The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-22

country who.has directed all his affairs and ac-
oumulatedsa vast fortune from headquarters
outside Of a great city. Be that as it may.
there are few men who have had a wider
knowledge of this country. its possibilities and
its DEVELOPMENT than he
One day last week a reporter of The Sun
went to Blairstown. The town was there.
hardly less sleepy or more expanded that It
has been for half a century. Up on n hin back
Of the Post Office and looking toward the east.
was the house in which the founder of the town
has lived nearly all his life. 1t is a large two
story frame building. painted white. with green
blinds. and with a cupola in the centre OF the
fiat roof.
John Inslee Blair was born on Aug. %. 1902.
at what was then a little settlement in the
woods. two miles below Belvidere. y. j.. on
the Delaware River. His ancestors were
Scotch Presbyterians. The founder of the
family in this country was John Blair. who
came from Scotland and settled in New Jersey
in 1920. He and his brother. Samuel Blair,
who came to this country a year or two later.
were both clergymen and were among those
who procured from Gov. Belcher the original
charter for Princeton College. John Blair be-
came the professor of moral philosophy in tho
college and Samuel Blair Vice President and
professor Of rhetoric. John !. Blair's grand
father. Samuel Blair, a son Of the Princeton
professor. was the manuGer,and one of the
owners Of the old Oxford iron furnace in the
centre Of Warren county, Nj. The iron'from
the furnace had to be shipped by Delaware
River boats. Somebody had 10 attend to the
loading of the boats ana the general shipping
Of the iron. and so Samuel Blair sent his son,
john |. Blair's father. to the point on the Della
ware River where the iron, was put on the
boats. This was known as Foul .ift.
When John /. Blair wa old enough he at
tended a school in the neighborhood for "a few
ever. in the busy life about the iron furnace
and the shipping place than in an education.
money. One day; shortly after his tenth birth.
day; he said 70 his mother:
three ao Sisters. nj" That'ss % enough 59Ef" in P tSs femilS SP TO
be educated. | an, goin- 10 get rich
The I!rst money h. earned Tias by training
at 81 for sixteen. Before he was IL years old
he was a. a H CLERK II he h. general enc store Of his
best storekeeper in that part of the country.
he Thought he was himSSlf. and at II he
S SS6e on " w stare % St hi kn own; as TIE ara stGr FIJI Mng w 5itg;
Is now within the. confines of Blairstown. He
took his cousin John for a partner and they
capital nut into the business was 5000. A
couple Of years later Mr.. Blair borrowed some
cousin. In two years he was able TO keep a
clerk. and he brought his brother James from
branch store at Marksborough. where he made
James his partner. Then he opened another
store at Johnsonburg and put Robert. another
brother. in as his manager BY 1890 he had
five general stores in operation. The others
were at Paulins and Huntsville, In each OF
these stores, he had some of his brothers or
brothers-in-lhw employed,
His plan Of doing business was this; There
products being the currency. Mr.. Blair
would buy the crops of the farmers in all the
SnrronnHinG s2HntIef as chean!y as nosst-
stores. Then he would market the grain and
other crops In this city or in Newark. To do
and his wagons, were always on the road. His
drivers were also supercargDes. and il thy
were instructed to DO So, 1t was lot unusual
for them TO buy a load OF pork or buckwhelt
fT yne @ mn.,yya4 mar way "r RI IGs, on the roaf home
the grain or the pork. back they would start
Many are he stories still told in BIairstown
OF John ]. ilalr's early experiences in trade.
One o. these is about the first money he made
Canal was being hull and large numbers Il
men were employed upon the work. The
great market tor their surplios was AZ Pater-
and selling the butter tof a shilling a
pound at Paterson. His drivers reported 10
ceivlng this report Mr., Blair, bought ali the
T WlPG good Sd'f batte re- f Hs fou I1ad a q ready m iSis for IT
the mixture and made Si.OO clear in one
year, A short time after that a cargo Of cot
River. The cotton had been wet in transit and
IT was offered AT Il very low price to anybody
who would pay cash for it. Mr. Biair ex-
amined some Of the damaged bales. made an
Il was found that a comparatively
few bales had been damaged. On that deal
the. young merchant. cleared $4,000.
Mr.. Blair laid the foundation OF his fortune
while a storekeeper, hut 1t Will ne as a rail-
road man thar he will'be remembered. Al his
money increased. In 1899 Mr.. Blair. through
", and Joseph Scranton, became in
tsrested In the iron mines Of PENNSYLVANIA.
H. became convinced hat there was money |