1850 Blair Census Update

The 1850 Census Update page contains new listings to the 1850 Census as well as comments from members and others who have purchased the census and found listings that pertain to their family. It is provided to keep those who purchased the 1850 Census updated and hopefully whet the appetite of those who are thinking about purchasing it. The layout of the entries on this page are as close to the book as possible on a web page.

Missouri
Co:Taney taken 30 Oct	Twp: Big Creek	pg. 384	594/594
C. May, age 29, male,farmer, b. Tennessee, cannot read nor write; E. May, age 24, female, b. Illinois, cannot read nor write; J. W. May, age 3, male, b. Missouri; C. May, age 1, female, b. Missouri; A. Blare, age 89, male, b. North Carolina, cannot read nor write. This is believed to be the Alexander Blair who died in Cass Co., IL at the age of 107. Alexander was from Rowan Co., NC and was a "possible" son of James and Mary Hannah Blair.
Additional Listing: [In a book entitled "Taney Families of 1850" there has been an attempt made to identify as many persons of the Taney 1850 census as possible. Next to C. May it says "possibly Caswell" and gives the source as "Reminescent History of the Ozarks".] From Don Clark (Non-member)
New Mexico
Co: Valencia	Tn\Twp: Dona Ana	pg 298	---
The Garrison Blair, A.J., 27, m, soldier USA, Scotland
From Rhonda Blair #0644: I want to "claim" the lone Blair recorded in the 1850 census for the New Mexico Territory, A.J. Blair, age 27: this is my great-grandfather whose family was in Titus Co., TX in the 1850 census but until the your complete census of Blairs came out, he was nowhere to be found! A few years ago, you wondered if he had gone to Calif. with the gold seeking folks and I thought that possible. However, I don't understand the use of "Scotland" after "USA": he was born in GA like most of his siblings. The age 27 is correct (he would have turned 28 in Dec. of 1850). He usually listed himself as "A.J." rather than "Andrew J.", though he does use the latter in the 1867 Texas State Voter Registration.
Ohio,
Co: Defiance	Tn\Twp: Delaware twp.	pg 55	724\724
Blair, Peter, 42, m, farming, Michigan Blair, Sarah, 24, f, Penna, cannot read & write Blair, Mary A., 15, f, Ohio(S) Blair, Nathaniel, 8, m, Ohio(S) Blair, Franklin, 5, m, Ohio(S) Blair, Thomas, 2, m, Ohio		[s/o Joseph Blair] [w#2=Susan Gordon] [m. Emily Jane Tharp] [Benjamin F] [m. Betsy Hughes & __] [ Hist. Defiance Co. Ohio p.263]
From Don Blair: This I say is my family line info. Sarah is Peter's w#2 in this period of time. In brackets she is called "Susan" Gordon in error.  Married 1847. Child Thomas, age 2, is first of their offsprings. Peter and Betsey Hughes w#1 children are Mary Ann, Nathaniel and Benjamin Franklin.  Married 1834.
Co: Defiance	Tn\Twp: Delaware twp.	pg 71 & 72	962\962
Blair, Peter, 28, m, farming, 500, Pennsylvania Blair, Nancy, 24, f, Pennsylvania Blair, Margaret, 1, f, Ohio		[Peter Blair married Sarah Gordon here in 1847. same person?]
From Don Blair: There is a bracket notation of "a" Peter Blair married Sarah Gordon 1847. This is the marriage of Peter to w#2 on p. 245. {Above entry}
Co: Portage	Tn\Twp: Hiram	pg 5	75\75
Pierce, John, 66, m, 1,250, New Hamp. Pierce, Olive, 54, f, New Hampshire Pierce, Orilla, 38, f, New York Pierce, Mary, 34, f, New York Pierce, Warren, 24, m, farmer, Ohio Pierce, Almeda, 22, f, New York Pierce, Harriet, 20, f, Ohio Pierce, Joseph, 18, m, carpenter & joiner, Ohio(S) Pierce, Sarah, 17, f, Ohio(S) Pierce, Daniel, 28, m, carpenter, 750, New York Blair, Ellen, 8, f, Ohio(S) Blair, Jefferson, 2, m, Ohio*		[father of Mary Pierce Blair] [mother of Mary Pierce Blair] [divorced wife of Jacob Blair] [d/o Jacob Blair & Mary Pierce] [*s/o Jacob Blair & Mary Pierce m. Hannah Brabon] [Vol.2, #3, p.19; Mem # 138]
[Jacob Blair was a brother of John who m. Anne Henry and James who married Mercy Howard-see below. They all came from Blandford Mass. to Mantua, Ohio, together.-Orig. mag. p.58; Vol.3, #3, p.14]
From Ralph E. Blair, Jr., BSGR #0964: On page 281 the note added to the last entry incorrectly identifies Jacob BLAIR as the brother of John and James and says they all came from Blandford, MA together. This is incorrect. The Jacob BLAIR in question is my great-grandfather. He was born in 1809 in Mantua Townshiip, Portage County, Ohio, the son of John (Jacob3, Matthew2, Robert1) and Patty (Smith) BLAIR and was probably named after John's brother who was killed by a fall from a building April 9, 1807 (gravestone), the year that John and his family of nine arrived in Mantua from Blandford, MA.  Jacob BLAIR married Mary Ann PIERCE (The Portage County Marriage Record reads "BIERCE".) 10 March 1836. They were the parents of four children: Ellen, b. 1842; Helen, b. 1844; Rodney, b. 1846; and Jefferson, b. 1848. Mary Blair filed a petition for divorce 30 September 1850, before the October census. The divorce was granted 25 February 1851. Jacob does not appear anywhere in the 1850 census and did not appear in court. He married Charlotte A. (Crocker) Fleming 26 July 1857. She was the widow of Nathaniel Fleming and mother of three small children. Jacob and Charlotte had three children of their own: Ora Anna, b. 15 July 1858; Chauncey Orlando, b. 24 September 1861 (my grandfather); and Mary, b. 1867. Jacob last appeared in the 1870 census for Mantua Township, Portage County, Ohio. A local history written in 1909 by a granddaughter of John's oldest child, assisted by two daughters of John's youngest child, says that he "died in Michigan." The note on page 281 says that the brothers came to Mantua together. They did not. Jacob and James came in 1804 as land agents, scouting the best properties to purchase. They returned to Blandford, where Jacob, whose first wife Dorothy Ferguson had died December 9, 1802 giving birth to a son Benjamin (See page 282), married Charlotte Snow in 1805. Jacob returned to Mantua with his wife and child in1806, probably accompanied by Charlotte's brothers Oliver and Franklin Show, his own brother John, and cousin Isaac, Jr. who went on to adjacent Aurora Township. All of James' records are in Blandford until 1825, indicating he stayed in Massachusetts.
Co: Portage	Tn\Twp: Mantua	pg 59	95\95
Blair, Alfred, 55, m, farmer, 2, 678, OH Curtis, Julia, 51, f, Virginia  Blair, Russell E., 24, m, farmer, Ohio  Blair, Emeline C., 17, f, Ohio Blair, Caroline, 15, f, Ohio(S)  Curtis, Julia C., 10, f, Ohio(S) Miller, Rebecca, 79, f, Massachusetts		[ gs/o Jacob Blair & Martha Gilmore-see above] [s/o John Blair & Pattie Smith] [Julia Miller??] [m. Lucy R. Patterson] [m. Nelson Blair-see below] [mother of Julia Miller Blair] [om#5, p39; HIST. PORTAGE CO.OHIO, p.755;
From Ralph E. Blair, Jr., BSGR #0964: The 1850 census report actually reads: Alfred H. Blair, 25, m, Farmer," but by the time this gets to page 282 in The Annotated 1850 Census it reads: "Blair, Alfred, 55, m, farmer," which makes Alfred H.'s entry appear to be his father, who has been dead for 15 years, and it is so described in the notes. This is the story, compiled from the 1850 census; Broderbund, World Family Tree, Volume 28, Tree 34; Portage County marriage records; and gravestones in two cemeteries in Mantua Township, Portage County, Ohio.  ALFRED BLAIR (JOHN4, JACOB3, MATTHEW2, ROBERT1) was born 25 October 1797 in Blandford, Hampden Co, MA, and died 14 August 1835 in Mantua, Portage Co, OH. He was buried in Pioneer Cemetery, Mantua, Portage Co, OH. He married JULIA MILLER 30 March 1824 in Mantua, Portage Co, OH, daughter of MARTIN MILLER and REBECCA JACOBS. She was born 29 January 1799 in Windham, Dummerston, Vermont, and died 22 February 1882 in Texas, Henry Co, OH. Children of ALFRED BLAIR and JULIA MILLER are: ALFRED HARRISON BLAIR, was born 17 January 1825, in Mantua, Portage Co, OH, and died 18 March 1889, in Texas, Henry Co, OH. He married (1) CLARISSA VAUGHN 18 February 1858 in Mantua, Portage Co, OH. She was born 1834 in Mantua, Portage Co, OH, and died 1859 in Mantua, Portage Co, OH. He married (2) JANE SILVERNAIL 1863 in Michigan. She was born 17 January 1832 in Greene Co, NY, and died 8 October 1889 in Texas, Henry Co, OH. 2.ELSTON RUSSELL BLAIR was born 8 August 1826, in Mantua, Portage Co, OH, and died 13 November 1905, in Mantua, Portage Co, OH. He was buried in West Lawn Cemetery, Mantua Center, Portage Co, OH. He married (1) HEBE C. SABIN Abt. 1848. He married (2) LUCY ANN PATTERSON (A first cousin) 15 June 1852 in Mantua, Portage Co, OH, daughter of AVERY PATTERSON and ANNA BLAIR. She was born 13 April 1829 in Mantua, Portage Co, OH, and died 18 February 1899 in Mantua, Portage Co, OH. 3. HENRY MILLER BLAIR was born in 1828 and died date unknown. Broderbund, World Family Tree, Volume 28, Tree 34: 8 children. 4. CARLOS BLAIR, b. 1830; d. 2 March 1847, Mantua, Portage Co, OH. Buried in Pioneer Cemetery, Mantua, Portage Co, OH. 5. EMELINE SAMANTHA BLAIR was born in 1835 and died in 1918. She married William Bronson, 5 December 1854 (Portage County marriage records). Broderbund, World Family Tree, Volume 28, Tree 34: Unmarried. 6. CAROLINE DIANTHA BLAIR was born in 1832 and died in 1855. She married NELSON B. BLAIR (a second cousin) 3 May 1853. She was buried in Pioneer Cemetery, Mantua, Portage Co, OH. After Alfred died in 1835 his widow JULIA BLAIR married RICHARD CURTISS 28 January 1839. They had one child, Clarissa Julia Curtiss, born 29 November 1839. Richard apparently died before 1850. The 1850 census therefore shows Alfred and Julia's son, Alfred Harrison Blair, age 25, as head of household. His mother, the twice widowed Julia Miller Blair Curtiss, is keeping house. Brother Elston Russell, 25, is a farmer. Sisters Emeline, Caroline, and Julia Clarissa Curtiss and Julia's mother Rebecca Miller complete the family. This is not the only error which occurs in connection with Alfred Harrison Blair. John Insley Blair III in his genealogy "Of Blairs of New England," 1975, shows Julia Miller dying in Texas, Alfred Harrison Blair dying in Henry Cy, Texas, his second wife Jane Silvernail dying in Texas, and their son John Burtram Blair as having been born in Henry Cy, Texas. John Burtram Blair married Claril Blair 3 June 1902 and they had two sons, the first of which Elston Alfred Blair was born in Henry County, Texas and the second Owen Elmer Blair was born in Mantua, Ohio. Claril Blair is descended from David Blair, Joseph Blair, and Joseph B. Blair of Kentucky, and was a member of the original Blair Society. Because the lineage shows only Alfred of the ten children of John, and only Alfred Harrison of the six children of Alfred I think this information was taken from lineage information she had furnished to the Blair Society. When she supplied the information for her husband's death certificate Claril Blair Blair gave his place of birth as Texas, Henry County, Ohio. That is a town/township in northwestern Ohio on the Maumee River, 25 miles southwest of Toledo. I think JIB3 stopped when he saw "Texas" and only thought of the state, not recognizing that it could be a local place name. NELSON B.BLAIR was the son of BENJAMIN BLAIR, son of John's brother Jacob.
Pennsylvania
Co: Fayette	Tn\Twp: Jefferson	pg 252	188
Blaire, Margaret, 66, f, b. Fayette Co., PA Blaire, William, 25, m, glassblower, b. Fayette Co., PA
Additional Listing
Co: Fayette	Tn\Twp: Jefferson	pg  252	189
Blaire, Alexander, 43, m, farmer, b. Fayette Co., PA Blaire, Rachel, 38, f, Fayette Co., PA, Blaire, John, 18 m, Fayette Co., PA, Blaire, Sarah G., 12, f,  Fayette Co., PA, Blaire, Marageret, 8, f,  Fayette Co., PA, Blaire, Elizabeth, 6, f,  Fayette Co., PA, Blaire, Ann, 4, f, Fayette Co., PA
Additional Listing
Co: Lebanon	Tn\Twp: Swatara Twp
Henry Blair, 55, farmer, born PA Barbara Blair, 53, wife John Blair, 23 Henry Blair, 21 Barbara Blair, 21 Elizabeth Blair, 19 Joseph Blair, 18 Solomon Blair, 12 Simeon Blair, 12 Anna Blair,16
From Charlotte Stewart, BSGR #0022: The above information was found on the Lebanon County Historical Society's microfilm copy of the Supplemental to the 1850 Federal Census.  Henry Blair is also listed on the Agricultural Census for Swatara Twp, Lebanon Co, PA having 100 Improved, 100 Unimproved, 4 horses, 5 milk cows, 11 other cattle, 14 sheep, 18 swine, value of livestock 250, 150 bushels of wheat, 22 bushels of rye, 100 bushels of corn, 130 other, value of farm equipment and machinery 100.