His father and namesake was an inventor and partner of the Blake Brothers manufacturing firm.

Following his time at Sheffield, he traveled to Europe, where he studied chemistry and physics in the universities of Heidelberg, Marburg, and Berlin.

[6] On March 8, 1860, Blake was married to Helen Mary Rood (1832–1869), the daughter of Rev.

[7] Among her family was uncle Nicholas Gouverneur Ogden, a partner of John Jacob Astor.

[8] Together, Eli and Helen were the parents of: Blake died on October 1, 1895, in Hampton, Connecticut.