BSGR History

The original Blair Society for Genealogical Research was organized in 1925 in Erie, Pennsylvania. Its accomplishments included collecting and preserving the extensive correspondence of Dr. Eleanor Moore Heistand-Moore with Blairs all over the world, and publishing a quarterly newsletter, The Blair Magazine, from 1925-31. The Society flourished for several years, but fell on hard times during the Great Depression. People simply could not afford the $2.00 annual dues. The last known correspondence of the original Society was dated 26 July 1937, calling for a meeting in Erie, Pennsylvania. No one knows if that meeting actually took place. Some dedicated members continued their personal correspondence for a few more years in the faint hope of eventually reviving the Society, but after their death the Society records were stored away and soon forgotten.

Raymond Blair, of Louisville, Kentucky, placed an advertisement in Everton's Genealogical Helper in 1976, for the purpose of corresponding with Blair family researchers. He received a reply from a lady who said that she had purchased at an auction several boxes of old Blair records. She had no personal interest in genealogy and offered them to Mr. Blair, who purchased them sight unseen. After several years of studying these fragile old records, he decided that they must be shared with other Blair researchers. In 1982, he placed another advertisement in the Genealogical Helper, calling for the reconstitution of the Blair Society for Genealogical Research. This advertisement was answered by William E. Osborne, of St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Osborne had some administrative experience, and with Mr. Blair, laid the groundwork for the reorganization. The official birth date of the reorganized Society was 1 February 1983.

Thus, the Blair Society for Genealogical Research, after almost fifty years of dormancy, is once again serving the needs of Blair family researchers around the world. One can only imagine how much richer our treasury of Blair information would be today if the Society had remained active for all of those years.

The Blair Society Today

The Blair Society for Genealogical Research now has hundreds of members representing virtually every state in the United States of America, and in Australia, Canada, England, Japan, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Singapore. Building upon the records of the original Society, we now offer our members wide-ranging programs and the personal contacts that are so helpful to research. We annually publish a quarterly newsletter, The Blair Family Magazine, a Membership Directory, and an Annual Business Report. We have also published several books, maintain an extensive computer database, hold annual workshops and seminars, maintain archival repositories, both on paper and microfilm, to preserve Blair related books, manuscripts and photographs of genealogical and historical value, and collect current Blair- related articles and obituaries. Our special projects are many and varied; ranging from Bible records, cemetery, census, military and other primary source documents, to identifying the Blairs who traveled the Oregon and California trails, and verifying the lineage of the Blair brothers who died at the Alamo. A major project we are currently working on is a book about the Blairs who served in the Revolutionary War.

The Blair Society for Genealogical Research is dedicated exclusively to the preservation of the records and history of the ancient and honored name of Blair. Your research, and the research of hundreds of other Blair researchers world wide, past and present, make the Blair Society a resource that becomes more valuable over the years. No other society or organization can offer this unique opportunity. Please fill out a membership application and join us today!