Blair Family

The Blair family is one of the more notable families of Michigan. The compiler of this collection of papers, Helen Marie Blair Lamar (1898-1981), was the daughter of Charles A. Blair (1854-1912), who served as attorney general and justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan, and granddaughter of Austin Blair (1818-1894), the governor of Michigan during the Civil War.

Austin Blair was born in Caroline, New York and moved to Jackson, Michigan in 1841 to practice law. He took an active part in the formation of the Republican Party "under the oaks" of Jackson in 1854 and became increasingly more involved in politics, serving as governor and then as congressman.

George H. Blair, the eldest of Austin's sons, had a difficult life. He had trouble holding a job and worked off and on for the United States Postal Service. He married Vienna Peck in 1878 and they had three children. George accidentally shot his son Charles Austin's arm off while cleaning his gun. In 1897 Vienna divorced him after he committed adultery with Josephine Darrell. His brother Charles intervened, making him leave his mistress and go down to Florida, where the Blair brothers had bought some land. In 1901 he was paralyzed and returned to his brother Charles' house in Jackson, where he spent the last three years of his life as an invalid.

Charles Austin Blair, the second of Austin and Sarah Blair's four sons, graduated from the University of Michigan in 1876 and later was a member of the Board of Regents, as was his father. He was the responsible brother, often helping his less steady brothers get jobs, and giving them substantial financial support. He married Effie Caroline North (1861-1944) in 1879 and they had four children. Effie's parents were Guy Franklin North (1832-1890), trumpeter of the 18th Michigan Infantry, Company B, during the Civil War, and Ella Aurelia Hanks North Cole (1837-1917).

Two of Charles and Effie Blair's four children survived childhood. George Fred Blair (1880-1955) graduated from Annapolis and spent several years in the navy before trying his hand at various unsuccessful business ventures. He married Lucie Chamberlain, the daughter of Oregon Governor and Senator George Chamberlain, and had five children. Helen Marie Blair Lamar (1898-1981), known as "Peachie," went to Gunston Hall School in Washington, D.C. and then to St. Mary's Academy and College in Portland, Oregon. She married George "Jack" Lamar in 1921.

Austin Blair's other two sons were Frederick Johnson Blair (1860-1943) and Austin True Blair (1864-1944). Fred married four times, once to a second cousin. He ended up in Washington D.C., working for the government, after a stint spent attempting to grow pineapples in Florida. Austin True was an actor in New York. He seemed to write brother Charles the most persistent appeals for financial assistance, for work was often scarce and he had a chronic gambling problem.

From the guide to the Austin Blair Family Papers, 1849-1981, 1895-1920, (Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan)