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Austin Blair | |
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| 13th Governor of Michigan | |
| In office January 2, 1861 – January 5, 1865 | |
| Lieutenant | James M. Birney 1861 Joseph R. Williams 1861 (Acting) Henry T. Backus 1861-63 Charles S. May 1863-65 |
| Preceded by | Moses Wisner |
| Succeeded by | Henry H. Crapo |
| Chairman of the House Republican Conference | |
| In office March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873 | |
| Speaker | James G. Blaine |
| Preceded by | Robert C. Schenck/ Nathaniel P. Banks |
| Succeeded by | Horace Maynard |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's3rd district | |
| In office March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1873 | |
| Preceded by | John W. Longyear |
| Succeeded by | George Willard |
| Member of theMichigan Senate from the12th district | |
| In office 1855–1856 | |
| Preceded by | Moses Archibald McNaughton |
| Succeeded by | Joseph E. Beebe |
| Member of theMichigan House of Representatives from theJackson County district | |
| In office 1846 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 8, 1818 Caroline, New York |
| Died | August 6, 1894 (aged 76) Jackson, Michigan |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Sarah L. Ford |
Austin Blair (February 8, 1818 – August 6, 1894) was apolitician who served as the 13thgovernor of Michigan during theAmerican 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 ofslavery andsecession. He also led efforts to provide women and black citizens the right to vote.[citation needed] He simultaneously sought to bancapital punishment.
Blair was born inCaroline, New York, in alog cabin built by his father George Blair ofScottish ancestry. It was reportedly the first cabin inTompkins County, New York and Blair lived there until age 17, helping his fatherfarm the land. He attended thecommon schools,Cazenovia Seminary andHamilton College, before transferring toUnion College in the middle of his junior year, graduating in 1839. Blair studiedlaw inOwego, New York and was admitted to thebar inTioga County, New York in 1841. He moved to Michigan in that year, residing first inJackson before moving toEaton Rapids.
He began his political career in Eaton Rapids, where he was elected theclerk ofEaton County in 1842. He moved back to Jackson in 1844 and was aWhig member of theMichigan State House of Representatives fromJackson County in 1846.[1] 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 theFree Soil Party National Convention inBuffalo, New York in 1848 which nominatedMartin 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 Countyprosecutor in 1852 and participated in organizing theRepublican Party in 1854. He waschairman of thecommittee that drafted the Republican platform "under the oaks" in Jackson on July 6. He served in theMichigan Senate, where he represented the12th district, from 1855 to 1856.[1]
Blair was a delegate from Michigan to the1860 Republican National Convention, which nominatedAbraham Lincoln. He was also electedGovernor of Michigan in that year and reelected in 1862, serving from 1861 to 1865.
In his first inaugural address in January 1861, Blair recommended that the state offer its entire military resources to Lincoln for maintaining the supremacy of theU.S. Constitution. Within days of the outbreak of theAmerican Civil War in April, Blair responded by calling for ten companies of volunteers. The legislature later retroactively authorized the Governor's quick actions, authorized a war loan of $1,000,000, and passed the Soldiers' Relief Law, requiring counties to provide relief to the families of soldiers. By mid-May, the first regiment of Michigan soldiers, under the command ofColonelO. B. Willcox had left to engage in the field of combat, and was the first western force to arrive at the seat of combat. The second regiment, under the command of ColonelIsrael B. Richardson, soon followed.
While the third and fourth regiments were being raised, Blair received directions from theU.S. Secretary of War, limiting the number of regiments that would be accepted from Michigan to four and asked Blair not to raise more than that number. Blair decided to disregard these instructions and continued to establish the fifth, sixth, and seventh regiments, all of which had been deployed by mid-September. Under Blair's guidance, Michigan continued to supply troops for the Union forces throughout the war. One notable unit was a colored unit, known as the 102nd United States Colored Troops, which included two sons ofSojourner Truth andJosiah Henson (the manHarriet Beecher Stowe used as the model forUncle Tom). In 1862, he attended the LoyalWar Governors' Conference inAltoona, Pennsylvania, which ultimately backedAbraham Lincoln'sEmancipation Proclamation and the Union war effort.
At the outset of the war, Michigan had a total population of approximately 800,000 and an estimated 110,000 able-bodied men capable of bearing arms. By the end of the war, more than 90,000 Michigan men had volunteered to fight. Blair personally helped to raise about $100,000 to organize and equip the initial muster of troops. When Blair left office in 1864, he was almost destitute, having expended much of his personal wealth in support of the war effort. During this time of conflict, Governor Blair ran the state government from his hometown of Jackson, making that community a hub of Michigan's war effort.
Blair ran unsuccessfully for theU.S. Senate, challenging the politically well-entrenchedZachariah Chandler who, although a fellow Republican, was seen by Blair as representing wealthy,Detroit interests rather than "outstate" interests.
Two years after leaving the Governor's seat, Austin Blair was elected to theU.S. House representingMichigan's 3rd congressional district from 1867 to 1873, serving in the40th,41st and42nd Congresses. He was not a candidate for re-election in 1872, but unsuccessfully ran as theLiberal Republican candidate for Governor. He returned to Jackson to resume a private law practice. He was a member of theUniversity of Michigan board of regents from 1881 to 1889. In 1883, Blair was nominated for Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court Republican party, but was defeated.
He died in Jackson and is interred at Mt. Evergreen Cemetery there.
In 1895, the Michigan legislature appropriated $10,000 (~$318,411 in 2023) for a statue in Blair's memory. It was to be placed onCapitol Square, the only time that an actual person has been honored with a statue on the Capitol's grounds.
Blair Township inGrand Traverse County is named after Austin Blair.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of Michigan 1860,1862 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by None | Liberal Republican nominee forGovernor of Michigan 1872 | Succeeded by None |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of Michigan 1861–1865 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | United States Representative for the 3rd Congressional District of Michigan 1867 – 1873 | Succeeded by |
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