Erastus E. Blanchard was born around 1812, probably in Connecticut, to Thomas and Polly Blanchard. He married a woman named Elizabeth, and they had at least three children: Henry, born around 1839; Horace, born around 1842; and Elizabeth, born around 1849. They lived in Rhode Island until the early 1840s, when they moved to Massachusetts. By 1850, they were living in Vernon, Connecticut, and Blanchard was working as a mill operator. He owned $1,000 of real estate. They moved to Providence, Rhode Island, in the 1850s, and Blanchard worked as a machinist. By 1870, he was working for an oil company, and a decade later, he was earning a living as a salesman. He died in Rhode Island on April 16, 1894.

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