John Blake

John Young Filmore Blake (October 6, 1856 – January 24, 1907), also known as John Y.F. Blake and J.Y.F. Blake was an Irish-American soldier and writer. Blake served as a foreign volunteer for the Boers of the South African Republic during the Second Boer War.

Early life After his birth in 1856, Blake's family soon moved to Denton County, Texas. There he grew up cattle ranching and learned to ride horses. His father sent him to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1871. Resigning from the military in 1889, Blake moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan to become a businessman, as his wife and family wanted him to settle down. After about five years he soon found out that "'the tricks of the trade', were too deep for me" He returned to the United States after the war to a hero's welcome and toured on the lecture circuit. He subsequently published a memoir of his experience during the war, A West Pointer With The Boers.

Family John's mother Sinclair T. Chitty married his father Thomas Kincaid Blake Jr. at the age of 15. In 1885 John married Katherine Euphrasia Aldrich in Grand Rapids while still in the service. Together they lived in the officers' quarters at Fort Leavenworth, where John's first son Aldrich Blake was born on November 6, 1885. In 1888 Katherine, being pregnant with John's second son, persuaded him to resign from the military and return to Grand Rapids. He agreed, and on September 19, 1889, Ledyard Blake was born.

Death Blake was found dead in his home in Harlem, New York City of gas asphyxiation on January 24, 1907. He had previously been tending a sick friend for three days. Some sources said the death was accidental, while others called it suicide. He is buried at West Point, New York.