Evening star., 1939-12-31

Maryland is the owner of this beau
tiful old home, having inherited it
from his mother, Elizabeth (Blair)
Lee, wife of Admiral S. P. Lee, and
third child of F. P. Blair, the other
children being: Montgomery Blair,
Juliet, James and Francis Preston
Blair.
In Famous Cases.
Juliet, the second child of F. P.
Blair, died when quite young. Mont
gomery, the older of the sons, be-
came an able lawyer and is known
to have secured defense for John
Brown of Harpers Ferry notoriety,
and to have defended Dred Scott be-
fore the Supreme Court Of the
| United States. He was named Mont
gomery after Gen. Richard Mont
gomery of Revolutionary fame, for
whom Montgomery County also was
named. AS a politician, he stood
foremost with his father and few
others in forming the Republican
party, and was President Lincoln's
first Postmaster General.
Prior to the Civil War, he erected
a country home at Silver Spring,
close to his fathers residence, which
he called Falkland This dwelling,
at the time of the Confederate raid
on Washington in 1864, became the
headquarters of Gen. Jubal A. Early,
and was burned when being vacated
by the latter's soldiers. It was later
rebuilt and is now standing.
James Blair, second son of Francis
P. Blair, had colorful life, especial
ly during the gold-rush period Of
California. He married Mary Serena
Eliza Jessup, daughter of Sydney
Jessup. He died in 1852 and was
buried at Silver Spring, where he
also owned property at the District
line on the east side of Georgia
avenue. In recent years his daugh-
ter, Mrs. Violet Blair Janin, gave
this property to Montgomery County
for a park, as memorial to her
brother, Jessup Blair.
Entered Politics.
Francis Preston Blair, jr., like his
brother, Montgomery, was a West
Pointer. But the irresistible lure
of politics seems to have run in his
blood, and after having his share OF
military service, particularly in the
| Civil War, in which he was finally
commissioned a major general, he
returned to his first love and to Con-
gress as a Senator from Missouri,
having upon several occasions pre-
viously served in the House of Repre-
sentatives from his native State.
But to return to the old home OF
Francis Preston Blair, ST., and to
Silver Spring, and, of course, to for
mer Senator Blair Lee and his de-
lightful daughter -in-law and grand
son, whom the writer met upon his
very recent visit to their hospitable
home: The age of the Senator is
public property, for the Congress
sional Directory tells us he was born
August 9, 1857, which, OF course,
makes him a little over 81 years OF
age. But he certainly does not look
it, nor act it. He is gentleman OF
the old school-dignifield, polite
courteous, and with Southern polish
that even time has failed to rub OIL
but If anything, made even brighter
His biography says he graduated in
1880 from Princeton University and
in 1882 from the law department OF
George Washington University
where his classmates were Gist Blair
Henry Calver, Matthew G. Emery
jr.; Oscar Nauck, Theodore w. Noyes
Henry K. Willard and number Of
others. He was born in politics ir
the house in which he still lives, anc
knows all its good points and its bac
points, its glories and its heartaches
In the very room in which we sal
the other day, talking over old times
the idea of forming the Republican
party was crystallized by his grand.
father and his uncle, Montgomery
Blair, when he was but 3 or year.
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