Cumberland County in 1771, and during the Revolution was deputy commissary-general with the rank of colonel. [HCC 1886, 378]
He received a classical education at the school of Rev. Dr. Alison, in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and was recommended by him for an ensigncy in the Provincial service as being "a young gentleman of good family." He was appointed commissary sergeant, and during the Bouquet expedition to the westward, in 1763, was connected with the 2d Provincial Regiment. From 1771 to 1773 he served as sheriff of Cumberland County. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary struggle he entered early into the contest and assisted in raising a battalion of Associators, of which he was commissioned lieutenant colonel, holding the position until he was appointed by the Supreme Executive Council as county lieutenant of Cumberland, April 5, 1777. This office he resigned in August following, when he entered the commissary department of the Continental establishment. He was commissioned commissary general of purchases Feb. 19, 1778, a position he held over three years, including one of the most trying periods of the war-the cantonment at Valley Forge. He was a man of large fortune and recourse, so that, during the long and severe winter, with the aid of personal friends, he made an advance of $6,000,000, for use of the patriot army. Millions of dollars passed through his hands without a suspicion of his purity and disinterestedness. Owing to his personal sacrifices, however, Colonel Blaine's estate became impaired, although his fortune remained ample. While in the service he enjoyed the confidence of Washington and his fellow officers. It was at his home that the first president remained during his week's stay at Carlisle during the so-called Whiskey Insurrection of 1794. Subsequently Colonel Blaine retired to his farm in Middleton township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, where he closed his eminently patriotic and honorable career in his sixty-third year. [HAC 1914, 662]
He was born in 1744. [HAC 1914, 643]
He had six children by his first wife. [HAC 1914, 662], [NQ 1884, 146]
Not listed is Alexander, a brother according to HBC 1883, 248x.
The name of Ephraim Blaine appears in the list of men residing at Fort Pitt July 22, 1760. He became one of the prominent citizens of his region, serving his county and country with honor and fidelity. In 1771 he was sheriff of Cumberland county. In the earlier years of the Revolution he was a resident of Carlisle.
The following extract is from the new American Encyclopedia: "At the time the Revolutionary war was inaugurated Col. Ephraim Blaine was living at his princely estate at Middlesex, in Cumberland county. He at once offered his personal services and means to the patriotic cause, and he was forthwith commissioned by the Continental Congress as colonel and attached to the Pennsylvania Line of troops, and did not 'ground arms' until the contest was over and the victory won. His services were gallant and patriotic. He was with General Washington in many of the most trying scenes of the Revolution and enjoyed the confidence of his chief. During the dark winter at Valley Forge the preservation of the army from starvation was in a great degree owing to the exertions and sacrifices of Colonel Blaine. Gen. George Washington and Col. Ephraim Blaine were warm personal friends and kept up a correspondence for fifteen years. Many letters to Colonel Blaine from General and President Washington are in the possession of Colonel Blaine's descendants."
In the spring of 1777 the appointment of sub-lieutenant of Cumberland county was tendered Colonel Blame, which he declined as follows in his letter to President Wharton: "The difference of sentiment which prevails in Cumberland county about the constitution and the ill-judged appointment of part of the sub-lieutenants are my principal reasons for not accepting for the present the position your honor and the council are pleased to offer me of the lieutenancy. I shall, however, study to render the public every service in my power." He was later (1778) appointed deputy commissary general for the middle department, with the rank of colonel, and served as quartermaster, as shown by a letter of Nov. 3, 1780, to him, from Colonel Brodhead. During the "dark winter" at Valley Forge the preservation of the army from starvation was in a great degree owing to the exertions and sacrifices of Colonel Blaine. In February or March, 1780, he was appointed commissary general, which position he probably filled until the close of the war, and he had the distinction of being the personal friend and confidant of Washington, who visited him during the Whiskey Insurrection. They kept up a correspondence for fifteen years, and many letters to the colonel from President Washington are in the possession of Ephraim Blaine's descendants. He was an original member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati. Colonel Blaine once owned two lots in Pittsburgh just below where the Point bridge terminates on the South Side, which he sold to Isaac Craig and which formed part of the site of the first glass works erected in the city. [The name of one Ephraim Blaine is found on a list attached to a petition addressed to the managers of the United States Bank at Philadelphia "from citizens of Pittsburgh for a branch at that place, 1817." It was successful.] Two tracts of land con-taining 400 and 474 acres, respectively, were surveyed to Ephraim Blaine in Wayne township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Glade run traversing the territory of which the northern (the larger) tract consisted, in a westerly and northwesterly course. The Timothy Pickering & Co. tract, covered by warrant dated May 17, 1785, was a part of Gen. James Potter's estate, which became vested in his son, James Potter, who covenanted May 9, 1795, to convey it as containing 1,000 acres to Ephraim Blaine. His heirs, believing that he made a deed therefor that was lost, for the purpose of confirming and ratifying their father's agreement, executed March 20, 1837, a deed to John Hays and Rev. Adam Gilchrist, whose wives were daughters of Robert Blaine and granddaughters of Ephraim Blaine, who were desirous of obtaining a patent and perfect title. The tract was found to contain 1,099 acres. Ephraim Blaine had paid for 1,000 acres, but these heirs considered that the excess of ninety-nine acres would be a fair equivalent for obtaining the patent, and completing the title. They therefore conveyed to Hays and Gilchrist the entire tract, which subsequently became vested in John Hays, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, partly in his own right and partly in that of his children, Mary W. Hays, afterward the wife of Captain West, U. S. A., Robert B. Hays and John Hays, Jr. John Hays, Sr., conveyed his right in that trust to David Ralston March 23, 1839, for $7,375, and by virtue of an act of Assembly, approved July 5, 1839, he conveyed as guardian the interests of his wards therein, Oct. 5, then next, to David Ralston, for $1,000. John Hays, Sr., was the son of John and Mary Hays, the latter the famous "Molly Pitcher" of the Revolution.
Ephraim Blaine died at Carlisle in 1804 (in 1808 according to the new American Encyclopedia). He and his first wife Rebecca (Galbraith) are buried at the Meetinghouse Springs Church (of which they were members), on Yellow Breeches creek, about one and a half miles from Carlisle. The site of Colonel Blaine's old home is near by, and he had a distillery on the creek. His second wife was Mrs. Duncan, widow of Judge Duncan. He had two children, both born to his first marriage, James and Robert, the former marrying Margaret Lyon (their son Ephraim was the father of James G. Blaine). [HAC 1914, 643]
1 Wm. H. Egle, Historical Register: Notes and Queries, Historical and Genealogical (Harrisburg, PA: Lane S. Hart, Publisher, 1884), Pg 145.
2 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 660, 661.
3 —, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 661.
4 Wm. H. Egle, Historical Register: Notes and Queries, Historical and Genealogical (Harrisburg, PA: Lane S. Hart, Publisher, 1884), Pg 146.
5
—, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People Past and Present (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1914), Pg 662.
Home | Table of Contents | Surnames | Name List
This Web Site was Created 15 Apr 2023 with Legacy 9.0 from Millennia