Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Blake, Thomas Holdsworth

BLAKE, Thomas Holdsworth, politician, b. in Calvert co., Md., 14 June, 1792; d. in Cincinnati, Ohio, 28 Nov., 1849. He received a common-school education, and then studied law in Washington, D.C. In 1814 he served in the militia of the District of Columbia, and was present at the battle of Bladensburg. Subsequently he removed to Kentucky, and thence to Indiana, where he began the practice of law at Terre Haute, becoming prosecuting attorney and judge of the circuit courts. He then relinquished his profession and was engaged in business for several years, and also for some time a member of the Indiana legislature. In 1827 he was elected to congress as an Adams republican, but he was defeated as a candidate for reëlection. From May, 1842, till April, 1845, he was commissioner of the general land office, having received the appointment to that position from President Tyler. Later he was appointed president of the Wabash and Erie canal company, and also sent to Europe as the financial agent of the state of Indiana, where he made satisfactory arrangements with its public creditors.