Joseph Blanchard was born in Dunstable, New Hampshire

Dunstable, New Hampshire

Dunstable, New Hampshire was a town located in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, that is now the city of Nashua.The town was originally part of Dunstable, Massachusetts, which was incorporated in 1673...

 (now Nashua

Nashua, New Hampshire

-Climate:-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 86,494 people, 35,044 households, and 21,876 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,719.9 people per square mile . There were 37,168 housing units at an average density of 1,202.8 per square mile...

) on February 11, 1704 to Capt. Joseph Blanchard and his wife Abiah Hassell. In 1724 he joined the New Hampshire Militia

New Hampshire Militia

The New Hampshire Militia was first organized in March 1680, by New Hampshire Colonial President John Cutt. The King of England authorized the Provincial President to give commissions to persons who shall be best qualified for regulating and discipline of the militia. President Cutt placed Major...

 as a lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 and served in Capt. Eleazer Tyng's Company. On September 26, 1728 he married Rebecca Hubbard of Groton, Massachusetts

Groton, Massachusetts

Groton is a town located in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population was 10,646 at the 2010 census. It is home to two noted prep schools: Groton School, founded in 1884, and Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 1793. The historic town hosts the National Shepley Hill Horse...

. They would have 12 children, including Jonathan Blanchard

Jonathan Blanchard (statesman)

Jonathan Blanchard was an American lawyer, farm owner, and statesman from Dunstable, New Hampshire. He was a delegate for New Hampshire to the Continental Congress in 1784....

, a New Hampshire delegate to the Congress of the Confederation

Congress of the Confederation

The Congress of the Confederation or the United States in Congress Assembled was the governing body of the United States of America that existed from March 1, 1781, to March 4, 1789. It comprised delegates appointed by the legislatures of the states. It was the immediate successor to the Second...

 in 1784.

Joseph Blanchard would serve as town selectman, a surveyor for the state of New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

, Counsellor of the State by mandamus

Mandamus

A writ of mandamus or mandamus , or sometimes mandate, is the name of one of the prerogative writs in the common law, and is "issued by a superior court to compel a lower court or a government officer to perform mandatory or purely ministerial duties correctly".Mandamus is a judicial remedy which...

 from the Crown, and Judge of the Superior Court of New Hampshire. At the start of the French and Indian War

French and Indian War

The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

 Joseph Blanchard was already a colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 in the militia, and in 1754 he ordered Capt. John Goffe

John Goffe

John Goffe was a Colonial American soldier...

 along with a company of men (Robert Rogers

Robert Rogers (soldier)

Robert Rogers was an American colonial frontiersman. Rogers served in the British army during both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution...

 was part of this company) to patrol the upper reaches of the Merrimack River

Merrimack River

The Merrimack River is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport...

 valley. In 1755 Joseph Blanchard was appointed as Colonel of the New Hampshire Provincial Regiment

New Hampshire Provincial Regiment

The New Hampshire Provincial Regiment was a composite regiment made up of units of the New Hampshire Militia during the French and Indian War for service with the British Army in North America. It was first formed in 1754 with the start of hostilities with France.-1755:In 1755 Col...

 sent to serve under Sir William Johnson in an attack on Crown Point

Crown Point

Crown Point is the name of several towns or cities, and geographic features:United States*Crown Point, Alaska*Crown Point, Indiana - Lake County*Crown Point, New York**Fort Crown Point, built in 1759 on Lake Champlain by the British...

 on Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...

. Along the march they built Fort Wentworth

Fort Wentworth

Fort Wentworth was built by order of Benning Wentworth in 1755. The fort was built at the junction of the Upper Ammonoosuc River and Connecticut River, in Northumberland, New Hampshire, by soldiers of Colonel Joseph Blanchard's New Hampshire Provincial Regiment including Robert Rogers. In 1759,...

 at Northumberland, New Hampshire

Northumberland, New Hampshire

Northumberland is a town located in southwestern Coos County, New Hampshire, U.S., north of Lancaster. It is part of the Berlin, NH–VT micropolitan statistical area...

 on the Connecticut River

Connecticut River

The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...

. The regiment was at Fort Edward

Fort Edward

Fort Edward could refer to:* A historic site located in Windsor, Nova Scotia* A temporary fort in South Africa, ca. 1901. It was established in 1901 by British forces during the Boer War...

 and fought at the Battle of Lake George

Battle of Lake George

The Battle of Lake George was fought on 8 September 1755, in the north of the Province of New York. The battle was part of a campaign by the British to expel the French from North America in the French and Indian War....

. The regiment returned home in December of 1755. Col. Joseph Blanchard died on April 7, 1758. In 1761 a new more accurate map of New Hampshire that Joseph Blanchard had prepard in connection with Samuel Langdon

Samuel Langdon

Samuel Langdon was a American Congregational clergyman and educator. After serving as pastor in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, he was appointed president of Harvard University in 1774. He held that post until 1780....

 was published.

Massachusetts Historical Society copy of the Blanchard/Langdon map