Austin Blair (February 8, 1818 – August 6, 1894) was a 19th-century American lawyer and politician who served as the 13th governor of Michigan during the American Civil War and in Michigan's House of Representatives and Senate as well as the U.S. Senate. He was known as a strong opponent of slavery and secession. He also led efforts to provide women and black citizens the right to vote. He simultaneously sought to ban capital punishment.

Early life in New York

Blair was born in Caroline, New York, in a log cabin built by his father George Blair of Scottish ancestry. It was reportedly the first cabin in Tompkins County, New York and Blair lived there until age 17, helping his father farm the land. He attended the common schools, Cazenovia Seminary and Hamilton College, before transferring to Union College in the middle of his junior year, graduating in 1839. Blair studied law in Owego, New York and was admitted to the bar in Tioga County, New York in 1841. He moved to Michigan in that year, residing first in Jackson before moving to Eaton Rapids.

Politics in Michigan

He began his political career in Eaton Rapids, where he was elected the clerk of Eaton County in 1842. He moved back to Jackson in 1844 and was a Whig member of the Michigan State House of Representatives from Jackson County in 1846. He served on the House Judiciary Committee and was the leading proponent of the successful 1846 effort to abolish capital punishment in Michigan. He also introduced legislation to allow black citizens the right to vote. He left the Whig Party because they did not take a strong anti-slavery stance, and was a delegate to the Free Soil Party National Convention in Buffalo, New York in 1848 which nominated Martin Van Buren.

In February 1849, Blair married Sarah L. Ford, of Seneca County New York. Together they had four sons; George who became a postal clerk in the railway mail service; Charles who became a partner with his father; the other two were Fred and Austin.

He was elected Jackson County prosecutor in 1852 and participated in organizing the Republican Party in 1854. He was chairman of the committee that drafted the Republican platform "under the oaks" in Jackson on July 6. He served in the Michigan Senate, where he represented the 12th district, from 1855 to 1856. The monument was officially dedicated on October 12, 1898. It is made of bronze and Milford granite and stands just under 25 ft tall. The statue was cast by the Bureau Brothers Foundry in Philadelphia. The granite pedestal was executed by C. W. Hills of Jackson, MI. Edward Clark Potter was the sculptor while Donaldson and Meier designed the pedestal. The monument is unique because of the quote by Blair engraved on the back. It is one of only two monuments to identify slavery as the cause of the Civil War, the other being the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Blair was a Third Class (honorary) Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

Blair Township in Grand Traverse County is named after Austin Blair.

References

  • Governor Blair on Michigan Government Television
  • 102nd United States Colored Troops
  • Memorial Library
  • Political Graveyard