Encyclopedia Dubuque
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BLOCKLINGER, Benjamin Franklin
BLOCKLINGER, Benjamin Franklin. (Dubuque, IA, Jan. I, 1864--October 31, 1917). Blocklinger was educated in the public and high schools of Dubuque and on January 30, 1882, started as messenger boy in the FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF DUBUQUE.
He entered military service at the age of 24 and served ten years with the Iowa National Guard, in which he attained the rank of major. When the SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR broke out, his command was ordered to the front, and he saw active service during that struggle at Havana, Cuba. Blocklinger also served as the captain of Company A of the GOVERNOR'S GREYS. Organized in 1887, the company was named in honor of the famous Governor's Greys, the first company in the State of Iowa to offer its services to President Lincoln's call for volunteers at the beginning of the CIVIL WAR.
In Dubuque, Blocklinger became a cashier of the FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF DUBUQUE, served as treasurer of the FINLEY HOSPITAL (THE), and was a member of the LINWOOD CEMETERY Association, and the Dubuque Telephone Company. He was a director and treasurer of the DUBUQUE BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATION, a trustee of the DUBUQUE COMMERCIAL CLUB, and a director of the TELEGRAPH HERALD corporation.
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Source:
Oldt, Franklin T. History of Dubuque County, Iowa. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1880, p. 684. Online: http://www.archive.org/stream/historyofdubuque02oldt/historyofdubuque02oldt_djvu.txt
Linwood Legacies Self-Guided Tour. Online: http://www.linwoodcemetery.us/about/history/