Surname Changed From WHITE To Blakey To Blakley

 I revisited some blogs that I wrote about my parental lineage surname changes. I didn’t know about the different surnames until the mid 1970’s. When I began to search for my family history, I was wondering about those changes. It was on October 31, 1981, I was told that my father David’s grandfather was Isaac BLAKEY.

From my journal:
Entry date: in the year 1985 ~ My father’s brother, Isaac and his wife, Anna moved to South Dakota in the 1930’s. They discovered that the family surname was BLAKEY not BLAKLEY.

I think it was during the 1970’s or early 1980’s when I learned about the spelling of my family surname. It was spelled BLAKEY. Back then, I didn’t know the reason why our surname was changed. But, through family searching I made some discovers.

Sometime during the mid 70’s, I read an article about Slavery Descendants to Have First Reunion. I didn’t know the date or place of the reunion. About this time, I started asking my dad about his family history.

Entry date December 5, 1983 ~ My father said “that when he was young, he heard that the name Blakey was taken off a billboard. Old timers said this (when Isaac was passing on his way south to Mississippi.)

Reflecting on some thoughts and research info I asked my father, why the family surname was spelled BLAKEY? He said that he didn’t know why. But, that was what he heard the older relatives said how to spell the family surname. My father said that he was taught to spell the family surname Blakley.

As I’ve done some research, I recall that a cousin told me some thing similar to what my father said. Also this cousin said that it was a barber shop billboard. There was a story behind it. But, my cousin didn’t get to share that story with me. 

While I kept searching on my family history, I discovered something interesting about the family history. Some of the former enslaved family members choose the WHITE surname. But, Isaac choose the BLAKEY surname. It’s interesting to know that the former enslaver Frances Blakey’s maiden name was WHITE. I believe that Isaac went by the WHITE surname at some point.

The enslaved family was divided before the Civil War broke out between 1858 – 1861. Then after the war, the former enslaved gathered as a family in Missouri. Only Isaac took the BLAKEY surname. Perhaps, it was because Isaac became a free man and joined the Union Army in Natchez, MS in 1863.

Another twist to the story about the family surname. It’s ironic that Isaac’s surname in the Civil War was  BLAKER.  How he came up with that surname a mystery. That’s odd. When he applied for his pension in 1889, his records had him as Isaac BLAKER. a.k.a Isaac BLAKEY.

Perhaps, Isaac couldn’t use his former surname as an enslaved. So the R was replace the Y. Isaac stated that his name was Isaac Blakey as he applied to pension benefits. There was no record of Isaac Blakey on file. Though Isaac did prove that he was Isaac Blaker.

As for the BLAKEY surname, the name could have been how people thought it should have been spelled. Or it’s how it sounded when people heard it.  It’s so with the Blakley surname. My Grandpa John Blakey was said to have changed the surname to Blakley. Indeed that surname has been spelled Blakely, Blakeley, Blackley, and  other ways as well.

Thanks for reading.
Surname Changed From WHITE To Blakey To Blakley

The Surnames changed….from, to and to now…
Andrew WHITE Sr.
Isaac WHITE / BLAKEY Sr.
John BLAKEY / BLAKLEY Sr.

David W. BLAKLEY Sr.
His children were born with the BLAKLEY surname.

Blessings,
S.A.Blakey

  This posted was posted on March 1, 2024 by Susan Ann Blakley on another site.
I added to this blog:
August In Remembrance Blakey Blakley WHITE Family Connections  

Idea from 
Week 9 Amy Johnson Crow’s #52Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge For 2024
The theme for Week 9 is “Changing Names.”