John Blair Jr. (April 17, 1732 – August 31, 1800) was an American
Founding Father
The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...
, who signed the
United States Constitution as a delegate from
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
and was appointed an Associate Justice on the first
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
by
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
.
A Virginia lawyer since 1757, Blair represented the
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...
in the
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been establishe ...
(while his father served on the Governor's Council) and served in various colonial offices after giving up his local law practice. In the prelude to the American Revolutionary War, Blair had served as a commissioner of admiralty to enforce regulations promulgated by the Virginia Revolutionary Conventions, then on the committee that prepared the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Constitution of 1776. He served for over a year on the Council of State before being appointed as one of the judges of the General Court, the new Commonwealth's first appellate court. He also served on the High Court of Chancery, which was a predecessor of the Virginia Court of Appeals (now the
Virginia Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrativ ...
.
Blair was one of the best-trained jurists of his day. A widely respected legal scholar, he avoided the tumult of state politics, preferring to work behind the scenes. He was devoted to the idea of a permanent union of the newly independent states and was a loyal supporter of fellow
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
ns
James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...
and at the
Constitutional Convention. While serving on the Supreme Court, he influenced the interpretation of the Constitution in a number of important decisions. Contemporaries praised Blair for his ability to penetrate to the heart of legal questions, as well as his gentleness and benevolence.
Early life and education
John Blair Jr. was born in
Williamsburg,
Colony of Virginia, in 1732, to Mary (Monro)(1726-1768) and her merchant and politician husband,
John Blair. They had a large family, with ten or twelve children by various accounts, and John was the fourth child, and the eldest surviving son. His father served for decades in both houses of the colony's legislature--as a member of the
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been establishe ...
before decades on the Virginia
Governor's council The governments of the Thirteen Colonies of British America developed in the 17th and 18th centuries under the influence of the British constitution. After the Thirteen Colonies had become the United States, the experience under colonial rule would ...
and (on four occasions) as acting
royal governor. His emigrant paternal grandfather, Dr. Archibald Blair, had also served as a burgess, and his brother (this man's great-uncle), Rev.
James Blair James Blair may refer to:
*James Blair (Australian judge) (1870–1944), Australian judge, lawyer, and politician
*James Blair (cricketer) (1900–1961), Australian-born New Zealand cricketer
* James Blair (farmer) (1825–1901), Scottish-born farm ...
, had founded and become the first president of the
College of William & Mary
The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...
, and at his death bequeathed much of his estate to this man's father. His maternal grandfather was Rev. John Monro of St. John's Parish,
King William County
King William County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,810. Its county seat is King William.
King William County is located in the Middle Peninsula and is included in the Greater R ...
.
As had his father, Blair attended William & Mary, receiving a bachelor of arts in 1754. In 1755, he went to London to study law at the
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...
.
Career
Returning home to practice law, Blair was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1757 and quickly thrust into public life. He began his public career shortly after the close of the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
with his election to the seat reserved for the College of William and Mary in the
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been establishe ...
(1766–1770). He went on to become clerk of the Governor's Council, the upper house of the colonial legislature (1770–1775).
Blair originally joined the moderate wing of the
Patriot
A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism.
Patriot may also refer to:
Political and military groups United States
* Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution
* Patriot m ...
cause. He opposed
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first a ...
's extremist resolutions in protest of the
Stamp Act, but the dissolution of the
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been establishe ...
by Parliament profoundly altered his views. In response to a series of taxes on the colonies passed by Parliament, Blair joined
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
and others in 1770 and again in 1774 to draft nonimportation agreements which pledged their supporters to cease importing British goods until the taxes were repealed. In 1775, he reacted to the
British Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...
's passage of the
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws aimed to punish Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest of the Tea Act, a tax measur ...
by joining those calling for a
Continental Congress and pledging support for the people of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
who were suffering economic hardship because of Parliament's actions.
When the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
began, Blair became deeply involved in the government of his state. He served as a member of the convention that drew up
Virginia's constitution (1776) and held a number of important committee positions, including a seat on the Committee of 28 that framed the
Virginia Declaration of Rights
The Virginia Declaration of Rights was drafted in 1776 to proclaim the inherent rights of men, including the right to reform or abolish "inadequate" government. It influenced a number of later documents, including the United States Declaratio ...
and plan of government. He served on the Privy Council, Governor Patrick Henry's major advisory group (1776–1778). The legislature elected him to a judgeship in the general court in 1778 and soon to the post of chief justice. He was also elected to Virginia's high court of chancery (1780). The judicial appointments automatically made Blair a member of Virginia's first court of appeals. On the Virginia Court of Appeals, Blair participated in ''The Commonwealth of Virginia v. Caton et al.'' (1782), which set the precedent that courts can deem legislative acts unconstitutional. The decision was a precursor to the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
in decision ''
Marbury v. Madison
''Marbury v. Madison'', 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review in the United States, meaning that American courts have the power to strike down laws and statutes t ...
''.
![Mrs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Mrs._John_Blair_%28page_81_crop%29.jpg)
In 1786, the legislature, recognizing Blair's prestige as a jurist, appointed him
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
's successor on a committee revising the laws of Virginia. The following year, he was appointed as a delegate to the
Constitutional Convention.
[
On September 24, 1789, President George Washington nominated Blair for one of the five ]associate justice
Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...
positions on the newly established U.S. Supreme Court. He was confirmed by the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
two days later. Blair served on the Supreme Court from February 2, 1790 until October 25, 1795.[ The court's caseload during Blair's tenure was light, with only 13 cases decided over six years. However, Blair participated in the court's landmark case of Chisholm v. Georgia, which is considered the first United States Supreme Court case of significance and impact.]
Personal life
He married his cousin, Jean Balfour Blair.[Blair was a Freemason.
He was named Grand Master of Freemasons in Virginia under the newly organized Grand Lodge of Virginia in 1778.
]
Death and legacy
Blair died in Williamsburg on August 31, 1800. He was buried at the Bruton Parish Church
Bruton Parish Church is located in the restored area of Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. It was established in 1674 by the consolidation of two previous parishes in the Virginia Colony, and remains an active Epi ...
yard in Williamsburg.[
Blair Street in ]Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
is named in his honor.
See also
* List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of ...
* Jay Court
References
Further reading
*
*
* Flanders, Henry
''The Lives and Times of the Chief Justices of the United States Supreme Court''
Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1874 at Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...
.
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, John Jr.
1732 births
1800 deaths
18th-century American politicians
18th-century American judges
American people of Scottish descent
American Presbyterians
College of William & Mary alumni
Delegates to the Virginia Ratifying Convention
Politicians from Williamsburg, Virginia
Members of the Middle Temple
Signers of the United States Constitution
United States federal judges appointed by George Washington
Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
Virginia colonial people
Virginia Federalists
Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia