Harry Blakeney, the son of Mary Miller Blakeney and T.J. Blakeney, was Mae Blakeney's brother. He also had a brother, Benjamin (known as "Benji"). He was born in San Francisco in 1872. Harry attended UC Berkeley,
graduating in 1896. He was very athletic, and participated in sports while at college. Stories passed down within the family
say that he attended law school at Berkeley, and won his first legal case shortly before his death. Records to verify his
education have not been located.
Hotel owner Edwin Carter Dyer, Mary Miller's second husband, was Harry's stepfather.
He had made Harry manager of the Windermere hotel in Chicago upon Harry's graduation from college. According to his obituary,
Harry was "popular in Hyde Park society and in amateur athletic circles." An avid swimmer, Harry was in the habit of swimming
in Lake Michigan every day during the summer. He and Windermere's head porter, Otto Purcell, had frequent swimming races.
About 10:30 on the morning of August 27, 1897, they were having one of their races
when Harry developed cramps. Onlookers saw that he was in trouble and tried to rescue him, but were unsuccessful. Harry Blakeney
drowned at age 25. He is buried in the Miller family plot at the Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
