Documenting the American South

Monument Name

Isham Blake, Fayetteville

Type

Marker

Subjects

Revolutionary War, 1775-1783

City

Fayetteville

County

Cumberland

Description

The marker is a small unadorned bronze square with a dark background. It is attached to a slightly larger but irregular shaped flat stone. The Fayetteville Lafayette Society logo, Lafayette’s profile facing right with 13 stars behind the head, is at the bottom left.

Inscription

ISHAM BLAKE / ISHAM BLAKE SERVED AS A MUSICIAN IN THE CONTINENTAL ARMY DURING THE / AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR. HE ALSO SERVED AS ONE OF GENERAL / LAFAYETTE’S BODYGUARDS AT THE SEIGE OF YORKTOWN IN 1781. THE SIEGE / OF YORKTOWN WAS AN AMERICAN VICTORY BY THE COMBINED ASSAULT OF AMERICAN / AND FRENCH FORCES LED BY GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON, MARQUIS DE / LAFAYETTE AND FRENCH GENERAL COMTE DE ROCHAMBEAU OVER A BRITISH / ARMY COMMANDED BY GENERAL LORD CORNWALLIS. THE SURRENDER OF / CORNWALLIS’S ARMY CAUSED THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT TO NEGOTIATE AN END TO / THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR. AFTER THE WAR BLAKE BECAME A / PRODUCTIVE AND RESPECTED CITIZEN OF FAYETTEVILLE. ON THE MORNING OF / MARCH 5, 1825, LAFAYETTE RECEIVED A VISIT FROM HIS FORMER BODYGUARD / ISHAM BLAKE. THE MARCH 10, 1825 EDITION OF THE CAROLINA OBSERVER / NEWSPAPER WROTE OF THIS REUNION, “THE SCENE WHICH TOOL PLACE IS SAID TO / HAVE BEEN AFFECTING IN THE EXTREME, FORBIDDING ALL ATTEMPTS AT / DESCRIPTION.” ISHAM BLAKE IS BURIED AT THIS SITE. / PLACED BY THE FAYETTEVILLE LAFAYETTE SOCIETY / IN COMMEMORATION OF LAFAYETTE’S 250TH BIRTHDAY / 1757-2007

Custodian

City of Fayetteville

Dedication Date

March 3, 2007

Decade

2000s

Geographic Coordinates

35.053620 , -78.873890 View in Geobrowse

Supporting Sources

Small, Wendell, Jr. “One Hundred Years of the Presence of Members of the Sons of the American Revolution in Fayetteville and Fort Bragg NC (1912-2016),” Le Marquis De Chapter North Carolina Society Sons Of The American Revolution (SAR), (accessed March 1, 2020)

“Isham Blake, Sr.,” Find A Grave, findagrave.com, (accessed March 1, 2020) Link

“Stop 11: Grave of Isham Blake,” Visit Fayetteville, visitfayettevillenc.com, (accessed March 1, 2020) Link

Public Site

Yes

Materials & Techniques

Bronze, stone

Sponsors

Fayetteville Lafayette Society

Location

The marker is at a low brick wall in Cross Creek Cemetery #1 across N. Cool Springs St. from Evans A.M.E. Zion Church. The church address is 301 N. Cool Springs St., Fayetteville, NC. Isham Blake’s grave site is nearby but marked by its own headstone.