The 1905 Iowa State Census shows Chas. Blake is living in Jefferson, Greene Co., IA. Also living there is Charles W. Blake.

The  Jefferson Bee, Jefferson, Iowa, March 17, 1953

Jefferson friends just recently learned of the death of James Blake on the 20th of February in San Diego, Calif. He was born in Bedford, Pa. and came to Jefferson with his parents when a small child. His burial took place at Rose Hill Memorial Park, Whittier, Calif., Feb. 24th. He is survived by a son and daughter and his wife.

Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, Los Angeles Co., CA, said there is a James H. Blake died February 20, 1953, and interred February 25, 1953 (age 77).

The  Jefferson Bee, Jefferson, Iowa; June 5, 1956

Diary of a Housewife, by Mary Kay Kidder

Story of Jefferson Hotels Recounted

Brick Mansion House

What has always been considered the first brick building in Jefferson is the Mansion house. This place did a good business, and in 1871 was kept by Charles T. Blake, as it was later in 1876. It was a brick two-story structure measuring 30 by 40 feet, with a kitchen and dining room in the basement. It had 18 rooms, and Mr. Blake had been a resident here for three years.

It is still a downtown landmark, located on the south side of Lincolnway in the 100 block between Wilson avenue and Vine, and identified by a placque. It is next door to Sliningers and is operated by the Peters family as a rooming and apartment house.

Next Called "Commercial"

In April of 1882 the Mansion house was under new management of J. W. Grogan & Co. and then was called the Commercial House. They advertised a free bus to and from all trains.

The  Jefferson Bee, Jefferson, Iowa; Tuesday, November 15, 1960

Diary of a Housewife, by Mary Kay Kidder

If you walk east along the south side of Lincolnway, past the Slininger Funeral Home, the next building you pass will be a concrete-covered on which stands unobtrusively between Slininger's and the Maid-Rite Cafe.

If you take a second look at this building, you will note a bronze placque on it which tells that it is the "Mansion House, erected in 1869 by Mr. and Mrs. Charles T. Blake, the first brick building erected in Greene County."

If you go inside the building down into the basement, you'll see on one wall the outlines of a huge fireplace - now covered over with blown concrete. And, if you talk to someone who knows the history of the building, you'll learn that several big windows been plastered over with concrete to form the solid basement walls of today - windows that used to look out on the street (now Lincolnway) back in the days when the building was a thriving hotel and the basement was the ground floor, where the dining room was located.

Some folks say there used to be a sort of deck up on the roof of the building where dances were held. The bronze tablet on the building was the gift of the late W. F. Mahaney, grandson of the pioneer couple who built the building. The tablet was dedicated in ceremonies sponsored by the local DAR Chapter in 1937. At that time a brief history of the building was related by the late E. B. Wilson.

"Charles T. Blake and his wife," Mr. Wilson said, "had come west into a new prairie country, and located at the town then known as New Jefferson. It was a prairie town. There were no trees. Mrs. Blake mourned for her home among the tree-covered hills of Pennsylvania.

"Therefore, her husband, like all husbands ought to try to do, sought to console his wife to some extent by building for her home, in 1869, a brick house which was an exact duplicate of their home at Bloody Run, Pa., built right up to the street with the garden in the rear, as was the English way carried into the colonies many years before.

"Thus was built in 1869 the first brick building in Greene County. The bricks were hand made in a brickyard not far from the present Jefferson Country Club grounds. The timbers were all hand-hewn and the house was a three-story structure, the basement windows looking out on the street and steps leading up to the front door, with a fireplace in the basement. This frontal appearance was changed by raising the sidewalk level when the Slininger building was erected.

"Mr. Blake was an expert tinner by trade and carried on a hardware store about where the Aldera store now is located. (Crowley's now) When he quit the store business he and his good wife opened this brick building as a hotel, known as the Mansion House, and for many years it was the leading hotel in the town.

"Here in those early days many travelers were well fed and made comfortable. One of the familiar sights in those days was Mr. Blake in his old one-horse top buggy, meeting the trains."

There are some folks who still remember the old building when it was a hotel. Clyde Shannon says he first came to Jefferson in 1883, when he was nine years old. "It was a going hotel," Shannon says. He also remembers Mr. Blake and his horse, whose name, Shannon says, was "Joe." And he recalls seeing Mr. Blake and Joe working in their market garden where the north half of Russell Park now is - and later on in a big garden along Grimmell Road, north of where the hospital now stands.

Both Charles T. Blake and his wife, Sarah, died in 1904 - Mrs. Blake in July and Mr. Blake in November. After that the property changed several times. It was purchased by Mahanay in 1920.

No one seems to remember for certain just when the building ceased to be a hotel. And there seems to be some confusion about the name of that hotel too. When the bronze tablet was dedicated, it seemed to agree that "Mansion House" was the name. However, many folks remember it as "Blake House." And in an item in The Bee in April of 1923, in the obituary of Charles W. Blake, youngest child of the pioneer couple, we read: "He was born in the Blake House, now known as the Lincoln House, which was the first brick building in this city."

But, there is no disagreement over the fact that this was a "going" hotel in the late 1880's. We have a letter written by the daughter of Mrs. Will Higgins, telling of the time Will Higgins' father and family stopped at the hotel in 1882. The letter reads: "William Higgins and his family came by train to Jefferson with some livestock, and on arriving they could find no place to spend the night. They went to the Blake Hotel where the entire family was accommodated. There were Mr. and Mrs. William Higgins and their two grown sons, Will and Mike, and their grandson, Wiull Winey; also a married son Jack Higgins and family. They had a good night's rest.

"The Blake Hotel would accommodate students until they could find a home. The Blakes helped these students financially, too.

"The cattle were pastured and fed at the hotel."

In 1923, Greene County's first brick building passed into another phase. It was used as a hospital. Dr. J. M. Jackson had a hospital there, and the late Dr. L. C. Hanson came in with him in 1932. The building was used as a hospital until 1936, when the doctors moved into the newly-constructed clinic building.

In January of 1930, a letter from the late E. M. Troxell appeared in The Herald. Mr. Troxell had just observed his 90th birthday. He wrote, "I came to Jefferson 62 years ago. The next year the first brick house was built and I helped build it...This house stands there now. It was the Charley Blake house, and now it is used for a hospital."

The most recent phase of the old building's history began in 1944 when James O. Peters purchased it from Mahanay. At that time, it was operated an an apartment house, and still is.

Somewhere along the way, a two-story building was constructed behind the original building. And, the two were joined together. The Peters' living room and kitchen are now in the section between the two buildings.

There are now three apartments and four single rooms in the building. But, as you study the original building, you can see a 12-room hotel there with an inviting dining room downstairs - a fire blazing in the big fireplace - and big windows through which you might watch horse-drawn vehicles go by.