Samuel Steel Blair
Encyclopedia
Samuel Steel Blair was a Republican
United States Representative from Pennsylvania
.
Born in Indiana, Pennsylvania
, he attended the public schools and graduated from Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
. He studied law and was admitted to the bar
in 1845. He began practicing in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania
in 1846.
Blair was a delegate to the 1856 Republican National Convention
, and was elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican in 1858
and 1860
. During the Thirty-seventh Congress
, Blair was chairman of the United States House Committee on Private Lands. He unsuccessfully ran for reelection in 1862
and resumed the practice of law. He was again an unsuccessful candidate for election to Congress in 1874
.
Blair died in Hollidaysburg and was interred in the Presbyterian Cemetery.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
United States Representative from Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
Born in Indiana, Pennsylvania
Indiana, Pennsylvania
Indiana is a borough in and the county seat of Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 14,895 at the 2000 census.The borough and the region as a whole promotes itself as the "Christmas Tree Capital of the World" because the national Christmas Tree Grower's Association was...
, he attended the public schools and graduated from Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
Canonsburg is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, southwest of Pittsburgh. Canonsburg was laid out by Colonel John Canon in 1789 and incorporated in 1802....
. He studied law and was admitted to the bar
Bar (law)
Bar in a legal context has three possible meanings: the division of a courtroom between its working and public areas; the process of qualifying to practice law; and the legal profession.-Courtroom division:...
in 1845. He began practicing in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania
Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania
Hollidaysburg is a borough in Blair County, Pennsylvania, on the Juniata River, south of Altoona. It is the county seat of Blair County. It is part of the Altoona, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is one of the communities that comprises the Altoona Urban Area...
in 1846.
Blair was a delegate to the 1856 Republican National Convention
1856 Republican National Convention
The 1856 Republican National Convention convened from June 17 to June 19, 1856 at the Musical Fund Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and nominated General John C. Frémont of California and former Senator William Dayton of New Jersey for President and Vice President of the United...
, and was elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican in 1858
United States House election, 1858
Following the U.S. House election of 1858, the Republicans gained control of the House for the first time, benefiting from the continued breakdown in the anti-immigration and anti-Catholic American Party of the Know Nothing Movement, and from strife within the Democratic Party.The Republicans were...
and 1860
United States House election, 1860
Elections among the 33 states to the 37th United States Congress of the House of Representatives were held August 1860 through September 1861. Following the presidential election of 1860, Electoral College vote and Inauguration swearing-in, their term would coincide with the first two years of...
. During the Thirty-seventh Congress
37th United States Congress
The Thirty-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1861 to March 4, 1863, during the first two...
, Blair was chairman of the United States House Committee on Private Lands. He unsuccessfully ran for reelection in 1862
United States House election, 1862
Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1862, mostly in November, in the middle of President Abraham Lincoln's first term...
and resumed the practice of law. He was again an unsuccessful candidate for election to Congress in 1874
United States House election, 1874
The U.S. House election, 1874 was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1874, which occurred in the middle of President Ulysses S. Grant's second term. It was an important turning point, as the Republicans lost heavily and the Democrats gained control of the House...
.
Blair died in Hollidaysburg and was interred in the Presbyterian Cemetery.