The Political Graveyard: Blair family of Michigan and New York

Blair family of Michigan and New York

Note: This is just one of 612 family groupings listed on The Political Graveyard web site. These families each have three or more politician members, all linked together by blood, marriage or adoption.

Some families traditionally (and perhaps properly) considered separately are joined together here if linked by marriage or otherwise. These groupings — even the names of the groupings, and the state or lists of states of main activity — are the result of a computer algorithm, not the choices of any historian or genealogist.

Bernard Blair (1801-1880) — of Salem, Washington County, N.Y. Born in Williamstown, Berkshire County, Mass., May 24, 1801. Son of William Blair and Sally (Train) Blair; married to Charlotte Lansing; third cousin of Austin Blair; third cousin once removed of Charles Austin Blair. Whig. Lawyer; banker; U.S. Representative from New York 12th District, 1841-43. Presbyterian. Died in Salem, Washington County, N.Y., May 7, 1880. Interment at Evergreen Cemetery, Salem, N.Y.
- See also Blair family of Michigan and New York
- See also: congressional biography.
Austin Blair (1818-1894) — also known as "The War Governor" — of Jackson, Jackson County, Mich. Born in Caroline, Tompkins County, N.Y., February 8, 1818. Son of Rhoda (Blackman) Mann Blair and George Blair (1796-1869); third cousin of Bernard Blair; married, February 18, 1841, to Persis Lyman (died 1843); married, May 25, 1846, to Elizabeth Pratt (died 1847); married, February 16, 1849, to Sarah Louise (Horton) Ford; father of Charles Austin Blair. Lawyer; member of Michigan state house of representatives from Jackson County, 1846; instrumental in the 1846 abolition of capital punishment in Michigan, the first English-speaking jurisdiction to do so; Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney, 1853-54, 1885-86; member of Michigan state senate 12th District, 1855-56; Governor of Michigan, 1861-65; defeated (Liberty), 1872; delegate to Republican National Convention from Michigan, 1860; U.S. Representative from Michigan 3rd District, 1867-73; member of University of Michigan board of regents, 1881-89; appointed 1881. Unitarian. Died in Jackson, Jackson County, Mich., August 6, 1894. Interment at Mt. Evergreen Cemetery, Jackson, Mich.; statue at State Capitol Grounds, Lansing, Mich.
- See also Blair family of Michigan and New York
- See also: congressional biography; National Governors Association biography.
Charles Austin Blair (1854-1912) — also known as Charles A. Blair — of Jackson, Jackson County, Mich. Born in Jackson, Jackson County, Mich., April 10, 1854. Third cousin once removed of Bernard Blair; son of Austin Blair; married, October 8, 1879, to Effie C. North. Republican. Lawyer; Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney; candidate for circuit judge in Michigan 4th Circuit, 1899; Michigan state attorney general, 1903-04; justice of Michigan state supreme court, 1905-12; died in office 1912; chief justice of Michigan state supreme court, 1909. Scottish ancestry. Died August 30, 1912. Burial location unknown.
- See also Blair family of Michigan and New York

"Enjoy the hospitable entertainment of a political graveyard."
Henry L. Clinton, Apollo Hall, New York City, February 3, 1872

The Political Graveyard is a web site about U.S. political history and cemeteries. It is the Internet's most comprehensive source for American political biography, listing 180,022 politicians, living and dead.

The coverage of the site includes certain federal officials, state officeholders and candidates in all 50 states, state and national political party officials, federal and state judges, and mayors (including candidates at election for mayor) of qualifying cities.
The listings are incomplete; development of the database is a continually ongoing project.
Information on this page — and on all other pages of this site — is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed. Users are advised to check with other sources before relying on any information here.
The official URL for this page is: http://politicalgraveyard.com/families/11722.html
Links to this or any other Political Graveyard page are welcome, but specific page addresses may sometimes change as the site develops.
If you are searching for a specific individual, try the alphabetical index of politicians.
More information: FAQ; privacy policy; cemetery links.
If you find any error or omission in The Political Graveyard, or if you have information to share, please see the biographical checklist and submission guidelines.
Copyright notice. Facts are not subject to copyright; see Feist v. Rural Telephone. Original material, programming, selection and arrangement are © 1996-2008 Lawrence Kestenbaum. This work is also licensed for free non-commercial re-use, with attribution, under a Creative Commons License.

The Political Graveyard is created and maintained by Lawrence Kestenbaum, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, who is solely responsible for its structure and content. Web hosting is provided by Paul Haas, of Ypsilanti, Michigan. The site opened on July 1, 1996; the last full revision was done on June 16, 2008.