University of Virginia Library

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JOHN BLAIR.

John Blair, the son of Dr. Archibald Blair, and a nephew of Rev.
James Blair, D.D., President of William and Mary College, was born
at Williamsburg, Va., in 1689. He was a member of the House of
Burgesses from James City County as early as 1736, and a little later
became a member of the Council, of which as President he was Acting
Governor of Virginia from the departure of Lieutenant-Governor Robert
Dinwiddie for England, in January, 1758, until the arrival on June
7th following of Lieutenant-Governor Francis Fauquier, and again from
the death of the latter, March 3, 1768, until October following, when
he was relieved by Lord Botetourt. During the trying period of the
incumbency of President Blair, his ability, vigilance and discretion were
signally displayed in protecting the frontier of the colony from Indian
invasion. He served for some years from 1752 as Deputy Auditor of
the Colony, and from 1758 to 1761, was a visitor of William and Mary
College. From a MS. diary kept by him and now in the collections
of the Virginia Historical Society, it is manifest that his life was one of
manifold usefulness. An extract regarding the rebuilding of the Capitol
at Williamsburg, which was built in 1699, and destroyed by fire in 1746,
is of interest. President Blair records, December 12, 1752: "This
afternoon I laid the last top brick on the capitol wall, and so it is now
ready to receive the roof; and some of the wall plates were raised and
laid on this day. I had laid a foundation brick at the first building of
the capitol about fifty years ago, and another foundation brick in April
last." President Blair died November 5, 1771. His sister Harrison was
the third wife of Dr. George Gilmer of Williamsburg, a skilled
physician and the ancestor of the distinguished Gilmer family of Virginia.
One son of President Blair, Archibald Blair, was the Secretary
of the Patriot Convention of 1776, and another, John Blair, was nationally
distinguished. The last, born in 1732, after graduating from William
and Mary College, studied law at the Temple, London, being here a
protege of Governor Dinwiddie. Returning to Williamsburg, he rose to
the first rank as a lawyer and enjoyed a lucrative practice, and was
prominent in public affairs. He was a member of the House of Burgesses
as early as 1765, and on the dissolution of that body in 1769, he,
with Washington and other patriots, met at the Raleigh tavern, Williamsburg,
and drafted the non-importation agreement. He was one of the
committee which in June, 1776, drew up the plan for the government of
the State; was a member of the Council in 1779, was made chief justice
of the general court, and upon the death of Robert Carter Nicholas in
1780, he was appointed a judge of the high Court of Chancery, and by
virtue of both stations, was a judge of the first Court of Appeals of the
State.

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Two Views of Drinking Cup made from the bowl of the Silver Mace of the
Speaker of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, before the Revolution.

(Original in the Cabinet of the Virginia Historical Society.)

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Upon the formation of the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons of Virginia, Judge Blair was elected, October 13, 1778, the first
Grand Master of the State. In 1787, he was a member of the convention
which framed the Federal Constitution, and in 1788, was a member
of that which ratified it. In 1789, he was appointed by Washington a
Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, but resigned the
office in 1796. He died at Williamsburg, August 31, 1800.