Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/340

 RLAIR.

BLAIR.

President Johnson nominated him as revenue collector at St. Ix»ui.s and after\vard.s as U. S. minister to Austria, he was rejected in each in- stance by the .-senate. He returned to the Demo- cratic ivirty and was its vice-presidential candi- date in 1S(»S. In l!S71 he was again elei-ted to the Missouri lej;cislature. but the legislature, a few weeks later, elected him U. S. senator to fill the unexpired term of Senator Jewett, deceased, antl he resigned his seat in the state legislature. In 1873 he was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election and afterward became state superin- tendent of insurance for Missouri. In 1848 he published tiie " Life antl Public Services of Gen- eral William . Hutl.T." He died July 8, 1875.

BLAIR, Henry William, .senator, was born in Campton, N. H., Dec. 6, 1834. In the intervals of farm lalx)r he attended the village school and the Phnnouth academy, and at the age of seven- teen began to teach. He was admitted to the l>ar in 18.19, and a year later became prosecuting attorney for Grafton county. He volunteered in the army in 1861, was chosen captain of the 15th N. H. volunteers and had achieved the rank of lieutenant-colonel when, in 1863, he was ob- liged to resign on account of a severe wound received at the siege of Port Hudson. In 1866 he was elected to the N. H. house of representa- tives and to the X. H. senate in 1867 and again in 1868. He was a representative in the 44th and 45th U. S. congresses, and after declining a re- election in 1878, was chosen United States senator in 1879 and again in 1885. He was apjx)inted bj- President Harrison minister to China in 1891, but as he was about to start for that covmtry the Chinese government notified the officials at "SVashington that it was imwilling to accept Mr. Blair as minister, owing to language used by him against the Chinese in various speeches. During his senatorial career he was especially interested in the educational, temperance, labor and finan- cial measures which came up for discussion. He was the author of the " Blair Common School Bill,'* calling for an immense appropriation to be distributed among the states in proportion to their illitenicy, and he twice succeeded in pa.ssing the bill through the senate, but never succeeded in obtaining the concurrence of the house of rejire- fientati ves in the measures i)roiX)sed. The amount of the ai)[iropriation in the original bill was ?105,fKK).fHKj; the senate i>assed the bill in the 48th Congress, reducing the amount to §77,000,000, and again in the 49th Congress, making the amount $79.(X)0.000. The first bill i)resented by him to the U. S. s»>nate prohibited the manufacture and sale of distilled liijur)rs in the United States after 1890. This radi<-al measure gjive him a wide reputation. He is the author of '•Temperance Movement or The Conflict of Man with Alcohol."

BLAIR, James, educator, was born in Edin- burgh (it is believed) in 1656. He took holy orders in the establislied church of Scotland, hold- ing a benefice until dissatisfaction cau.sed him to migrate to England. In 1685 he was induced by the Bishop of London to undertake mis.sionary work in Virginia, where he gained the confi- dence of the provincial government as well as of the planters, and in 1689 the highest ecclesiastical office in the province, that of commissary, or rep- resentative of the Bishop of London, was bestowed upon him. This office carried with it n(jt only the privilege of a seat in the colonial council, but also the duty of presiding over the trials of clergy- men who were "charged with crimes or misde- meanors." Being, as he said, " deeply affected by the low state of learning and religion in Vir- ginia," he set on foot a subscription for the pur- pose of establishing a college at Williamsburg. The project, which was a revival of an earlier effort on the part of the Virginians to secure a seminary or college, received enthusiastic support, and in an address, prepared by Commissary Blair, the assembly proposed the plan to "William and Mary. The sovereigns, upon its presentation, expressed their hearty approbation, granted a charter for the college, and appointed Blair its first president in 1692, giving towards its endow- ment nearly £2,000 out of quit-rents of the colony then in the hands of the secretary. They donated 20,000 acres of land to be tilled for the support of the college, and aLso levied a tax of a penny a pound upon all tobacco exported from Virginia and Maryland; and further gave to the founda- tion the office of surveyor-general, %vith all fees and emoluments pertaining thereto. Emulating the royal example, the general assembly, in the fourth year of Anne, laid duties on all "raw hides, tanned hides, and upon all deer skins and furs exported," said tax to accrue to support of William and Mary college. Owing to many vex- atious delays the building was not ready for occupancy until 1700. In 1705 the building was destroyed by fire. The friends of the institution were disheartened, and Dr. Blair's efforts to secure funds for another building were not suc- ce.ssful until 1723. In 1710 Dr. Blair became rec- tor of Williamsburg, discharging the duties of that office, together with tho.se connected with his college presidency. He bequeathed his library to the college, as well as £500 for the estab- lishment of a scholarship. His " Our Saviour's Divine Sermon on the Mount: Explained and recommended in Divers Sermons and Discourses'^ (4 voLs. 8vo. ) was published in 1722, re-issued in 1727, and again in 1740. In 1727 he assisted in the compilation of "The State of his Majesty's Colony in Virginia." He died at William.sburg, Va., Aug. 1, 1743.