Earl Anderson Blake, a well known member of the Wichita bar, was born on a farm near Bedford, Taylor county, Iowa, Sept. 11, 1866, a son of Daniel and Ann Eliza (Akers) Blake, who were residents of Wichita for a time, but both of whom are now deceased. Both parents were born in Parke county, Indiana, the father on Sept. 11, 1834, and the mother on Aug. 6, 1840; they were respectively of Irish and German descent. They had located in Taylor county, Iowa, from whence they removed to Hopkins, Mo., in 1880. In 1884 they came to Kansas and located first at Kingman, but in 1892 they removed to Wichita, where they resided until their respective deaths, the father, who passed away at Buffalo, Mo., on Nov. 6, 1900, being survived by his wife until Dec. 9, 1906, when she, too, was laid to rest. The father made farming his principal vocation, but had engaged in the grocery business both at Hopkins, Mo., and at Kingman, Kan. He was a son of John Milton Blake. The following children survive: Edgar N., manager Wichita Wholesale Grocery Company's branch at Woodward, Okla.; Minnie E., wife of W. D. Townsend, cashier of the Gillett State Bank, Gillett, Wyo.; Walter A., of Wichita; Stella I., wife of Lee Mulholland, county surveyor of Crook county, Wyoming; Charles A., a rancher of Crook county, Wyoming, near Sundance; and Earl A.

Earl Anderson Blake was reared to the age of thirteen on a farm in Taylor county, Iowa. He accompanied his parents to Hopkins, Mo., in 1880, and to Kingman, Kan., in 1884, and at both places assisted his father in his grocery business. In 1885 he entered the office of the "Kingman Courier," where he spent four years, becoming foreman of the paper after he had mastered the printer's trade. In his early manhood he also had experience as a school teacher. He had obtained a common and high school education and in September, 1889, he entered the law department of Garfield University at Wichita. After graduating in that school he was admitted to the bar in 1891, and immediately thereafter entered the law office of Hon. Edward O'Bryan, of Wichita, in which, and in the office of O'Bryan & Gordon, he remained until October, 1894. Since that date he has been actively engaged in the practice of law on his own account. In 1895 and 1896 he served as assistant county attorney under John D. Davis and was his law partner from 1894 to 1898 under the firm name of Davis & Blake. From 1898 to the present time he has had as a partner William A. Ayres, the firm style being Blake & Ayres. Walter A. Blake, a younger brother of Earl A., is now also a member of the firm and assistant county attorney.

In politics Mr. Blake is a Republican. He served as city attorney of Wichita from April, 1903, to April, 1905, and was appointed for a second term in 1911, in which he is now serving. He is the attorney for the American State Bank, the State Savings Bank, the Stock Yards State Bank, all of Wichita, and the Farmers' State Bank, of Mt. Hope, and the Cheney State Bank, of Cheney, Kan. He is a member of the Sedgwick County Bar Association and of the Wichita Chamber of Commerce, in which he is a director. Fraternally he is a Scottish Rite Mason, a Knight of Pythias, having attained the degrees of the Uniform Rank of the latter order, and is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Fraternal Aid Association.

On Dec. 4, 1894, Mr. Blake married Miss Minnie May McKibben, of Wichita, but a native of Michigan. Their union has been blessed with five children, one of whom, Florence Eugenia, born Nov. 10, 1906, died an infant. The surviving children are: Harold L., born Jan. 28, 1896; Marjorie L., born Nov. 11, 1897; Ralph B., born Dec. 16, 1899; and Louise McKibben, born Dec. 20, 1908.