John BLAIR, Congress, TN (1790-1863)

BLAIR John , a Representative from Tennessee; born at Blairs Mill, near Jonesborough (now Jonesboro), Washington County, Tenn., September 13, 1790; attended Martain Academy, and was graduated from Washington (Tenn.) College in 1809; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1813 and practiced; member of the State house of representatives 1815-1817; served in the State senate 1817-1821; elected as a Jacksonian Republican to the Eighteenth Congress; reelected as a Jacksonian to the Nineteenth through Twenty-third Congresses (March 4, 1823-March 3, 1835); chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of State (Twentieth Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1834 to the Twenty-fourth Congress; retired to private life; again a member of the State house of representatives, in 1849 and 1850; resumed the practice of law; died in Jonesboro, Tenn., July 9, 1863; interment in the Old Cemetery.

Bibliography

Bloomer, Faye T. ``The Legislative Career of John Blair.'' Master's thesis, East Tennessee State University, 1956.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present