The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-03

cemetery near Mr. Blair's home, beside the grave
OF his wife. who died at the age Of IS
John Insley Blair was born on Aug 90 1902
at a little settlement on the Delaware River. two
miles below Belvidcre. y. j. lie was one Of eleven
children, eight sons and three daughters His
ancestors were Scotch Presbytcrians The found
er OF the family in this country was John Blair
who came from Scotland and settled IN New Jrr-
sey in l72O. John Pl,lr and his brother Samuel
who came TO this country a year or two later
were both clergymen, end We're among thos"
who procured from Gov. BrlChcr the original
charter for Princeton College. John Blair be-
came the Professor VI moral philosophy In the col
l-ge and Samuel Blair vice president and proics.
sor OF rhetoric. John l. Blar's grandfather
Samuel Blair, son Of John Blair. was one Of the
owners and tho manager Of tho old Oxford iron
furnace in the center Of Warren county \. j. The
iron from tho furnace had TO go TO market by Del.
aware River boats, Somebody had To attend TO
tho loading OF the boats and the general ship
ment of the ore. So Samuel Blair sent John
]. Blair's father TO the point on tho Delaware
River where the iron put On the boats This
was known as Foul Rift and near there John
l. Blair was born.
When young Blair was old enough he attended
school in the neighborhood for a few winters
but he early showed that he Possessed few OF tho
OF
after ne was ten years old he snid to his mother
Mother have seven brothers and three sis.
tcrs That's enough for you and father 10 cdu-
cate. I'm going TO get rich"
Tho first money he earned was by trapping
muskrats and rabbits and selling their skins
at 81 for sixteen. Before he was IL years old
he was clerk in the general store Of his brother
at Hope, ~ j. Al II, he was considered tho
best storekerper In that part Of the country lie
thought NJ himself, and at IL, he owned store
Of his own. The store was situated on what
was known AZ Grand Hill. which IN now within
the limits Of Blnirstown II said that the ca
for the business $500 and his cousin John
hs partner In two years he had bought
ont his partner having borrowed the money from
his mother Two years later, he opened another
store at marlborough. in which he made his
brother james "A partner. A little later, hs
started another store AT Johnsonburg and put
another brother, Robert Blair, in charge by
1880, he had Ave general slorrs in operation, the
each store, the employees were brothers or broth
ers inlaw There was no ready money in tho
the crops of the farmers, paying for them in mcr-
chnndise, and then mnrNelcd the crops as quickly
as possible in Newark or New York.
Many are the stories still told in Blairs,own
Of John Blair's early experiences in trade. Ono
Of these is about the first money he made quickly
II was when the Morris and Essex Canal Was
being built and large numbers Of mon we're EN-.
ployod upon the work The great market Tor
their supplies was at Paterson blair was trad
ing cotton yarn for butter, and selling the butter
for a shilling pound at Paterson. His drivers
reported to him that the workmen on the canal
preferred strong butter 10 sweet Immediately
upon receiving this report Mr., blair bought ali
the racid butter he could find and mixed Il with
good butter. He found a ready sale for the mix
ture and made u, 900 clear in one year. A short
time after that cargo Of cotton from New Orleans
came up the Delaware River. The cotton had been
wet In transit and il was offered at a very low
price 10 anybody who would pay cash for it, Mr.
Blair exanlin med some OF the damaged bales, made
an offer and got the cargo when the cotton Was
unloaded Il was found that a comparatively few
bales had been damaged. On that deal tho young
merchant cleared Sl4, 900
While MI, Blair laid the foundation for his
fortune as a storekeercr, II was as a builder and
owner OF railroads that he will be remembered.
In 1889 he undertook the building Of a railroad
from in,. SSsweeo = " to Ithaca I. was built %
Scranton Pa, and was controlled by Blair George
" and Joseph Scranton Moses Taylor, William
Z. Dodge Marshall q, Roberts, Robert G, Win
,hrop Gardner Colby and Israel =, Condit In
ne ball century following the building Of this,
hiS first road MI. Blair built either entirely with
bis own capital % assisted BY tho capital 81 those