William Bradbury "Bill" Blake and Lena Lee (Edwards) Blake are buried in Riverview Cemetery, Ronceverte, Greenbrier Co., WV. Thanks to Find-A-Grave for making these images available.

   

The Greenbrier Valley Press Association 1905 - 1906. Picture courtesy of Jane Price Sharp.

The West Virginia News, Charleston, WV, November, 1909

BLAKE - EDWARDS

Nuptial Ceremonies of Interest to West Virginia Editors.

William B. Blake, Jr. of Ronceverte, W. Va. was married on Nov. 16 to Miss Lena Lee Edwards. The groom is a son of William B. Blake, editor and publisher of the West Virginia News, one of the best known papers in the state. He is a member of the firm owning the paper and is active in conducting it. The bride is a daughter of J. F. Edwards, a real estate dealer of St. Louis. The marriage was performed at Ronceverte in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, by the Rev. William H. Best. Mr. and Mrs. Blake have now returned from a wedding tour in the north.

   

The WWI Draft Registration taken on September 12, 1918, shows William Bradbury Blake, age 35, born August 14, 1883, is an Editor/Publisher, and is living in Ronceverte, Greenbrier Co., WV. His nearest relative is his wife, Mrs. Lena E. Blake, of Ronceverte, Greenbrier Co., WV.

William Bradbury "Bill" Blake as a young man. Picture courtesy of Brian Edward Blake.

Lena Lee (Edwards) Blake.

Norman Bradbury Blake and Virginia Lee Butler Marriage Record.

   

The WWII Draft Registration taken on April 27, 1942, shows William Bradbury Blake, age 58, born August 14, 1883, in Dayton, VA, is an Editor of the Ronceverte W. Va., News, and is living in Ronceverte, WV. The person who will always know his address is Mrs. Lena Blake, of Ronceverte, WV.

Lena Lee (Edwards) Blake Death Certificate.

Charleston Daily Mail, Charleston, WV, Tuesday, April 6, 1943

Mrs. Lena Blake Dies in Ronceverte

RONCEVERTE - Funeral services will be held Wednesday for Mrs. Lena Edwards Blake, wife of W. B. Blake, Jr., editor of the West Virginia News, who died at her home in Ronceverte Monday after an illness of two and a half years. Mrs. Blake was born in Belton, Tex., the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Joseph F. Edwards. Besides her husband, she is survived by three sons and a daughter, Lieut. William Blake, with the U. S. army in Australia; Norma F. Blake, candidate in the army officers' training regiment at Camp Hood, Tex.; Robert L. Blake, student at Virginia Polytechnic institute, Blacksburg, Va., and Mrs. J. William Lee of Ronceverte, wife of Ensign Lee, U. S. navy. She also leaves a sister, Mrs. C. P. Brandt of Dallas, Tex.

Charleston Daily Mail, Charleston, WV,

Death's Harvest..

MRS. WM. B. BLAKE JR.

Mrs. Lena Edwards Blake, wife of William B. Blake, Jr., editor of THE WEST VIRGINIA NEWS, passed away at her home in Ronceverte Monday afternoon, April 5, 1943, shortly after 3 o'clock, following an illness of about two and a half years, and a critical illness of ten days. Mrs. Blake before her marriage in 1909, was Miss Lena Edwards, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Joseph F. Edwards of Belton, Texas. Surviving are her husband and four children: Lieut. William Blake III, now in in Australia with the U. S. Army; O/C Norman B. Blake, member of the 10th Company Officer Candidate Regiment, Tank Destroyer Corps, at Camp Hood, Texas; Robert Lee Blake, late student-flyer of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, awaiting assignment in the Navy Air Forces, and Mrs. J. William Lee, wife of Ensign J. W. Lee of the U. S. Navy, and a grandson, Joseph William Lee. One sister survives, Mrs. G. P. Brandt of Dallas, Texas, who attended the deceased in her last illness. Funeral services were conducted at the home Wednesday afternoon at 3 o'clock, conducted by the Rev. W. Carroll Thorn, rector of the Church if the Incarnation, assisted by the Rev. Ben Roller, of St. Thomas' Church, White Sulphur Springs. Burial was i Riverview Cemetery of this city. Pallbearers were Horace L. Goodman Jr., Jackson K. Martin, Warren Graves, William Boone, Guy B. Montgomery, Paul M. Scott, Paul C. Hogsett, and D. Spurgeon MacQueen.

History of Greenbrier County, J. R. Cole, Lewisburg, WV, 1917, pages 341-343

WILLIAM B. BLAKE, JR.

William B. Blake, Jr., was born at Dayton, Rockingham county, Virginia, August 14, 1883. He is a grandson of the late Burdine Blake, of London, Madison county, Ohio, who was a gunsmith by trade and who served in the Civil war in the 154th Ohio Infantry on the Federal side. For many years following the war he was a resident of London, Ohio, but died about eight years ago at Mountain Grove, Mo., at the age of 84 years. His wife was Miss Mary Ellen Murray, who bore him three sons: James F., William B. and Daniel F. 

William B. Blake, Sr., was born January 21, 1852, in London, Ohio; went to Virginia in the early 1870s and became connected with the music publishing house of the Ruebush-Kieffer Company, and remaining with this firm until 1889, when he moved to Ronceverte. He married Miss Alice Mary Horne, of Augusta county, Virginia, a daughter of Strother P. and Sarah Horne. (Strother P. Horne was a Confederate soldier throughout the Civil war.) To this union were born seven children: Charles Stanley Blake, Bessie Mabel, William B,. Jr., Henry St. John, Robert Russell, Mary Ellen and Edward Lester. At Ronceverte, Mr. Blake, Sr., associated himself in partnership with J. W. Hess in the publication of the Ronceverte News, a newly-established paper in the new lumber town, buying out the interest of Richard Burke, who had been a prominent figure in West Virginia journalism for a number of years. Burke had been the publisher of a vigorous newspaper at Union, Monroe county. About the year 1891, Mr. Blake bought out the interest of Mr. Hess and became the sole proprietor of the enterprise, changing the name of the paper to the Valley Messenger and News. This publication continued until April 21, 1901. Several years prior to this, in December, 1897, The West Virginia News had been established with Mr. Blake as publisher, and from one newspaper plant two newspapers were issued until April 21, 1901, when the latter publication, which covered a more extensive field, absorbed the Valley Messenger. This consolidation brought to the newer paper the good will of the older and the growth of the West Virginia News has been steady and continuous to this day. At the present time and for a number of years the News has enjoyed a larger circulation than any other weekly newspaper published in the State. 

The connection of William B. Blake, Jr., with the publication business established by his father began in early youth, he being active in its affairs from the age of fourteen. On January 1, 1905, the joint partnership of William B. Blake & Son was formed for the ownership, editorial and business management of the paper. This firm continues. The News has its home in its own building, a modern three-story brick and stone structure, virtually fire-proof, erected in 1909, and its plant equipment is modern in every way. 

On November 16, 1909, Mr. Blake, Jr., married Miss Lena Lee Edwards, then of St. Louis, Mo., but a native of Belton, Tex., and a daughter of Joseph F. Edwards, of Texas. To this union came three children: William III, Norman Bradbury and Marjorie Alice.

William Edwards Blake and Mary Katherine Buster Marriage Record.

The Pocahontas Times, Marlinton, WV, December 12, 1998

Norman B. Blake

Norman Bradbury Blake, former owner, publisher and editor of the West Virginia Daily News, died Saturday, December 12, 1998, at his home in Ronceverte. He was 84. His was the first paper in the state to use offset printing. He was also the author of the book “How to Abolish Taxes.” He succeeded his father, William Blake, at the paper. Mr. Blake was a former president of the West Virginia Press Association. He was also past president of Ronceverte Rotary Club and Ronceverte Chamber of Commerce. He attended Duke University and graduated from West Virginia University. He was an Army veteran of World War II, a member of Lewisburg Elks club, and a 50-year member of American Legion. He was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation in Ronceverte. Surviving him are his wife, Virginia Butler Blake; a daughter, Beverly B. Boswell, of Huntington; a son, William B. Blake, at home; two grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Services were held Tuesday at the Church of the Incarnation by the Rev. Lada Hardwick and the Rev. Gary Waple. Burial was in Riverview Cemetery.

Register Herald, December 14, 1999

Joseph W. Lee

RONCEVERTE - Joseph William Lee, 87, died Monday, Dec. 13, 1999, at a Fairlea medical center. Born June 7, 1912, he was the son of the late James Ashby and Bessie Leach Lee. Mr. Lee was a graduate of Davidson College with a BA in physics and served as a lieutenant j. g. in the U.S. Navy during World War II; after the war he joined his father at Martin and Jones Hardware in Ronceverte and worked there until his retirement in 1981. He was a former mayor of Ronceverte and board member of Ronceverte National Bank and One Valley Bank.
Mr. Lee was a member of the American Legion, Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, and the National Hole-In-One Association and was a lifetime member of the Lewisburg Lodge No. 1758 BPOE. He received the Silver Beaver Award as an adult volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America and was a lifelong member of the Ronceverte Presbyterian Church, where he served as a deacon and elder. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marjorie Blake Lee; and a sister, Mary Margaret Lee. Survivors include two sons, Joe Lee and his wife, Terri, of Catlettsburg, Ky., and Jim Lee and his wife, Lucy, of Roanoke, Va.; and four grandchildren. Services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Ronceverte Presbyterian Church, with the Rev. Philip L. Graber officiating. Entombment will follow in Rosewood Mausoleum, Lewisburg. The family will receive their friends between 6 and 8 p.m. today at Wallace and Wallace Funeral Home, Lewisburg. The family requests donations of sympathy may be made to the Ronceverte Presbyterian Church, 305 Locust St., Ronceverte, WV 24970. Arrangements by Wallace and Wallace Funeral Home, Lewisburg.