View source for Henry Blake (lighthouse keeper)

{{One source|date=January 2021}}
'''Henry H. Blake''' (1837–1871) was the first [[New Dungeness Lighthouse]] [[lighthouse keeper| keeper]].<ref>
{{cite news
| url         = http://www.uscg.mil/d13/dep/news/feature_stories/lighthouse_keeper_henry_blake_bio.htm
| title       = Lighthouse Keeper Henry Blake: (1837-1871)
| publisher   = [[United States Coast Guard]]
| accessdate  = 2013-01-14
| archivedate = 2013-02-19
| archiveurl  = https://archive.today/20130219042341/http://www.uscg.mil/d13/dep/news/feature_stories/lighthouse_keeper_henry_blake_bio.htm
| url-status = dead
| quote       = On 1 March 1858, Henry Blake, of England, became the first New Dungeness Lighthouse keeper. 
}}  
</ref> 
Blake began his term after the [[New Dungeness Lighthouse]] was first lighted on December 14, 1857. Blake overcame the loneliness and dreariness associated with the profession of [[lighthouse keeper|lighthouse keeping]], serving for over a decade as the [[New Dungeness Lighthouse|New Dungeness light's]] only attendant. He steadfastly kept the [[Kerosene lamp|kerosene lantern]] lighted each night, and tolled the [[Foghorn|large bell]] constantly when fog rolled in to warn mariners away from the [[Spit (landform)|spit]]. In 1862 he married Mary Ann McDonnell. Blake is considered to be one of the first and best examples of commitment to mariners' safety.

A little known fact about Blake is how in 1868 he took in and cared for a pregnant Native American woman of the [[Tsimshian people|Tsimshian tribe]] after she and a group of her fellow tribesmen were ambushed by members of the [[Klallam|Clallam tribe]]. Upon demands by the [[Klallam|Clallam]] attackers to give up the pregnant woman, Blake refused. Later the [[Klallam|Clallam]] attackers were punished, and the [[Tsimshian people|Tsimshian]] woman went home. It is said that in 1902 a Native American man came back to the lighthouse, paying his respects after explaining he was the baby inside the woman that night.  

Blake and Mary Ann McDonnell had five children: Catherine, Richard, Clara, Mary and Hannah. The first three were born in the lighthouse. 

A [[USCG coastal buoy tender]] WLM-563 based in [[Everett, Washington]] is named after him. The [[USCGC Henry Blake (WLM-563)]] honors his commitment to mariner safety in its name and motto, "The Keeper of Tradition."

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.uscg.mil/d13/cgchenryblake/namesake.asp USCG Henry Blake]
*[http://www.newdungenesslighthouse.com/history.html New Dungeness Light House] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615120711/http://www.newdungenesslighthouse.com/history.html |date=2013-06-15 }}
*[http://www.uscg.mil/d13/dep/news/feature_stories/lighthouse_keeper_henry_blake_bio.htm USCG Henry Blake Bio]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929095456/http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/CoastGuard/USCGCHenryBlake.htm Cutter Coat of Arms]
*[https://www.pbs.org/legendarylighthouses/html/pnwgs.html Blake's Rescue of the Tsimshian Tribe]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Henry}}
[[Category:1837 births]]
[[Category:1871 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Clallam County, Washington]]
[[Category:United States Lighthouse Service personnel]]

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