Austin Blair
Governor, Michigan, 1861-1865
U. S. House of Representatives, Michigan, 1867-1873
Born: February 8, 1818, Caroline, Tompkins County, New York.
Died: August 6, 1894, Jackson, Michigan.
- Attended the common schools, Cazenovia Seminary, and Hamilton College, Clinton, New York.
- Union College, Schenectady, New York, graduate, 1837.
- Studied law in Oswego.
- Admitted to the bar in Tioga County, New York, 1841.
- Moved to Michigan and settled in Eaton Rapids, where he commenced practicing law, 1842.
- Became County Clerk, Eaton County, Michigan.
- Moved to Jackson, Jackson County, Michigan, 1844.
- Elected to the Michigan State House of Representatives, 1845.
- Delegate from Michigan to the Free-Soil National Convention at Buffalo, New York, 1848.
- Elected Prosecuting Attorney of Jackson County, Michigan, 1852.
- Elected to the Michigan State Senate, 1854.
- Present at the organization of the Republican Party in Jackson, Michigan, July 6, 1854, and was a member of the platform committee.
- Delegate from Michigan to the Republican National Convention at Chicago, Illinois, 1860.
- Governor of Michigan, January 1, 1861 - January 1, 1865.
- Elected from Michigan as a Republican to the Fortieth, Forty-first, and Forty-second U. S. Congresses, March 4, 1867 - March 3, 1873.
- Was not a candidate for renomination in 1872, having become the Liberal
- Republican candidate for Governor, but was unsuccessful.
- Resumed his law practice in Jackson, Michigan.
Buried: Mount Evergreen Cemetery, Jackson, Michigan.
(Source: U.S. Congress. House. Biographical Directory Of The American Congress 1774-1949, 85th Cong., 2nd sess., H. Doc. 607 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950), pp. 759-2057.)