One problem is that the ages show in the censuses are wrong. On his WWI draft registration, he gives his birth date as 20 Oct 1876. His death certificate shows him 63 in 1936. It lists his father as George. This fits the 1880 census of Wise VA, which shows a John Blanton, age 3, b. VA, in the household of George W. Blanton.

The Blantons of Wise VA are descendants of William Blanton and Hannah Hobbs Blanton of Lee VA through his grandson William, son of John. William, Sr. moved to Warren TN where he died. The children who survived Hannah are listed in a Rev. War pension application submitted by his daughter Aggie. It is posted on the BFH site under affidavits:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~blantonroo...

John did not migrate to TN, but he and his wife Elizabeth migrated to NW MO. William may have migrated with them, but returned to Lee. There is a Bible record of the younger William's family posted in the Bible records at BFH.

There are a number of websites purporting to connect William and/or John of Harlan, apparently a brother or close cousin, to the Caroline VA Blantons. There is no evidence to support this assertion. The ultimate source is a long-discredited book by Noah Bradley called "My Father's Family".