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Blaskowicz, Charles
Cartographer, surveyor. Born in Poland about 1730. Probably came to Canada in 1759 with Major-General Wolfe. He is first mentioned as one of the three draughtsmen who compiled a manuscript atlas of the survey of the Province of Quebec made by the order of General James Murray between 1760 and 1762. This atlas, indeed, may have been made several years after the survey, but there is also the record of his drawing a salary as a volunteer surveyor in the Northern District of North America from March 24, 1764 to October 24, 1767. The following year he made a survey of the north shore of the St. Lawrence River from the Baie St. Paul to the Mouth of the Saguenay, and of the latter river to Lake St. John; in 1769 he continued the same survey farther down the St. Lawrence as far as the St. John River, opposite Anticosti. As early as 1770, Blaszkowicz was engaged in New England surveys, when he mapped Falmouth (now Portland) Harbor in Maine. He served in the Revolutionary War 1776-1783 with the "Pioneer and Guides," a regiment commanded by Colonel Beverly Robinson. After the Revolutionary War Blaskowitz probably returned to England, for when in 1801 he at last appears in the Army lists, it is as a Captain in "A Corps to be attached to the Quartermaster General's Department," under the command of Lieut-Colonel Nicolay; the day of appointment is given as May 16, 1800. In 1802, he retired as captain of "Browne's Staff Corps." In this capacity he remained till just before the outbreak of another British-American War in 1812, when he received captaincy in the Royal Newfoundland Fencibles, with the command of a company. The Fencibles saw active duty in Canada during the war, and Blaszkowicz lost some of his baggage when York was captured by the Americans in April, 1813. In August, of that year he was given six months leave of absence from his regiment, and in February, 1814, an extra month was added to his leave of absence. He probably died in Newfoundland around 1817.

From: "Who's Who in Polish America" by Rev. Francis Bolek, Editor-in-Chief; Harbinger House, New York, 1943

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