HENRY D. BLAKESLEE, of Upland, was born in Bryan, Ohio, February 16, 1853, the son of Henry B. and Lucy E. Day Blakeslee; his father a native of New York and his mother born in Ohio. Mr. Blakeslee learned the trade of blacksmith and carriage maker and followed it for a number of years in Nebraska. In 1885 he came to California, and after a year in Los Angeles purchased forty acres of land at the corner of Twenty-first street and San Antonio avenue, in Ontario colony, which he has developed into a typical Southern California fruit ranch, with seven acres of navel orange trees now in full bearing and other fruit trees of different varieties. In 1898 he opened a blacksmith shop and carriage works at his present location on Euclid avenue in what was then North Ontario, now Upland. In 1900 he formed a partnership with J. J. Atwood and engaged in the lumber business under the firm name of Atwood & Blakeslee. In 1901 the Packing House Equipment Co. was organized and incorporated for the manufacture of machinery and appliances for the equipment of orange and lemon packing establishments. Since 1903 Mr. Blakeslee has been manager of this company. Mr. Blakeslee possesses an intuitive mechanical genius which has contributed materially to the development of appliances, such as brushes, washers, automatic weighers, elevators, etc., manufactured and patented by his company. He is a scientific horseshoer and the inventor of Blakeslee's horse-shoe leveling gage, a practical appliance for squaring and verifying the right angle square of a hoof before nailing a shoe in place.

Mr. Blakeslee was married in January, 1875, at Lincoln, Neb., to Miss Cornelia P. Frost. They have a son, Clare Clifford, and a daughter, Laura G. - He is an active and influential Republican.
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BLAKESLEE,HENRY D.(47)M-W-b.OH
[r.CA-SAN BERNARDINO-ONTARIO TWP-1900]
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1900-CA-SAN BERNARDINO-ONTARIO TWP-"BLAKESLEE":[m.1875]
BLAKESLEE,Henry D.(47)Feb 1853-OH(OH-OH)BLACKSMITH[O.M.H.]
BLAKESLEE,Cornelia P.(52)Apr 1848-NY(NH-NY)[m.25y-ch.4/2]]
BLAKESLEE,Clare C.(20)Jul 1879-NE(OH-NY)SCHOOL
BLAKESLEE,Laura G.(19)Apr 1881-NE(OH-NY)SCHOOL
LEE, M...? (46)Jan 1854-CH(CH-CH)LODGER/FARM.LAB.
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1880-NE-LANCASTER CO.-ELK-"BRAKIDER":[BLAKESLEE]
H.D.BRAKIDER-Slf-M(27)OH-Blacksmith(NY-OH)[(1853-1916)]
Cornelia P.BRAKIDER-Wif-M(32)NY-Kpng.H.(NY-NY)[(1848-1929)]
Clare C.BRAKIDER-Son-S(11M)NE(OH-NY)[(1879-1957)]
Robin I.BRAKIDER-Bro-S(13)IA-Apprentice(NY-OH)[(1867?-1???)]
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Source Information:
Census Place: Elk, Lancaster, Nebraska
Family History Library Film 1254751
NA Film Number T9-0751
Page Number 295C
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BLAKESLEE,CLARE CLIFFORD [M:FROST;F:BLAKESLEE] MALE
07/13/1879,NEBRASKA
05/25/1957,LOS ANGELES(19) CO.,CA [77 yrs]
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