George W Blake
Book 2 page 165A Marriage Licenses Holt County Court House
Geo W Blake age 28, born Iowa, parents J Blake and Lucinda Wheeler
Mary O Beeber age 19, born Ohio, parents Geo Beeber and Webster
Married April 29, 1886 Residence of A W Beeber by Hiram Beebe, Justice of Peace. Witnesses Hannah A Beebe and E O Blake

Jan 11,1894 Atkinson Graphic George Blake, who has the contract for building the cold storage house for the Krug Brewery Co of Omaha, worked 6 � hours last Monday, the coldest day of the season as yet. Assisted by Jacob Hahn, Fred VanFleet, Al Cook and William Gallaher.

July 15,1938 Atkinson Graphic
GEO BLAKE SERIOUSLY ILL FOLLOWING STROKE
Pioneer Atkinson Resident, Age 81, Survives Attack But is In Critical Condition
   George W Blake, veteran city engineer and one of Atkinson's pioneer residents suffered a heart attack at his home Thursday afternoon last week. Although he survived the attack, he has been in semi conscious condition since then and his illness is quite serious.
   Mr Blake is 81 years of age, He came to Atkinson in 1883 and for half a century was engaged in the carpenter trade here. He retired a few years ago on account of failing health. He had been ill for some weeks before he suffered the stroke.

Atkinson Graphic June 9,1939
DEATH TAKES GEORGE BLAKE, LOCAL PIONEER
Life Ebbs Out During Long Period of Ill Health; Funeral Will Be Sunday at 2:30 P.M.

   Death ended the useful and public-spirited career of one of Atkinson�s oldest pioneer citizens shortly before noon Thursday, June 8, 2h3n George W Blake slipped quietly away at his home in the north part of town. He was past 81 years of age and had lived in Atkinson for 56 years.
   Mr Blake had been in declining health for the past few years. In July, 1938, he suffered a severe stroke and his illness, at that time was serious.
   Funeral services will be held Sunday afternoon with rites at the Methodist Church at 2:30 o�clock conducted by the Rev John H Bishop. Burial will be in Woodlawn cemetery.
   Mr Blake was born December 23, 1857, at Palmyra, Iowa, and died at the age of 81 years, 5 months and 16 days. He came to Atkinson in 1883 and took a homestead northwest of town, but relinquished it because he did not like farming, and moved to town the following year.
   He was one of the first carpenters to locate in the village and before many years had passed he had established himself as one of the community�s leading master carpenters and builders. About the first job he had here was building the frames for the structure now occupied by the Vaughn grocery store. It was erected in 1883 as the home the Crossman and Sturdevant mercantile firm.
   Mr Blake also helped build St Joseph�s Catholic Church, and it is safe to say that he probably built or helped build a majority of the houses and buildings that are in Atkinson today. In the early days, however, most of his time was spent in building claim shacks for the homesteaders who came west to take free land. Nearly every quarter section in this vicinity was occupied in those days.
   On April 29,1886, Miss Mary O Beebe of Atkinson became his bride. She came here from Ohio the preceding year. The wedding ceremony was performed in a little sod claim shanty 14 miles northwest of Atkinson, the home of the bride�s brother, Delph Beebe. They immediately made their home in Atkinson. Three years ago they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary.
   This bride of 53 years ago survives him and with her their five children, Harry Blake of Great Falls, Montana; George Walter Blake of Plainview; Mrs Olive Skrdla and Miss Bessie Blake of Atkinson, and Mrs Ruth Wearne of Bloomfield. His death is also mourned by nine grandchildren, Ruth and William Blake of Great Falls, Montana; Richard, Walter, Mary, Bruce, and Paul Wearne of Bloomfield, Blake Skrdla of Atkinson, and John Edward Blake of Plainview.
   On account of his advancing age, Mr Blake retired several years ago from construction work. Until about a year ago, however, he continued to work at small jobs in his carpenter shop just north of his home.
   During more than fifty years of activity in this community, Mr Blake was recognized as a public spirited citizen who took great interest in the progress of Atkinson and vicinity. He served for a great many years as Atkinson�s city engineer, took active interest in political affairs of the community, and for a long time was a member of the Atkinson band.

Atkinson Graphic June 16,1939
RITES HELD AT M E CHURCH FOR PIONEER
Large Congregation Pays Last Respects to Geo W Blake, Resident Here 56 Years.

   A large gathering of friends and neighbors paid their last respects to a pioneer citizen of Atkinson last Sunday afternoon when rites for the late George W Blake were held at the Methodist Church, the Rev. John H Bishop, officiating. Mr Blake died at his home in Atkinson, Thursday, June 8, at the age of 81 years. He had lived here 56 years.    Burial was in Woodlawn cemetery. The pallbearers were H E Pelcer, W F Werner, Dan O�Connell, H J Heuton, John Silverstrand, and E V Hickok.
   Mr Blake served for a great many years as Atkinson�s city engineer. He had also served on the board of education and the village board, and was a city councilman after Atkinson was incorporated as a city. For many years he was a snare drummer in the Atkinson band.
   Surviving are his wife, Mary O Blake, five children, Harry of Great Falls, Montana; George Walter of Plainview; Mrs Olive Skrdla and Miss Bessie Blake of Atkinson and Mrs Ruthe Wearne of Bloomfield. Nine grandchildren, Ruth and William Blake of Great Falls, Montana; Richard, Walter, Mary, Bruce, and Paul Wearne of Bloomfield. Blake Skrdla of Atkinson and John Edward Blake of Plainview. Two sisters, six half brothers, and many other relatives.

Mary O Blake
Nov 4,1955 Atkinson Graphic
RITES HELD HERE FOR MRS BLAKE 89

   Funeral services were held in Atkinson Monday afternoon for Mrs George W Blake who was one of this community�s oldest pioneers. She came to Atkinson 71 years ago.
   Mrs Blake died at 4:30 o�clock Friday afternoon, October 28, at the Lumberg Memorial Hospital in Creighton. Her 89th birthday was on October 12. She enjoyed good health until last July, and early in September was taken to the hospital in Creighton. For some time previous to that, she lived at a nursing home in Coleridge.
   Services were held at the Atkinson Methodist Church, the Rev E G Hughes officiating. Hymns were sung by Mrs Lane Griffin and Mrs Richard Braun, accompanied by Mrs William Schorn at the organ.
   Burial was in Woodlawn Cemetery. The pallbearers were E V Hickok, Albert Lemmer, W S Linville, Lewis V Humphrey, C C Raymer, and R J Kelly.
   Mary Olive Beebe was born October 12, 1866 at Marietta, Ohio. She was the youngest of nine children born to George and Sarah Webster Beebe.
   After receiving her college education in Marietta, she came to Atkinson in 1884 to visit her two brothers, Adelphia and Watson Beebe, who had settled on homesteads near here. While here, she met George W Blake, and they were married on April 29,1886.
   They spent one year on their homestead which was on Sandy Creek, northwest of Atkinson, then moved to Atkinson, where Mr Blake worked at the carpenter trade the remainder of his life. They lived in the apartment over what is now the Graphic Office while Mr Blake built a home into which they moved just before the great blizzard of 1888.
   Mrs Blake was a life long member of the Methodist Church and she served as a steward of the Atkinson Church for many years. She was a charter member of the Avon Shakespeare Club.
   Being a pioneer when sod houses were built for homestead shanties, Mrs Blake had the distinction of being one of the last pioneers to be married in a soddy.
   She is survived by four children; W H (Harry) Blake, Great Falls, Montana; George W Blake, Plainview; Mrs Dewey B (Ruth) Wearne, Bloomfield; and Mrs Frank E (Olive) Skrdla, Atkinson. Nine grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren.
   She was preceded in death by her husband, June 8,1939, and by one daughter, Bessie, in 1941.

Bessie May Blake
May 2, 1941 Atkinson Graphic
Bessie Blake Taken After Long Illness
Death Releases Atkinson Woman From Suffering: Rites Held at Methodist Church.

   Miss Bessie Blake, 50, life long resident of Atkinson, died at her home here Monday morning. Long before the end came, she and her relatives and friends, knew that death soon would call to reliever her of pain and long suffering, for her condition had been critical for many weeks, following a period of declining health extending back many years.
   Miss Blake was born here, was a graduate of Atkinson High School and taught school in rural districts near here, and the second grade in the Atkinson schools. For nearly ten years she served as clerk in the Atkinson post office, nine years under former Postmaster E V Hickok, and for a time under Postmaster A G Miller. Since retiring from that position in 1935 her health had been gradually declining. She suffered with rheumatic fever.
   Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 with rites at the Methodist Church conducted by the Rev Glenn C Fry, local pastor. Hymns were sung by a quartet composed of Mrs R J Kelly, Mrs Chas Humpal, Merritt Warren and Neal McKee, with Mrs John H Bishop at the piano.
   Burial was in Woodlawn cemetery. The pall bearers were A G Miller, Eugene V Hickok, Van Humphrey, Lewis Humphrey and L E McDowell, with whom she was associated in the local post office, and H A Tower.

Obituary:

Bessie Mae Blake, daughter of George W and Mary Blake, was born July 7, 1890 in Atkinson, and died at her home here on April 28,1941, at the age of 50 years, 8 months and 21 days.    She then returned to Atkinson where she taught the second grade, and later she taught in the public school systems of Stanton, Omaha, Great Falls, Montana, and Salt Lake City, Utah. It was while teaching in the latter city that in 1921 her health failed and she came home. She was bedfast most of the time for the following three years, but recovered sufficiently to return to work in 1925, when she entered the post office as a clerk.
   In 1916, Miss Blake united with the Atkinson Methodist Church. She transferred her membership to Stanton, and then to the churches of other cities in which she lived and taught school. This attitude of concern for the interests and people of the community about her had characterized her whole life. Though physically limited, she was always eager to find a place of service and usefulness to her home, her community and her God. Her patience in suffering may be an example to many who are called upon to endure much less than she.
   Relatives who survive are her mother, two brothers, Harry of Great Falls, Montana, and George W of Plainview, Nebraska two sisters, Mrs Ruth Wearne of Bloomfield and Mrs Olive Skrdla of Atkinson; two nieces and seven nephews. Many friends and neighbors of this community also mourn her death, but rejoice that they have had the privilege of counting her as a friend.