THE REVEREND JOHN LAURIS BLAKE

“NARRATIVE HISTORY” AMOUNTS TO FABULATION, THE REAL STUFF BEING MERE CHRONOLOGY

Reverend John Lauris Blake “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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December 21, Sunday: John Lauris Blake was born in Northwood, New Hampshire.

At her brother’s observatory at Slough, Caroline Herschel noted a comet, her 2d such discovery. William Herschel then observed the comet through his 10-foot reflector telescope. (35P/Herschel-Rigollet would be a periodic comet with an orbital period of 155 years, reappearing on July 28, 1939.)

Robert Yates and John Lansing, Jr. wrote to Governor George Clinton of New York, reporting that they had walked out of the Philadelphia Convention because it was adopting a totally new constitution creating a new strong national government, rather than continuing the existing government under the Articles of Confederation but with increased powers given to Congress. (Alexander Hamilton, also a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention from New York, would remain while the new national government was created.)

NOBODY COULD GUESS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT

1788

Reverend John Lauris Blake “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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At the age of 13 John Lauris Blake was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker. Eventually he would be a journeyman cabinetmaker in Salem, Massachusetts.

LIFE IS LIVED FORWARD BUT UNDERSTOOD BACKWARD?— NO, THAT’S GIVING TOO MUCH TO THE HISTORIAN’S STORIES.

LIFE ISN’T TO BE UNDERSTOOD EITHER FORWARD OR BACKWARD.

1801

Reverend John Lauris Blake “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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John Lauris Blake received an AB degree at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Henry Cogswell Knight, graduating from Brown University, described Rhode Island.

The National Light and Heat Company was founded. The first coal-gas street lighting would begin two years later.

David Melville was in this year lighting his home in Newport, and the street itself, and his factory in Pawtucket, by means of coal gas. This was attracting considerable attention.

1812

HENRY COGSWELL KNIGHT

WILLIAM MURDOCK

FIRE

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John Lauris Blake was licensed to preach by the Rhode Island Association of Congregational Ministers.

DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? GOOD.

1813

Reverend John Lauris Blake “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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John Lauris Blake’s NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, OUR WORLD IN A NUTSHELL, PARENTAL INSTRUCTIONS, SECOND READER, and TEXT-BOOK OF GEOGRAPHY AND CHRONOLOGY.

THE FUTURE IS MOST READILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT

1814

Reverend John Lauris Blake “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake, a Congregational minister, had become interested in the Episcopal Church. In this year Bishop Griswold ordained him as a deacon of the Episcopal Church. Soon he would organize a parish in Pawtucket, Rhode Island which would be called St. Paul’s Church.

CHANGE IS ETERNITY, STASIS A FIGMENT

1815

Reverend John Lauris Blake “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake returned from Rhode Island to New Hampshire, and took charge of the Episcopal churches in Concord and in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. He also organized a school for young ladies in Concord, New Hampshire.

THE FUTURE CAN BE EASILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT

1820

Reverend John Lauris Blake “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake relocated his school for young ladies from Concord, New Hampshire to Boston.

1822

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake became the rector of St. Matthew’s Church, Boston, and subsequently devoted himself entirely to literary work. He was editor of the “Literary Advertiser” and the “Gospel Advocate,” and was an active member of the Boston school committee for several years.

1824

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake’s BIBLICAL READER.

1826

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake’s AMERICAN UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHY.

1833

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake’s CONVERSATIONS ON VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY AND BOTANY.

1834

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake’s ANECDOTES OF AMERICAN INDIANS, and his initial attempt at a BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.

1835

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake received the D.D. degree from Augusta College, Kentucky.

His THE PARLOR BOOK OR FAMILY ENCYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE AND GENERAL LITERATURE was published in New York by John L. Piper & Co.

1837

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake’s WONDERS OF ART.

1845

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake’s BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN, COMPENDIUM OF UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHY, and CONVERSATIONS ON CHEMISTRY.

1848

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake’s GEOGRAPHY FOR CHILDREN, GEOLOGICAL VIEW OF THE WORLD, HIGH SCHOOL READER, HISTORICAL READER, HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, JUVENILE COMPANION AND FIRESIDE READER, LECTURES ON RHETORIC, and LESSONS IN MODERN FARMING.

1851

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake’s EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY, and his FAMILY TEXTBOOK FOR THE COUNTRY: A CYCLOPEDIA OF AGRICULTURE AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

The Reverend Professor Edward Hitchcock’s THE POWER OF CHRISTIAN BENEVOLENCE ILLUSTRATED IN THE LIFE AND LABORS OF MARY LYON (Northampton).

1852

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake’s LETTERS ON CONFIRMATION, MRS. MARCET’S CONVERSATIONS, and MODERN FARMER.

1853

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake, D.D.’s FIRST BOOK IN ASTRONOMY, FIRST BOOK IN NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, FIRST READER, and A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY; COMPRISING A SUMMARY OF THE LIVES OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED PERSONS OF ALL AGES NATIONS, AND PROFESSIONS, INCLUDING MORE THAN TWO THOUSAND ARTICLES OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY (Philadelphia: H. Cowperthwait & co.).

A copy of this biographical dictionary has been found in the personal library of Henry Thoreau. We don’t seem to have a record of what use he might have made of it — but we do have electronic text on an 1859 edition of the volume.

This source contains for instance the following information:

BROOKS, Eleazer, a Brigadier-General, was born in Concord,Mass., in 1726. Although without the advantages of education,he acquired a valuable fund of knowledge. It was his practicein early life to read the most approved books, and then conversewith the most intelligent men respecting them. In 1774 he waschosen a representative to the General Court, and continued 37years in public life — being successively a Representative, amember of the Senate, and of the Council. He took a decided partin the American Revolution. At the head of a regiment he wasengaged in the battle of White Plains, in 1776, and

1856

BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY

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distinguished himself by his cool, determined bravery. In theyear 1801, he withdrew from public life to the enjoyment of thetranquil scenes of domestic life. He died in 1806, aged 80.

EMERSON, William, a minister of Boston, graduated at HarvardCollege in 1789, was ordained minister of Harvard in 1792, andin 1799 was installed pastor of the first church in Boston. In1804 he was one of the conductors of a literary journal calledThe Monthly Anthology. He died in 1811, aged 42. He published anumber of Sermons, and a History of the First Church in Boston,8vo.

WILLARD, Samuel, Vice President of Harvard College, born atConcord, Massachusetts, January 31, 1640, was a son of SimonWillard, a man of considerable distinction. He graduated atHarvard College in 1659. From 1663 to 1676 he was a minister inthe town of Groton; but having been driven hence by thehostilities of the Indians, he was, April 10, 1678, settled asa colleague of Mr. Thacher, the first minister of the Old SouthChurch, Boston. Upon the resignation of President Mather, he,as Vice President, assumed the superintendence of HarvardCollege, which duty he continued to discharge until his death,September 12, 1707, aged 68. He possessed a rich imagination,quick and accurate perception, and extensive intellectualresources. He was a clear and profound disputant, a zealouschampion of the cause of truth, as well as a fervent, devotedChristian, and strove to dispel, with all the strength of hisjudgment and the warmth of his heart, the fatal witchcraftdelusion. He published three funeral sermons; two electionsermons; three fast-day sermons; and twenty-five occasionalsermons. In 1726, a folio volume was published, entitled, A Bodyof Divinity, in two hundred and fifty expository lectures on theAssembly’s Shorter Catechism, which was the first work ondivinity published in America, and is considered to be a verymeritorious production.

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The Reverend John Lauris Blake’s TEXT-BOOK OF MODERN GEOGRAPHY and UNIVERSAL BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY (Philadelphia).

July 6, Thursday: John Lauris Blake died in Orange, New Jersey.

“MAGISTERIAL HISTORY” IS FANTASIZING, HISTORY IS CHRONOLOGY

1857

Reverend John Lauris Blake “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

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COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In addition to the property of others,such as extensive quotations and reproductions ofimages, this “read-only” computer file contains a greatdeal of special work product of Austin Meredith,copyright 2014. Access to these interim materials willeventually be offered for a fee in order to recoup someof the costs of preparation. My hypercontext buttoninvention which, instead of creating a hypertext leapthrough hyperspace —resulting in navigation problems—allows for an utter alteration of the context withinwhich one is experiencing a specific content alreadybeing viewed, is claimed as proprietary to AustinMeredith — and therefore freely available for use byall. Limited permission to copy such files, or anymaterial from such files, must be obtained in advancein writing from the “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo”Project, 833 Berkeley St., Durham NC 27705. Pleasecontact the project at <Kouroo@kouroo.info>.

Prepared: May 25, 2014

“It’s all now you see. Yesterday won’t be over untiltomorrow and tomorrow began ten thousand years ago.”

– Remark by character “Garin Stevens”in William Faulkner’s INTRUDER IN THE DUST

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ARRGH AUTOMATED RESEARCH REPORT

GENERATION HOTLINE

This stuff presumably looks to you as if it were generated by ahuman. Such is not the case. Instead, someone has requested thatwe pull it out of the hat of a pirate who has grown out of theshoulder of our pet parrot “Laura” (as above). What thesechronological lists are: they are research reports compiled byARRGH algorithms out of a database of modules which we term theKouroo Contexture (this is data mining). To respond to such arequest for information we merely push a button.

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Commonly, the first output of the algorithm has obviousdeficiencies and we need to go back into the modules stored inthe contexture and do a minor amount of tweaking, and then weneed to punch that button again and recompile the chronology —but there is nothing here that remotely resembles the ordinary“writerly” process you know and love. As the contents of thisoriginating contexture improve, and as the programming improves,and as funding becomes available (to date no funding whateverhas been needed in the creation of this facility, the entireoperation being run out of pocket change) we expect a diminishedneed to do such tweaking and recompiling, and we fully expectto achieve a simulation of a generous and untiring roboticresearch librarian. Onward and upward in this brave new world.

First come first serve. There is no charge.Place requests with <Kouroo@kouroo.info>. Arrgh.