James A. Blair was born 1/1/1827 came to America with his father William from Belfast, Ireland, in 1832 via the good ship Josephine and settled at Blakely, Georgia. The Blair family moved westward to Panola County, Mississippi, where the father passed away in 1841.
From 1850 to 1861, he was a planter in Panola county, Mississippi. The outbreak of the war in 1861 found him siding with his neighbors, and he was given a mail contract by the Confederate government, the execution of which constituted his share in the war. The "bullet department," as he termed the battlefield and the firing line, was not his department of the war, and at the end of the conflict he felt no regrets at having carried the mail rather than the gun for the "lost cause."
In 1878, he left Mississippi and came to Texas. He settled near Paris, where he farmed until 1882. That year he went to Tarrant county and engaged in the cattle business, with which he was identified until 1893, when he turned his attention to merchandising at Fort Worth. This last named business he abandoned after a few years, but he lived in Fort Worth up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1911. He is buried next to his wife.
He was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church and the Masonic order. He had married Miss Ellcna Shankle, daughter of Jesse Shankle, of Irish blood and a resident of Alabama while in Panola County, MS. Mrs. Blair died in 1885. (Her headstone says her name is Ellinor, but it must have been mis-understood by the southern pronounciation.)
Info courtesy of Findagraver lka 8427
James A. Blair was born 1/1/1827 came to America with his father William from Belfast, Ireland, in 1832 via the good ship Josephine and settled at Blakely, Georgia. The Blair family moved westward to Panola County, Mississippi, where the father passed away in 1841.
From 1850 to 1861, he was a planter in Panola county, Mississippi. The outbreak of the war in 1861 found him siding with his neighbors, and he was given a mail contract by the Confederate government, the execution of which constituted his share in the war. The "bullet department," as he termed the battlefield and the firing line, was not his department of the war, and at the end of the conflict he felt no regrets at having carried the mail rather than the gun for the "lost cause."
In 1878, he left Mississippi and came to Texas. He settled near Paris, where he farmed until 1882. That year he went to Tarrant county and engaged in the cattle business, with which he was identified until 1893, when he turned his attention to merchandising at Fort Worth. This last named business he abandoned after a few years, but he lived in Fort Worth up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1911. He is buried next to his wife.
He was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church and the Masonic order. He had married Miss Ellcna Shankle, daughter of Jesse Shankle, of Irish blood and a resident of Alabama while in Panola County, MS. Mrs. Blair died in 1885. (Her headstone says her name is Ellinor, but it must have been mis-understood by the southern pronounciation.)
Info courtesy of Findagraver lka 8427
Family Members
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Annie Jance Blair Johnson
1855–1917
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Elizabeth E "Bettie" Blair Selby
1855–1933
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William Hamilton Blair
1858–1922
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John Anderson Blair
1858–1929
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Mary M Blair
1862–1883
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Dr Charles C "Charley" Blair
1864–1925
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Jessie Belle Blair Davis
1867–1947
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Dr Samuel F Blair
1869–1959
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Sarah Prudence "Sallie" Blair McCarty
1872–1950
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James Ewin Blair
1879–1958
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Francis Marion Blair
1900–1980
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