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GEORGE W. BLAIR, farmer, P. O. West Jefferson, is one of the pioneers of the county and a grandson of Alexander Blair, who was a native of Virginia, of Scotch parentage. He matured in his native State, where he married Elizabeth Vestal, of English birth. They settled in Kentucky in 1788 and, in 1801, in Franklinton, Franklin County. Ohio, where Elizabeth died. He subsequently came to Madison County, where he died in 1825. Of his eleven children, John (the father of our subject) was the eighth child and was born near Harper's Ferry, Va., September 19, but from infancy he lived in Kentucky. when we find him in Ohio. He matured in Franklin County, and entered the war of 1812, from Franklinton, serving until Hull's surrender, when he was captured, but soon after paroled and sent him home. He hunted deer and other game and made sugar from the maple orchard that once occupied the grounds of the present beautiful city of Columbus. He learned the hatter's trade in Franklinton, and then settled in London, Madison County, in 1814, where he embarked in that business. In the latter part of the same year, he married Jennie, daughter of John Thompson, who was a pioneer settler on the lot now owned by Dr. Toland Jones. John Blair and wife remained in London until 1825, when they located on the Glade Run, and, in 1843, in Jefferson Township, where she died, in 1868, and he in 1870, both being interred in the Blair Cemetery. John was a man of tall and slender form, very wiry and energetic, but the last thirty years of his life he was unable to perform physical labor. He died aged eighty-two, and his wife seventy-eight. Of John Blair's seven children, four are now living, two in Madison County, of which George W. is the eldest; he was born in London May 20, 1817, and has since bean a resident of his native county. He early imbibed the principles of farming, which he still follows. In 1841, while living on the Glade Run. he married a daughter of George and Rebecca Goodson. In 1843, George W. Blair and family settled on his present farm, which now consists of 300 acres. At the time of his settlement the land was near all covered with either the original or second growth of timber. He has been a resident of the county almost from the time of its erection, and has watched its rise and progress. From 1868 to 1870, he was connected with the building of the Blair pike of which he completed three miles. He claimed the honor of owning and operating the first steam thresher in Madison County, and of the introduction of the first reaping machine in the county. His children were ten in number, two died in early life – one, Mary E., at the age of twenty-four, and seven are now living, viz., John, George G., Charles W., William F., Uriah H., Belle and Emma C. This family, as well as the ancestors, are adherents of the Methodist Church. John, a native of Deer Creek Township, has always been a resident of the county; he is by occupation a farmer and machinist. He was three years in the late rebellion, participating in the battles of Vicksburg, Jackson, Miss., and many others. He was taken prisoner at Guntown, Miss., and was nine months in Andersonville Prison. He then returned home and married Mary A. Ray, a native of Indiana, who was raised in South Charleston, Clark Co., Ohio. Their children are two sons and three daughters. George G. Blair, as well as all the younger ones, is a native of Jefferson Township, where he was raised to farm life, and entered the service of the late war, in Company K, Ninety-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry with his brother John, and returning after a service of three years. He married Esther A. Clark, a native of Springfield, Ohio, of Irish parentage. They have one son and two daughters. Charles W., the third son, is a farmer and machinist; he entered the United States Navy in 1863, and was assigned to the gunboat "Tawah." He was subsequently wounded at Clifton, Tenn., resulting in the loss of his left arm. His military service covered a period of one year. He afterward was appointed to and filled the position of Postmaster at West Jefferson. He was married to Isabelle G. Melvin, a native of Jefferson. They have two sons and three daughters. William F. Blair has always resided at home, save eighteen months spent in Kansas, and devotes his time largely to machinery. U. H. has always followed farming; he married Margaret, daughter of George Buswell, whose biography appears in this township. Two children are the fruits of this union – Belle is the wife of Jesse M. Mills, of Warren County, Ohio, his occupation is that of saw-miller; Emma C., is the wife of Jacob H. Knouff, a native of Washington County, Md., but since 1863 a resident of Ohio, and since 1872, of Madison County.
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