Joseph W Blanding
| Date of Interment or Death | 04/21/1901 |
|---|---|
| Location | Old Fairview |
| Section | D |
| Block-Lot-Grave | 9-1-2n |
Obituary
Joseph W Blanding-1901
J.W. BLANDING EXPIRES
DEATH COMES QUIETLY AND PAINLESSLY
His Spirit Takes Its Departure Friday Evening, after an Illness of Three or Four Days
Joseph W. Blanding died at his home, this city, April 26, 1901, at about 6 o’clock P. M., after a short illness of paralysis or apoplexy. His death appeared to be entirely painless, as he passed away as quietly as an infant sinking to sleep. Funeral services were held at the residence, at 2:30 P. M. on the 21st, led by Rev. E. S. Shaw in connection with members of the Masonic fraternity, and interment was at Fairview Cemetery.
In addition to the subjoined biographical sketch it may be mentioned that Mr. Blanding came to Wisconsin in 1844, where he afterwords married a daughter of Judge Colton. She died several years ago. Their children are James C., Carbonado, Mon., Emma A. Burbank, Wahpeton, Hugh H., Enid, Okla., Jessie M. Fisher, Devils Lake, Elizabeth B Hyatt, Detroit, Mich., Walter D., Wahpeton, Joseph S., Wahpeton, Frank M., Omaha, Neb. Of these Mmes. Burbank and Fisher, and Walter and Joseph were the only ones present at the funeral.
The following brief biographical sketch was published in 1889: Joseph W. Blanding, county surveyor of Richland County, North Dakota, is also an attorney-at-law, with head quarters at Wahpeton, the county seat. He is a native of Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, where he was born March 10, 1810. His parents were Joseph and Elizabeth (Morley) Blanding.
The parents were natives of Connecticut, where the father was engaged in tiling the soil. He died when about thirty years old. His father was Joseph Blanding, a native of Massechusetts and a farmerly occupation. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary War and was of French descent. The parents of our subject had two children, himself and James, now dead. The mother was the daughter of Jonathan Morley, a native of Connecticut. He was a ship carpenter by trade and served in the Revolutionary War. He was a member of what is sometimes called the Hard-Shell Baptist church.
The subject of our sketch was raised on the home farm and received his education at the Franklin Institute at Hartford, Pennsylvania. When seventeen tears of age he commenced teaching school and made that his chief occupation for ten years. He then came West and settled in Lancster, Grant county, Wisconsin, where he was a surveyor for several years for the government, and for ten years held the office of clerk of the court. He occupied a prominent place in the affairs of that town and county, and held the position of justice of the peace for some time, as well as being president of the village council for several years. He was also county surveyor, and was engaged somewhat in land speculations. In May, 1874, Mr. Blanding came to Richland county, Dakota, and at that time there were but three or four personal living near where Wahpeton now stands. He purchased 800 acres from the Northern Pacific Railway Company, now joining the city limits. He at once commenced to making improvements on his farm, built a house the same yer, and broke up fifty acres of land. He has now between 300 and 400 acres under cultivation and has good, comfortable buildings. Mr. Blanding has been a leader in the affairs of this county. He was the first county attorney, being also one of the first commissioners at the organization of the county, in 1873, and having been the first and only county surveyor, being the present incumbent of the office. He has surveyed all the additions to Wahpeton, save the first one, and has also laid out and platted eight other towns, two of which are in Wilkin county, Minnesota. Mr. Blanding is a staunch defender of the principles of the republican party, and had the honor of casting his first presidential vote for William Henry Harrison. He is a leading member of the Masonic fraternity. He has been identified with the best interests of Richland county since its first settlement, and in every way he has been the friend of improvement and prosperity, and while his official record is without stain, so his private life and business connections have also been of such a high character as to make him one of the most highly respected men in the town and county.
Headstone photograph(s)
Location
Old Fairview is located on the southern half of the cemetery grounds.