Personal Details

Born	May 2nd, 1843	James Knox Blish
Birthplace	Wethersfield, IL, USA
Baptized	No Entry
Baptized at...	No Entry
Baptized by...	No Entry
Baptized in...	No Entry
Occupation(s)	Thespian, farmer, stationary, attorney, genealogist, bank vice president and president
Died	February 22nd, 1920, aged about 77 years
Died at...	No Entry
Cause of Death	Pernicious Anemeia
Burial Place	Old Cemetery, Kewanee, IL, USA
Disposition	No Entry

Parents

Father	[669]	Charles Cheney Blish, (***) 7
Mother	[669_sa]	Elizabeth Potter (Bonar) Blish 7

Spouses, Mates & Children

Wife #1 [1037_sa] - Mary Eliza (McManus) Blish 8 Married by: No Entry Married at: Chicago, IL, USA Children by this spouse: I [1319] Carrie Elizabeth Blish 9 b. February 7th, 1869 c. May II [1320]+ James Louis Blish 9 b. July 18th, 1871 c. October III [1321] Bertha Belle Blish 9 b. September 19th, 1871 c. December	Image courtesy Sarah R Skinner
Wife #2 [1037_sb] - Amy Mason (Rhodes) Blish 8 Married by: No Entry Married at: Cambridge, county of Henry, IL, USA Children by this spouse: I [1322]+ Elizabeth (Blish) Brookfield 9 b. March 22nd, 1888 c. June II [1323]+ Matthew Rhodes Blish, M.S., E.E. 9 b. April 28th, 1889 c. July III [1324]+ Asa Rhodes Blish, (***) 9 b. June 8th, 1893 c. September

Immediate Family Tree

Gen. 8	Gen. 7	Gen. 6	Gen. 5	Gen. 4
James Knox Blish, (***)	Charles Cheney Blish, (***)	Colonel Sylvester Blish, (***)	Deacon Thomas Blish, (***)	David Blish, (***)
				Zeruiah (Skinner) Blish
			Prudence (Hubbard) Blish	Elizur Hubbard
				Abigail (Hollister) Hubbard
		Rhoda (Cheney) Blish	Timothy Cheney	? Cheney
				? (?) Cheney
			Rhoda (Skinner) Cheney	? Skinner
				? (?) Skinner
	Elizabeth Potter (Bonar) Blish	Matthew Bonar	? Bonar	No Entry
				No Entry
			? (?) Bonar	No Entry
				No Entry
		Catharine (Cosner) Bonar	? Cosner	No Entry
				No Entry
			? (?) Cosner	No Entry
				No Entry

Personalized History Timeline, 1843 to 1920

1829-1851: 2nd Cholera pandemic from before birth until age 8 1830-1860: Underground railroad leads 100,000+ slaves to freedom in US from before birth until age 17 1837-1901: Reign of Queen Victoria (Hanover) from before birth until age 58 1841-1844: John Tyler president of US from before birth until age 1 1844: 1st telegraph line message, Washington to New York at age 1 1845-1848: James K Polk president of US from age 2 to age 5 1845-1849: Irish Potato Famine from age 2 to age 6 1845: Florida enters the union - 27th at age 2 1845: Texas enters the union - 28th at age 2 1846: Iowa enters the union - 29th at age 3 1846-1848: The Mexican-US War from age 3 to age 5 1848: Oregon organized as a territory at age 5 1848: Wisconsin enters the union - 30th at age 5 1848: NY allows women to own real estate at age 5 1848-1856: 1st gold rush in California -- Sutters Mill from age 5 to age 13 1849-1852: Zachary Taylor president of the US from age 6 to age 9 1849: Fizeau measures speed of light at age 6 1850: US pop reaches 23 million at age 7 1850: California enters the union - 31st at age 7 1850: World pop. est. at 1.1 billion at age 7 1850: Utah (included Nevada) organized as a territory at age 7 1850: New Mexico organized as a territory at age 7 1851: Gold rush in Australia at age 8 1852-1859: 3rd Cholera pandemic from age 9 to age 16 1853-1856: Franklin Pierce president of US from age 10 to age 13 1853: Washington (included pt. of Idaho) organized as a territory at age 10 1854: Nebraska organized as a territory at age 11 1854-1856: Crimean War from age 11 to age 13 1854: Kansas organized as a territory at age 11 1857-1860: James Buchanan president of US from age 14 to age 17 1857-1866: Transatlantic cable laid from age 14 to age 23 1857: Dred Scott decision: Blacks could not be US citizens at age 14 1858: India bill transfers government of India to England at age 15 1858: Minnesota enters the union - 32nd at age 15 1859: Oregon enters the union - 33rd at age 16 1859: Oil Well at age 16 1859: Darwin pub. Origin Of Species at age 16 1860: South Carolina Secedes from the Union at age 17 1860: Rifled barrel invented at age 17 1861-1865: Civil War from age 18 to age 22 1861: Colorado organized as a territory at age 18 1861: South Dakota organized as a territory at age 18 1861: Kansas enters the union - 34th at age 18 1861: Gold rush in New Zealand at age 18 1861-1865: Confederate States of America Exist from age 18 to age 22 1861: North Dakota organized as a territory at age 18 1861: The Apache Declare War on the US at age 18 1861-1865: Abraham Lincoln president of US from age 18 to age 22 1861: Transcontinental Telegraph completed at age 18 1861: Nevada organized as a territory at age 18 1862: US Homestead act at age 19 1863: Arizona organized as a territory at age 20 1863: Idaho organized as a territory at age 20 1863-1879: 4th Cholera pandemic from age 20 to age 36 1863: Emancipation Proclamation frees southern slaves at age 20 1863: West Virginia enters the union - 35th at age 20 1863: Battle of Gettysburg at age 20 1864: Louisiana organized as a territory at age 21 1864: Nevada enters the union - 36th at age 21 1865: President Lincoln assassinated at age 22 1865: Lister invents Disinfection at age 22 1865: Ku Klux Klan founded at age 22 1866-1868: Andrew Johnson president of US from age 23 to age 25 1866: Walker, Mitchell 1st elected US black officials (Massachusetts) at age 23 1867: Alaska purchased from Russia at age 24 1867: Dynamite at age 24 1867: Diamonds discovered in South Africa at age 24 1867: Nebraska enters the union - 37th at age 24 1867: Confederation of Canada at age 24 1868-1878: War between Cuba and Spain from age 25 to age 35 1869: Suez canal opened at age 26 1869: Cutty Sark built at age 26 1869: Financial black friday caused by attempt to corner gold at age 26 1869: Trans-continental railroad completed at age 26 1869-1876: Ulysses S Grant president of US from age 26 to age 33 1870: US black men can vote at age 27 1870: 1st black US senator (Hiram Revels) at age 27 1870-1871: Franco-Prussian war from age 27 to age 28 1871: Great Fire destroys Chicago at age 28 1873-1878: Depression, banks fail from age 30 to age 35 1873: Color Photographs at age 30 1876: Telephone (Bell, Latimer) at age 33 1876: Little Big Horn - Battle at age 33 1876: Colorado enters the union - 38th at age 33 1876: American Centennial at age 33 1877: Wax Cylinder Musical Recordings at age 34 1877-1880: Ruthorford B Hayes president of US from age 34 to age 37 1878: 1st commercial telephone exchange in US at age 35 1879: Zulu war at age 36 1879: Electric Light Bulb (Edison) at age 36 1881: James A Garfield president of US at age 38 1881: President Garfield assassinated (dies of med. care) at age 38 1881-1896: 5th Cholera pandemic from age 38 to age 53 1881-1885: Chester Arthur president of US from age 38 to age 42 1884: 1st subway at age 41 1884: Motorcycle at age 41 1885: Automobile at age 42 1885-1888: Grover Cleveland president of US from age 42 to age 45 1886: Induction Telegraph (Grandville T. Woods) at age 43 1887: X-Rays (Tesla, not Rontgen!) at age 44 1888: Great Blizzard of 1888 - 400+ deaths at age 45 1888: 70...77 rpm musical records at age 45 1889: Washington enters the union - 42nd at age 46 1889: North Dakota enters the union - 39th at age 46 1889-1892: Benjamin Harrison president of US from age 46 to age 49 1889: South Dakota enters the union - 40th at age 46 1889: Montana enters the union - 41st at age 46 1889: Holerith invents the punch card at age 46 1890: Wyoming enters the union - 44th at age 47 1890: Idaho enters the union - 43rd at age 47 1890: Oklahoma organized as a territory at age 47 1890: Battle of Wounded Knee at age 47 1891: Mormon prophesy of 'coming of lord' by 1891 unfulfilled at age 48 1893: Nikola Tesla invents Radio (not Marconi!) at age 50 1893: Movies at age 50 1893: New Zealand is 1st to grant women right to vote at age 50 1893-1897: US Financial panic, depression from age 50 to age 54 1893-1896: Grover Cleveland president of US from age 50 to age 53 1894-1895: Chinese-Japanese war (1) from age 51 to age 52 1894: Plague in Hong Kong and China - 1 million die at age 51 1896: Supreme court approves separate but equal segregation at age 53 1896: Utah enters the union - 45th at age 53 1897-1901: William McKinley president of US from age 54 to age 58 1898: Spanish American 1-year war at age 55 1899-1902: Boer war from age 56 to age 59 1899-1923: 6th Cholera pandemic from age 56 until after line end 1900: Hawaii organized as a territory at age 57 1900: Galveston Hurricane - 8,000 killed at age 57 1900: Boxer rebellion in China at age 57 1901: First British submarine launched at age 58 1901: Max Planck formulates the Laws of Radiation at age 58 1901: US President William McKinley assassinated at age 58 1901: Oil discovered in Texas in significant amounts at age 58 1901: Third law of thermodynamics postulated (W. H. Nernst) at age 58 1901: Commonwealth of Australia founded at age 58 1901-1910: Reign of King Edward VII (Saxe-Coburg) from age 58 to age 67 1901-1908: Theodore Roosevelt president of US from age 58 to age 65 1903: Nikola Tesla patents logic gates at age 60 1903: Airplane at age 60 1904: Radar at age 61 1904-1905: Russian-Japanese war from age 61 to age 62 1907: Plastic at age 64 1907: Oklahoma enters the union - 46th at age 64 1908: Tunguska atmospheric object explosion at age 65 1909: Union of South Africa formed at age 66 1909-1912: William Howard Taft president of US from age 66 to age 69 1909: North pole reached by Matthew Henson of Robert Peary's exp. at age 66 1910: Halley's Comet at age 67 1910-1936: Reign of King George V (Windsor) from age 67 until after line end 1910: Japan annexes Korea at age 67 1911: South pole reached by Roald Amundsen at age 68 1912: Alaska organized as a territory at age 69 1912: Titanic sinks at age 69 1912: New Mexico enters the union - 47th at age 69 1912: Arizona enters the union - 48th at age 69 1913-1920: Woodrow Wilson president of US from age 70 to age 77 1914: The Bra at age 71 1914-1919: World War I from age 71 to age 76 1915: Einstein's Theory of Relativity at age 72 1916: Irish Easter Rebellion at age 73 1916: Sonar at age 73 1917: US enters WWI at age 74 1917: Russian revolution at age 74 1918-1920: Flu epidemic - 25 million plus die from age 75 to age 77 1918-1933: Prohibition from age 75 until after line end 1919: Shortwave Radio at age 76 1919: League of Nations instantiated at age 76 1920-1929: Roaring 20's from age 77 until after line end 1920: Palestine established at age 77 1920: Women receive right to vote in USA at age 77

Schooling

Institution: Local Schools Location: Wethersfield, Illinois, USA Curriculum: Degree: Institution: Ann Arbor High School Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Curriculum: Degree: Institution: University of Michigan Location: Michigan, USA Curriculum: Degree: B.A. Institution: University of Michigan Location: Michigan, USA Curriculum: Degree: M.A.

Additional Information

James Knox Blish spent his boyhood on his father's farm in Weathersfield, attending the local schools. He was one year in the Ann Arbor, Michigan High School, and in 1862 entered the university of Michigan, graduating in 1866 with the degree of M. A. from the same institution. After leaving college, having a natural aptitude for theatricals, he spent one year at Leavenworth, Kansas, in the opera house, which was sufficient to convince him that it was not the life he wished to follow, and he returned to Wethersfield, was married and engaged in farming for two years. He then went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and engaged in the blank book and stationary business for two years, and later followed the same business in Chicago, until after the great fire of 1871, when he returned to Kewanee, Illinois, and entered the office of Judge John H. Howe and began the study of law. Judge Howe, a year later, was appointed by President Grant as Chief Justice of the Territory of Wyoming and left Keewanee, and Mr. Blish's studies were completed with Honorable Levi North, a former law partner of Judge Howe's. While pursuing his law course he was elected Justice of the Peace and was the youngest man who ever filled the position in Kewanee. In 1873, he was admitted to practice law, on examination before the Judges of the Supreme Court of Illinois, at Springfield, among whom was the venerable Sidney Breese. He at once opened a law office in Kewanee, and has since followed that profession. He has taken an active interest in the institutions of his city, having been one of the organizers, and for ten years one of the directors of the Kewanee Public Library, Supervisor for four years, and one of the building committee which supervised the erection of the Henry County Court House; member of the Board of Education of Kewanee for eighteen years; one of the organizers and for twelve years President of the Kewanee fair association; organizer of the Kewanee Building & Loan association, which has had twenty-two years successful existence; member of the city council, and other local offices. He was for two years Vice-President of the First National Bank of Kewanee, and has been for ten years last past its President. In 1902 he was elected as Minority Representative to the general assembly of Illinois, for the thirty-seventh district, composed of Bureau, Henry and Stark counties.