John Blair (September 13, 1790July 9, 1863) was an American slave owner and politician who represented

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Biography

Blair was born in Blairs Mill near Jonesborough in the

Southwest Territory The Territory South of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Southwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1790, until June 1, 1796, when it was admitted to the United States a ...

, the son of John Blair, Jr., and attended Martin Academy. He graduated from

Washington College Washington College is a private liberal arts college in Chestertown, Maryland. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782. George Washington supported the founding of the college by consenting to have the "College at Chester" name ...

in Tennessee in 1809. He studied law, was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

in 1813, and began practicing.

Career

A member of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

between 1815 and 1817, Blair also served as a member of the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue rega ...

between 1817 and 1821. Blair was elected as a

Jacksonian Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an Political parties in the United States, American political party founded by Thomas J ...

to the Eighteenth Congress and re-elected as a Jacksonian to the Nineteenth through Twenty-third Congresses. He served as a U.S. Representative from March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1835. During the

Twentieth Congress The 20th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1827, ...

, he was chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Expenditures in the State Department. He was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State (Twentieth Congress). He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election to the

Twenty-fourth Congress The 24th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1835, ...

in 1834. After retiring to private life, Blair again became a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1849 and 1850. He resumed the practice of law.

Death

Blair died in Jonesboro, Tennessee on July 9, 1863, at age 72 years, 330 days. He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

at Old Cemetery in Jonesboro.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, John 1790 births 1863 deaths People from Washington County, Tennessee Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Tennessee state senators American slave owners