Representative Bernard Blair

Bernard Blair (May 24, 1801 – May 7, 1880) was an American politician, lawyer, and businessman who served one term as a United States Representative from New York. A member of the Whig Party, he represented New York’s twelfth congressional district during a significant period in the nation’s political development, participating in the legislative process and representing the interests of his constituents in the early 1840s.

Blair was born on May 24, 1801, in Williamstown, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, the son of William Blair and Sally (Train) Blair. He was raised in Williamstown, where he attended the local public schools and pursued preparatory studies. Growing up in a New England college town, he was exposed early to academic life and the civic culture that surrounded Williams College, influences that helped shape his later professional and political pursuits.

Blair continued his education at Williams College in his native Williamstown. He enrolled there as a young man and was graduated in 1825, receiving a classical education that was typical of the period and that prepared him for a career in the learned professions. Around this time he married Charlotte Lansing, aligning himself with a family name of prominence in New York, and soon thereafter he left Massachusetts to establish himself in the neighboring state.

In 1825, the same year of his graduation, Blair moved to Salem in Washington County, New York. He studied law after his relocation and was admitted to the bar in 1828. He commenced the practice of law in Salem and subsequently was admitted as a counselor and solicitor in chancery, reflecting his competence in both common law and equity practice. As his legal career developed, he became an active figure in local affairs and in the emerging Whig Party, which attracted many professionals and businessmen in upstate New York.

Blair’s growing prominence in Whig politics led to his selection as a delegate from New York to the Whig National Convention in 1839, a key gathering at which the party organized its national platform and leadership in the years preceding the 1840 presidential election. His participation in this convention underscored his standing within the party and helped pave the way for his own candidacy for national office.

Elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress, Blair served as the United States Representative for New York’s twelfth congressional district from March 4, 1841, to March 3, 1843. His single term in Congress coincided with a turbulent era in American politics marked by debates over economic policy, the role of the national bank, and the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches. As a member of the Whig Party representing New York, Bernard Blair contributed to the legislative process during his one term in office, participating in the democratic process and advocating for the interests of his district’s constituents within the broader national dialogue of the early 1840s.

After completing his term in Congress, Blair chose not to return to active legal practice. Instead, he discontinued the practice of his profession and engaged in business pursuits in and around Salem. His post-congressional years were spent as a respected member of the community, drawing on his legal training, political experience, and regional connections to participate in the economic life of Washington County.

Bernard Blair died in Salem, Washington County, New York, on May 7, 1880. He was remembered locally as a lawyer, businessman, and former congressman whose career linked the academic milieu of Williamstown with the political and commercial life of upstate New York during the formative decades of the nineteenth century.