Two hundred years ago right now
and six generations removed from me, my ancestor, James Blair, was in his
earliest days serving in the 27th Infantry, a regiment formed of New
York men during the War of 1812. He was just shy of 29 years old, already the father
of four children and married for the second time. James served as a second
lieutenant in the 27th beginning 20 May 1813.[1] In
September 1813, when the Americans met the British in the Battle of Lake Erie,
James Blair was aboard the sloop Trippe.[2]
The Trippe and the schooner Scorpion were positioned near the rear
of the American fleet during the battle and were credited with capturing two
British vessels that attempted to flee at the end of the conflict. For his role
in the captures, James received $1214.29 as prize money paid “to award the
officers and crews of certain vessels for Captures made During the Late War
with Great Britain.”[3]
James was born 22 June 1784 in
Chester (formerly Murrayfield), Massachusetts, the son of Massachusetts
Minuteman John Blair and his wife, Elizabeth (Halbert).[4]
James followed his parents from Massachusetts to western New York and married,
first, Betsey Smith of Canandaigua, Ontario County, perhaps about 1805.[5] Betsey apparently died between the
birth of her fourth child in 1811 or 1812 and James's remarriage to Nancy
(__?__), possibly about 1813.[6]
Nancy was born 14 March 1783
(calculated)[7] in Connecticut.[8] James was enumerated in the Town of Middlesex in Ontario
County, in 1810 and 1820.[9] By
1830, James had moved west and was enumerated in Hudson Township, Portage
(later Summit) County, Ohio.[10]
James and his family were among the first settlers in St. Joseph Township,
Williams County in far northwestern Ohio about 1836.[11]
He was already “of St. Joseph Township” when he bought land there in December
1836.[12] James died 29
September 1839, probably in Williams County. He was buried in Clarksville
Cemetery near Edgerton.[13] Nancy moved back to New York to live with her daughter, Fanny
Fowler,[14] and
died of infirmities of age in the Town of Gorham, Ontario County, 28 January
1875, aged 91 years, 10 months, and 14 days.[15] She was buried in Baldwin Corners Cemetery in the Town of
Gorham.[16]
The Battle of Lake Erie
Bicentennial will be commemorated with several special events Labor Day
weekend, 29 August to 2 September, including a re-enactment of the battle with
Tall Ships launching from Put-in-Bay. Read more at Battle of Lake Erie Bicentennial Commemoration. I am hopeful that I can go for part of the festivities and try to imagine what
it was like for my ancestor, James Blair, 200 years ago as he played a small
part in “America’s Second Revolution.”
[1] F. B. Heitman, Historical Register of the United States Army, 2 vols. (Washington, D.C.: The National Tribune, 1890), Vol.
1, p. 129.
[2] James Blair entry, “Muster Role of the American
Fleet—Battle of Lake Erie,” Erie Maritime Museum (http://www.flagshipniagara.org/maritime_museum/History/battle_of_lake_erie/muster.htm).
[3] Samuel Hambleton’s account of the distribution of prize money
on Lake Erie, Ohio Historical Society: Ohio
Fundamental Documents (http://www.ohiohistory.org/onlinedoc/war1812/expenditure/
accounts .cfm). J. B. Mansfield, ed., History of the Great Lakes, 2 vols. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1899), Vol. 1, p.
160.
[4] For James’s birth, see Massachusetts Vital
Records: Chester, Vital Records (Oxford, Mass.:
Holbrook Research Institute, 1988), Vol. 1 [p. 423], on microfiche. The pages
in this record are not physically numbered, but the heading on the microfiche
indicates that it includes pages 401–461. For Elizabeth’s maiden name, see her
marriage record, “June ye 14 1770 – then was joyned in marriage John Blair
of Murrey field & Elizabeth Halbert of Pelham,” Massachusetts Vital Records: Pelham, Minutes 1783-84; Marriages
& Intentions 1746-80 (Oxford, Mass.: Holbrook Research Institute, 1989), p.
244, on microfiche. For John’s service as a Minuteman, see Massachusetts
Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 2 (Boston: Wright &
Potter Printing Co., State Printers, 1896), p. 119. Note: I have had
supplemental papers accepted on John Blair by the National Society of Daughters
of the American Revolution. A DAR marker acknowledging his service as a
Minuteman is at his gravesite.
[5] James’s first wife is
identified in Stafford C. Cleveland, History and
Directory of Yates County, (Penn Yan,
N.Y.: S. C. Cleveland, 1873), Vol. 1, p. 600. Cleveland was the editor of the Yates County
Chronicle and lived contemporaneously
with the Blairs. Their marriage year is estimated at 1805 because they had
three children by June 1810.
[6] In his will James named his “beloved wife Nancy” and identified
the four children of his “former wife,” implying that the remaining children
named were of his second marriage. The oldest of the remaining children, Fanny,
was born 7 July 1814, according to her cemetery marker, noted in “Baldwin Corners
Cemetery Inscriptions, Town of Gorham, Ontario County, New York” (typescript), p.
26, FHL film no. 1403142, item 23, prompting an estimated marriage year of
1813. J. Thomas Blair (Jefferson, N.C.) letter to Dawne Slater-Putt dated 25
May 1994 indicated that Nancy was “the widow Cook,” but provided no
source.
[8] 1850 U.S. census,
Ontario Co., NY, pop. sch., Town of Gorham, p. 573 (penned), dwell./fam. 156,
Harvey Fowler.
[9] 1810 and 1820 U.S.
censuses, Ontario Co., NY, pop. sch., Town of Middlesex, p. 195 (penned) and p.
67 (stamped), respectively, James Blair households.
[10] 1830 U.S. census,
Portage Co., OH, pop. sch., Hudson Twp. p. 290 (penned), James Blair household.
[11] Weston A. Goodspeed and Charles Blanchard, eds., County of Williams,
Ohio (Chicago: F. A. Battey and Co.,
Publishers, 1882), p. 353.
[12] Williams Co., OH Deed
Vol. 4: 92 (Samuel and Margaret Slater to
James Blair), Recorder’s Office, Bryan; FHL film no. 909425.
[13] Clarksville Cemetery
(St. Joseph Twp., Williams Co., OH), James Blair marker, photographed by Dawne
Slater-Putt in Jan. 1990.
[14] 1850 U.S. census,
Ontario Co., NY, Harvey Fowler household (cited
above); 1855 New York state census, Ontario Co., pop. sch., Town of Gorham,
Election District 3, p. 83 (stamped), no dwell. no., fam. 107, Harvey Fowler;
1860 U.S. census, Ontario Co., NY, pop. sch., Town of Gorham, p. 367 (penned),
dwell. 140, fam. 143, Harvey Fowler; 1870 U.S. census, Ontario Co., NY, pop.
sch., Town of Gorham, p. 208 (stamped), dwell. 507, fam. 516, Harvey Fowler.
[15] 1875 New York state census, Ontario Co., mortality schedule, Town
of Gorham, p. 33 (penned), line 1, Nancy Blair entry.
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