John Blair

Captain

Died December 6, 1913

Law Enforcement →

Life Media Letters Family Service Also Served Memorials In Our Keeping

Captain John Blair served in the U.S. Army. John served with the Company I, 100th Pennsylvania Infantry.

How He Died

Manner Homicide

Cause Gunshot wound

Mechanism Firearm

Place Indiana

Life Story

John Pringle Blair was born on March 28, 1833, in Indiana, Pennsylvania, to David Blair and Margaret Steel. His father was a Presbyterian minister, and the family owned $9,000 of real estate and $500 of personal property in 1860. He enrolled at Washington College (present-day Washington & Jefferson College) in 1849, and he graduated a few years later. He studied law with his brother, future congressman Samuel Steel Blair, and began working as a lawyer around 1856. Two years later, he became a district attorney.

In April 1861, he received a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in Company F of the 12th Pennsylvania Infantry. The regiment guarded the Northern Central Railway in Maryland, and it mustered out on August 5, 1861. Blair returned to the Union army almost immediately, mustering in as a 1st lieutenant in Company I of the 100th Pennsylvania Infantry on August 31. He was wounded in the Battle of Secessionville on June 16, 1862, and again in the Second Battle of Manassas on August 29, 1862.

He recovered from both injuries and eventually rejoined the regiment. The 100th Pennsylvania fought at Antietam and Fredericksburg in late 1862 and helped lay siege to Vicksburg in the summer of 1863. It returned to the Eastern Theater by 1864 and took part in the Battle of the Wilderness, the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and the siege of Petersburg. Blair eventually earned a promotion to captain, and he mustered out on October 4, 1864.

He returned to Indiana, Pennsylvania, after leaving the army. In 1864, he was elected "President Judge of Indiana County," a position he held for the next ten years. A local writer described him as a "courtly, dignified gentleman of the old school." He reportedly "became widely known for the thoroughness, accuracy and absolute fairness of his legal openions [sic] and trial of cases."

He married Elizabeth Sutton on February 14, 1866, and they had at least three children: Margaret, born around 1868; James, born around 1870; and David, born around 1872. By 1870, he owned $3,500 of real estate and $3,500 of personal property. His wife died on April 11, 1884. Blair never remarried, but he hired a series of servants and housekeepers to tend to his home. He died in Indiana on January 19, 1913.

What Happened

Patrolman John Blair and Patrolman James Lamb were shot and killed while attempting to arrest three gamblers whom they had previously told to leave town. In an exchange of gunfire, Patrolman Lamb killed one of the suspects. A posse overtook and captured the other two a short time later, ten miles east of St. Charles City. Both, 27 and 29 were hanged in the county jail at St. Charles on August 18, 1916.

Media

Letters2

2 written by John

21 September 1861 John Blair → David Blair, Margaret Blair

Camp Kalorama

Sept 21^st 1861

My Dear Parents

To night I am Lieutenant of the Guard which is composed of 81 men. We are put on duty at 10 oclock AM and stay there until the same hour the next day. It is now nearly 12 oclock at night and in a few minutes I must go and put on the Relief. All the Guard, together with the Lieutenant are required to stay at the Guard Quarters all the time, but it has been raining all afternoon, and the quarters are so wet & muddy that I have ordered each relief as it comes in to go to their respective Company Quarters and stay until they are needed. As for myself I am snugly located in my own tent, where I propose to spend the night, making an occasional visit to the Guard to see that all is right. I am messing with the Capt. 2^d Lieutenant & Orderly Sergeant. all in one Mangure, or large tent. Our 2^d Lieut / is out recruiting to fill the Company in which effort I hope he will succeed for it is a very trying business to drill recruits as they come in to the Company Standard. The Capt & Orderly are sound asleep & I am all alone in the tent with nothing to read or think about except home. So I have concluded to pass some of the time in writing to you

The order of business from day to day is as follows. Roll call at sunrise. Squad drill, for one hour and a half. Company drill from 1/2 past 10 till 12. Squad drill from 2 till 1/2 past 3. Regimental drill from 1/2 past 4 till 6. Not a very trying ordeal. Our Reg contains at present eleven companies. We expect to lose one, leaving 10. The regular regimental number. It is called the “Round Head” Regiment. Why I am unable to say, unless because it is from Western Penn^a where stubborn Presbyterianism is supposed to live and flourish in special exuberance. It is said that the Secretary of War gave it that name when he issued the com / mission to the Col. So far as the “physique” of the Reg is concerned it is a good one, but in a moral aspect it excels. There are nightly prayer meetings, and general good conduct characterizes and distinguishes it from most others. I havent seen a single case of intemperance since I came here. This is partly owing to the moral tone of the men, and partly to the difficulty of procuring liquor. We have Guards stationed all around, who examine every man who passes in order to see whether he has any liquor about his person. One of the best signs of the times is the severe discipline that is enforced in the Army around Washington. No soldier or officer is permitted to appear on the streets unless he has a pass from the Col of his Reg. countersigned by the Brigadier General. The rations we get are good & fresh beef, ham, coffee, tea once a week, potatoes twice a week, sugar, bread rice and beans. We get a great deal more than we did in the 3 months service we are not yet uniformed nor / have we the guns which we expect but have the promise of both in a day or two. We will most probably move to the other side of the Potomac so soon as we are uniformed and properly armed. We have no reliable news, but hear evry day of an expected battle which never takes place

You did not say whether you had rec^d the certificate of deposit I sent you from Pittsburg. I thought some of trying to recruit for our Company about Indiana, but judging from your letter as to the number of companies raising there the chance would be slim. We will fill up from Lawrence County and the neighboring Counties. I had the offer of a 1^st Lieutenancy in another Company from Newcastle, now in Col Powers Reg. I also had the offer of a Company, but feared it might not be filled over 1000 men having already gone out of the County. Tell them to write me from Hollidaysburg and write soon yourselves. I will let you know my movements, whenever an opportunity offers Your Son

John

25 December 1863 John Blair → Margaret Blair Written at Blaine, Grainger County, Tennessee

Camp near Blanes Cross Roads

Dec 25. 1863

My dear Mother,

I hasten to drop you a line to let you know that I am well. We have been lying here in the woods for a week. We have all sorts of rumors, one is that our Corps is going north, another that we are to have a forward movement, and that orders to this effect have been issued or are already issued. The enemy is about 10 or 13 miles from us. we are encamped on this side of one of the precipitous mountains, and at night enjoy the most splendid scene of camp fires ever witnessed. It is quite cold, and as yet we have no / prospect of winter quarters. It would be a great pleasure to spend this christmas at home. Our rations are improving a little, and will continue to improve as the road to Chattanooga is opened up. We now have flour issued to us, instead of cornmeal or bran, and we get nearly half rations of it. Our Sutler too has come up with 6 wagon loads of stuff, which will be a great help to us. A man who has anything eatable to sell in this country now has only to name his price and he will get it. The prices for provisions & clothing are enormous.

I dropped you a note from Knoxville, enclosing draft. My throat is much better, but I am not yet entirely rid of the cold. I have had no letter since Fathers /

I presume you will have turkey for dinner to day. There is nothing I have such a craving for as bread & applebutter—something tart. I manage to keep reasonably warm wear 2 flannel shirts & an overcoat. Our soldiers are suffering much. The most of them but a thin blouse worn to tatters, and many of them have left the blood from their bare feet on this frozen ground. We have not been able to draw any clothing since we came to this Dept. All are nevertheless cheerful & were never more sanguine. I think the great majority will reinlist. The Presidents mission, which we read yesterday, gives unbounded satisfaction. Evrybody is delighted with it. We now begin to walk in the open day, and the end draws near. Our army / will steadily increase, while that of the enemy will sink in spirit, under repeated disasters and the immense exhibition of We our Strength which all may see is to be brought into the field in course of time, if necessary. Grant has shown great good sense in abandoning everything else in his vast Dept and devoting his attention exclusively to the army of Tennessee.

The accounts you see in the papers of operations here are very unreliable. In the assault which the enemy made on Fort Landers, our Regt is not named, & yet we lost more men proportionatly than any other force at or near the Fort. It was a bloody repulse. The dead lay in piles all around the Fort, contorted in every conceivable shape, & exhibiting such a spectacle as I never wish to see again. But I must close

write immediately. I will

write soon again

Your Son

John

His last letter, 25 December 1863 · Died 6 December 1913

Service Record

U.S. Army

12th Pennsylvania Infantry

Captain

Entered service as 2nd Lieutenant; left as Captain.

U.S. Army

Company I, 100th Pennsylvania Infantry