Blood Genealogy
The two sides of my dad's family came together in St. Louis in the nineteenth century. In great great grandfather James Long Sloss II (born in Florence, Alabama) married Arabella Blood of St. Louis. She was the daughter of Sullivan Blood (1795-1875) and Sophie Hall (1799-1886).
Sullivan Blood was raised in Windsor, Vermont, as was Sophie, but they lived in St. Louis for the majority of their lives.
His parents died when he was 18, and after 2 years he moved westward. For 2 years he bought timber from Indians in upstate New York, sending to markets in the east. Sullivan Blood saved his money, and then boated down the Alleghany and Ohio rivers to arrive in St. Louis in 1817. He became a volunteer constable and then captain of the guard, and after his marriage to Sophie Hall in 1823, he served as deputy sherriff for two terms.
He became involved in trade on the Mississippi River, and was the captain and owner of several steamboats. In 1847 he was an incorporator of the Boatmans Savings Institution, serving both as president and chairman of the board for over 20 years.
His father Sewell Blood, of Windsor, Vermont, had served under General William Sullivan late in the Revolutionary War. His grandfather Moses Blood answered the Lexington Alarm under Capt. John Nutting, perhaps missing the fighting at North Bridge in Concord, but I suspect he was there in time to help harrass the British troops in their retreat to Boston. He fought in the Seige of Boston and his name is inscribed on the Bunker Hill Monument, as is his brother Abraham Blood, who was killed during the battle.
Moses was a son of