Benjamin Blakeney, called "Benji," was the son of Mary Miller Blakeney and T.J. Blakeney, the brother of Mae Blakeney and Henry "Harry" Blakeney. He was born in San Francisco in 1869. Very little is known of Benjamin's life. We do know that he accompanied his mother and stepfather, as well as another young man, to Japan in the 1890s.

The only mention I have found of Benjamin in family documents is a sentence in a letter from his mother Mary Miller to his sister Mae, in which she notes, "Benji is rather blue over the way things happen to him."

At age 51, the 1920 census had Benjamin living in Sacramento and working as a watchman. At the time of his death, Benjamin was residing in Fresno, California. His death certificate listed his occupation as laborer, and says that he was single. The cause of death was "Lobar pneumonia right upper with chronic endocarditis involving aortic valves principally cholecystitis." He died at the General Hospital in Fresno; the undertaker was listed as "Mission Undertaking Co."