Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/341

 BLAIR.

BLAI3DELL.

BLAIR, John, statesman, was born in Wil- liamsburg, Va., in 1689, son of Dr. Archibald Blair, and a nephew of the Rev. James Blair, first president of William and Mary college. He occupied many important positions in the govern- ment, was a burgess from James City county in 1736, was later a member of the council, and from January, 1758, to June 7, 1768, was president of that body ; he acted as governor of the colony. He died at Williamsburg, Va., Nov. 5, 1771.

BLAIR, John, jurist, was born at Williams- burg, Va., in 1732, son of John Blair, statesman. After graduating from William and Mary college he studied law at the Temple in London, Eng., and upon his return to America commenced prac- tice at Williamsburg. He became a member of the house of burgesses in 1765. On the dissolu- tion of the assembly in 1769, he was one of the patriots who, with Washington, met at the Raleigh tavern and signed the non-importation agreement. He was a member of the committee which, in June, 1776, drew up a code of laws for the government of the state, and upon the estab- lishment of the judiciary became in turn judge of the court of appeals, chief jvistice, and finally in 1780 judge of the high court of chancery. He was a member of the convention which framed the Federal constitution, voting for its adoption, and subsequently for its ratification by the state convention. In 1789, by appointment of Wash- ington, he became a justice of the United States supreme court and held his seat until 1796, when he resigned. He died at Williamsburg, Va., Aug. 31, 1800.

BLAIR, John Insley, capitalist, was born in a small settlement near Belvidere, N.J., Aug. 22, 1802 ; son of James and Rachel (Insley) Blair and grandson of Jolui Blair who immigrated from Scotland between 1730 and 1740 and settled in New Jersey. He was a clerk in a store, 1813- 21, and then engaged in business on his own account, at the place afterwards named for him, Blairstown, N. J. His business as country store- keeper soon spread into a number of branches, and he added milling, cotton manufacturing, iron mining and railroad building, in which he extensively engaged, accumulating a vast fortune. He built the greater portion of the Lackawanna, Delaware and Western railroad, investing his own money and keeping every dollar of his securities. When Scranton, Pa., was a wnlder- ness he bought land in and around the place, and saw it grow to a city of nearly one hundred thousand people. Mr. Blair built on his own ac- count half the- railroads in Iowa. He rebuilt Grinnell college, Iowa, and the entire town of Blairstown, N. J. He was an unsuccessful candi- date for governor of New Jersey, and was present at every Republican national convention up to

1896. His practice in building up the West was to lay the route of a new road, mark the town sites along the line and buy up the most available land before the public knew of the project. When the town was located Mr. Blair was found to own all the lots for sale. He contributed over one million dollars to educational institutions, including $150,000 to Princeton and §50,000 to Lafayette. His fortune was estimated as be- tween fifty and seventy-five million dollars. He died at Blairstown, N.J., Dec. 2, 1899.

BLAIR, Montgomery, statesman, was born in Franklin county, Ky., May 10, 1813, the eldest son of Francis Preston Blair, statesman. He was graduated from West Point in 1835, and after a few months' service in the Seminole war he re. signed his commission in 1836, and began the practice of law in St. Louis, Mo. In 1839 he was appointed United States district attorney for Mis- souri, and from 1843 to 1849 was a judge of the court of common pleas. In 1852 he removed to Maryland, and in 1855 was appointed solicitor of the United States in tlie court of claims, but, having joined the Republican party after the repeal of the Missouri compromise, he was re- moved from office in 1858 by President Buchanan. He presided over the Maryland Republican con- vention in 1860, and in 1861 President Lincoln appointed him postmaster-general. Wliile hold- ing this office he instituted several salutary changes and reforms, and at one time attracted attention by an order excluding from the mails certain newspapers which had been presented by the grand jury of New York as disloyal sheets. The matter was brought before Congress, and the action of the postmaster-general was approved. In 1864, his views becoming too conservative to suit the demands of the Republican party, his resignation from the cabinet was requested and accepted, and thenceforth he identified himself AWth the Democratic party, and in 1876-'77 vigor- ously protested against the validity of Mr. Hayes's title to the presidency, as secured by the decision of the electoral commission. He died at Silver Spring, Md., July 27, 1883.

BLAISDELL, James J., educator, was born at Canaan, Grafton county, N. H., Feb. 8, 1827, son of Elijah Blaisdell, a distinguished member of the New Hampshire bar. He entered Dart- mouth college in 1842, and was graduated in 1846. The next year he spent in teaching in Montreal, Canada, after which for nearly three years he studied law with his father in Lebanon. After practising that profession for a short time, he decided to enter the ministry, and was grad- uated from Andover theological seminary in 1852. He became pastor of the Third Presbyterian church, Cincinnati, Ohio, and remained in that pastorate seven years. In 1859 he was called to