William Blair

For more about this family go to pixleyblair.tribalpages.com Also scroll down to the bottom of the homepage to 'Stories' and click on: The Scots, Scots-Irish and the Making of America.

NOTE: While records have shown that our Blair family originated in Ayrshire, Scotland, a message from Katharine Blair Slant who found a William Blair on Ancestry.com who was born in Perthshire, Scotland in 1720. There was also birth information on a son Robert Blair born in Carmoney, Antrim, Northern Ireland who could be our Robert Blair. There is no information on William Blair's parents. The only son shown for Robert is Samuel but she says going into it further into it, it shows a James who could be our ancestor. She says that some of the Blairs were 'quite distinguished'. This needs further documentation as no sources are given for this and previous research has shown that our Blair originated in Ayrshire. Eg. Cousin Effemey Blair Wall's father told her that "his father emigrated to the north of Ireland from Ayrshire."

GEDCOM Note

Emigration via Londonderry, Ireland?

GEDCOM Note

There is a Thomas Blair listed as a grandchild of this line. May have settled in Kentucky

GEDCOM Note

He was associated with the Reformed Presbyterian Church

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(Research): "THE MARK OF THE SCOTS "No people so few in number have scored so deep a mark in the world's history as the Scots have done." J.A. Froude English historian From:«i» The Mark of the Scots Their Astonishing Contributions to History«/i», «i»Science, Democracy, Literature and the Arts «/i» by Duncan A. Bruce

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"I am a Scotsman; therefore I had to fight my way into the world." "Sir Walter Scott

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"In 1700 Scotland was Europe's poorest independent country. Yet the story of how this small, underpopulated and culturally backward nation rose to become the driving wheel of modern progress is...largely unknown...For if you want a monument to the Scots, look around you." «i»How the Scots Invented the Modern World «/i» by Arthur Herman

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"If all else fails, I will retreat up the valley of Virginia, plant my flag on the Blue Ridge, rally around the Scotch-Irish of that region and make my last stand for liberty amongst a people who will never submit to British tyranny whilst there is still a man left to draw a trigger."

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"Every line of strength in American history is a line coloured with Scottish blood." President Woodrow Wilson

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GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH! The Scots fierce devotion to liberty bourne of their own hardships & persecution made them natural fighters for America's liberty. They were among the greatest "sons of the Revolutions". It's no accident that three quarters of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and of the presidents of the United States-are of Scottish descent. This is all the more extraordinary considering their numbers in the general population. Patrick Henry was a first generation Scot-his father was b. in Scotland. His "Give me liberty or give me death!" is an iconic Scottish cry for independence. Think of William 'Braveheart' Wallace's call for Freedom! It's in the blood! And their large numbers in the Revolution helped ingrain their convictions into the American spirit.«b»

«u»«/b»OUR BLAIR TRADITION AND HISTORY «/u» Was our emigrant ancestor named William?«u» «/u» From Blair family historian, Effemey Blair Wall-letter of 1924 to Mr. Prowell, then the librarian of the York Co, Pennsyvania, Historical Society Library: Our emigrant Blair with several brothers came to America between 1732 and 1750. Our ancestor settled in York County, Penna., and was buried at Guinston. She also states: "We believe he came from Ireland with three or four brothers; that he was an Ulsterman; that his family had gone to Ireland from Ayrshire, Scotland." We do not know his name. Personally I (Cousin Effie) believes he was William Blair; that Robert and Jean named their first son for him and their second son for his maternal grandfather. In the old "Cowgill Account book" was an item--undated, alas!--in the writing of the entries between 1760 and 1775 of "William Blear" making shoes for the Cowgills. The old Cowgill homestead, I understand, is still in existence. Is it a reasonable assumption that the "shoemaker" was of the same neighborhood?--and not so far away as Carlisle? Or was the William Blair of Carlisle the shoemaker? The Cowgill homestead, I am told, is in Easton, York Co. (Later in Cousin Effie's research, she notes a Charles Allen Blair marrying a Lillian Cowgill in Carthage, MO.)

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Also from Cousin Effie Blair Wall's Blair history book pg. 35-a letter from Samuel Hindman Blair, son of Joseph: (with notes from Cousin Effie) "My great grandfather' Robert Blair came from County Down in Ireland to America, as far as I know before the War of Independence in 1776...the date of coming being as far back as 1736..." (Robert was actually his grandfather & Cousin Effie's great-grandfather. (Cousin Effie notes that this is probably a 'crossed tradition' as the Wallace line came about that year.) "In conversation with my father as to whether I was Irish or Scotch he told me that his grandfather had emigrated to the north of Ireland from Ayrshire, Scotland, before he came to America...Then he came to America & settled in York, County, Pennsylvania." (Cousin Effie notes" The records do not show, in York County, the coming a such a man. There was an early Blair family in Peach Bottom Twnshp--but there is nothing definite to tie them to us. They did have a Brice Blair in the group & it is interesting that one of the first-born grandchildren of Robert & Jean was 'Brice'.) "My grandfather, Robert Blair & other colonists, migrated over the mountains to the head-waters of the Alleghany River and descended it in flat-boats to the Ohio River, & settled in Beaver County. He took up a farm on Tomlinson's run, near Florence Mills and Hookstown... Cousin Effie notes: These landmarks were not, of course, there at the times of the settlement. The family settled there in 1800, as shown by the records...now known as Matthew Nicol farm, & died of choler morbus, at 56 years & is buried in the Old King's Creek (Church) cemetary. "He (Robert Blair) married Jane* (Jean) Allison, daughter of William* Allison...Grandfather's brother, James Blair with his son & daughter, Robert & Jane, visited his brother in Beaver County in 1834. His wife also visited the family of Alexander Blair in 1841, in Washington County, Penna.

• Cousin Effie notes: Her name in the wills of her parents & her brothers & sisters is in the Scotch form-Jean. Also, by these same Wills, we found her father to have been Gavin Allison, instead of William*.

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We do not know whether the following applies to the first "born-in-America" generation, or the second one: He_____name and generation unknown--died in 1776. Died in one of the first skirmishes of the Revolutionary War........Wife's name unknown. His wife died when James, the youngest was born in 1773. Margaret Vanderlaan found a 1st Co. Captain, William Blair: «i»History of Frederick Co. MD«/i» Page 461.....the "Game-Cock Company of Frederick Company...Of this company, William Blair was elected Captain...It was in the hottest of the fight at Brooklyn Heights, Long Island, NY, where it's gallant Captain Blair, fell mortally wounded; participated in all the most important engagements of the war, and assisted at the siege of Yorktown and in the capture of Cornwallis. Capt. Blair was Scotch-Irish extraction, and was noted for his gallantry and indomitable pluck.... (Our William would have probably have been too old for the Revolution.)

Another: «i»Blair Society database: «/i» William Blair Born c 1720, Co. Ayr, Scotland or in Ireland? Died: c 1776--Said to have died early in the Rev. War? The first William died at the Battle of Brooklyn Hts., which was 27 Aug 1776- the other William in 1776-(or in York Co?)...so cannot be the same person.

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There were three children: Robert, born 1767; Jane-Jean, no date of birth; James, 1773-1855 Robert married Jean Allison, and settled in Beaver Co. Pa. Jane-Jean married a man by the name of Robe(Robb?), near Philadelphia, and moved to near Morgantown, Va. James settled in Erie Co. Pa. (This from Mr. J. E. Reed of Erie, Penna.) Book The Mark of the Scots The Mark of the Scots Their Astonishing Contributions to History, Science, Democracy, Literature and the Arts Duncan A. Bruce Citadel Press Kensington Publishing Co. 850 Third Ave. NY NY 10022 1996, 1998 Y Y The Mark of the Scots-Their Astonishing Contributions to History, Science, Democracy, Literature and the Arts 4 12 Sep 2007 YES How The Scots Invented the Modern World How The Scots Invented the Modern World The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It Arthur Herman Crown Publishers NY NY Random House Inc. 2001 Y Y In 1700 Scotland was Europe's poorest country... 4 12 Sep 2007 YES Mimeographed copies Blair Family-Research Notes on the Blair Family-compiled by Effie Blair Wall Effemey Wall Blair Written in the 1920s by cousin Effemey Blair Wall Cousin Effie left copies of her extensive Blair research to members of the family. I found one of these at Uncle Lea Blair's home about 1967. I took it home, and that was the beginning of these many years of genealogical endeavors...All because of Cousin Effie. She had no children, but what a legacy she left. I found copies of her work in the L.A. Library--and I made sure copies of her Blair Family history are now in the archives of the Clan Blair Society and the Blair Society for Genealogical Research... I am told I met her when I was a very little girl...Little did she know that I would be the one to carry on her work. We owe her alot. Y Y The Mark of the Scots The Mark of the Scots Their Astonishing Contributions to History, Science, Democracy, Literature and the Arts. Duncan a. Bruce Kensington Pub. Corp. 850 Third Ave NY NY 10022 1998 Y Y

GEDCOM Note

According to Cousin Effie Blair Wall says he was "the brother of the other Martins" who m, into the Blair family. These Martins, according to Effie Blair Wall may have been descendants of or connected with 'step-ancestor' Samuel Martin, who married 2nd & was the 2nd husband of our ancestor Jean Wallace Allison. According to a letter from Clement Valandingham Blair to Cousin Effie in 1917: "Uncle William Martin & Aunt Mary Blair were cousins. My mother said they ran off to get married. (However, in another place his says he never heard of that(?)

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O Caledonia! Stern and Wild... Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, Land of the mountains and the flood, Land of my sires! What mortal hand Can e'er untie the filial bond That knits me to thy rugged strand! Sir Walter Scott «i»"Minstrel" «/i»

William (Robert I) possibly emigrated to America from Ireland between 1732-50. His family was possibly-originally from Ayrshire, Scotland. He settled in *York Co., PA. Blair family historian-Cousin Effie Blair Wall thought he was probably 'William'.

• May be York Co. PA?

From a letter from family historian-cousin Effey/Effie Blair April 17, 1925 Carthage, Mo. "It looks pretty much as though we have run Blair line back two generations beyond the so-called Robert "II". We think his father was William-a shoemaker in York County and the father of this William was John, who emigrated in 1731 with a family of several boys and one daughter. A son, Alexander followed later. There were two sons that came with him, William, and John. The daughter's name is not known. But Alexander followed years later--he seems to have grown up in Ireland--and he found in America only his brother William and his sister. The others

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«u»Burial site«/u»: I checked the web site: «i»findagrave.com «/i»for William's/Robert's gravesite. The only listing I found in Beaver Co., Pa. was for "Kings Creek Cemetery". in Raccoon Creek State Park. The Presbyterian Church with which the cemetery is associated-was organized in 1785, but burials could have taken place earlier in the area. This needs more research.

GEDCOM Note

Book William Blair Descendants Descendants of William Blair, 1742-1993 Raymond R. Parker Mr Parker lived in Billiings, MT and was active in the Blair Society for Genealogical Research.