Austin Blair
American politician (1818-1894)
Austin Blair (February 8, 1818 – August 6, 1894) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 13th governor of Michigan during the American Civil War and in Michigan's House of Representatives and Senate as well as the U.S. Senate. He was known as a strong opponent of slavery and secession. He simultaneously sought to ban capital punishment.
Early life in New York
Blair was born in Caroline, New York, in a log cabin built by his father George Blair of Scottish ancestry. It was reportedly the first cabin in Tompkins County, New York and Blair lived there until age 17, helping his father farm the land. He attended the common schools, Cazenovia Seminary and Hamilton College, before transferring to Union College in the middle of his junior year, graduating in 1839. Blair studied law in Owego, New York and was admitted to the bar in Tioga County, New York in 1841. He moved to Michigan in that year, residing first in Jackson before moving to Eaton Rapids.
Politics in Michigan
He began his political career in Eaton Rapids, where he was elected the clerk of Eaton County in 1842. He moved back to Jackson in 1844 and was a Whig member of the Michigan State House of Representatives from Jackson County in 1846.
The public source identifies “Austin Blair” as american politician (1818-1894). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Austin, Blair and American.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q781047. VIAF identifies the subject as 63608778. The Library of Congress control number is no97005930. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1818, 1894, 1839 and 1841.
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This entry incorporates text from “Austin Blair” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.