DeWitt Clinton Blair (September 6, 1833 – June 3, 1915) was an American philanthropist and industrialist.
Early life
Blair was born in Gravel Hill,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
(later renamed
Blairstown) on September 6, 1833. He was the son of entrepreneur and railroad magnate
John Insley Blair
John Insley Blair (August 22, 1802 – December 2, 1899) was an American entrepreneur, railroad magnate, philanthropist and one of the 19th century's wealthiest men.
Early life
John Insley Blair was born at Foul Rift in White Township, New Jer ...
and, his wife, Nancy Ann (
née Locke) Blair (1804–1888), a granddaughter of Captain Locke, who was "killed at the
battle of Springfield during the
revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
."
Among his siblings was Emma Elizabeth Blair (wife of publisher
Charles Scribner I
Charles Scribner I (February 21, 1821 – August 26, 1871) was an American publisher who, with Isaac D. Baker (1819–1850), founded a publishing company that would eventually become Charles Scribner's Sons.
Early life
Scribner was born in New ...
), Marcus Laurence Blair, and Aurelia Ann Blair (wife of Clarence Green Mitchell).
He graduated from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
with the class of 1856, and later served as a Princeton trustee from 1900 to 1909 and was instrumental in expanding the campus and buildings (Insley, East and Locke) of
Blair Presbyterian Academy.
[Blair Family Papers: Biographical Sketch of John Insley Blair]
, accessed January 1, 2007 In 1907, Blair contributed towards the expansion of Blair Hall at Princeton, which had originally been built with his father's donation to the school.
Career
Blair continued his father's varied business interests and philanthropy and was partners in
Blair & Co. with
Edgar L. Marston.
Personal life
On April 21, 1864, he married Mary Anna Kimball (1837–1914) with whom he had three sons, two of whom survived to adulthood:
* John Insley Blair (1865–1866), who died in infancy.
*
Clinton Ledyard Blair (1867–1949), who married Florence Osborne Jennings. After her death, he married Harriet Stewart Brown.
* James Insley Blair (1876–1939), who married Natalie Bennett Knowlton (1883–1951), the daughter of Danforth Henry Knowlton.
The Blair Estate, in
Belvidere, New Jersey
Belvidere is a town in Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the town's population was 2,681,[Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War:
* Warren County, Georgia
* Warren County, Illinois
* Warren County ...]
purchased the site in 1970, which is now used for the Warren County Library and other county offices.
Less than a year after the passing of his wife Mary Anna on February 12, 1914,
Blair died on June 3, 1915, at the age of 81, at his home, 6
East 61st Street in New York City.
After a funeral at his New York residence, he was buried at
Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several blo ...
in Brooklyn.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, DeWitt Clinton
1833 births
1915 deaths
People from Belvidere, New Jersey
People from Blairstown, New Jersey
Princeton University alumni