Francis Preston Blair
Francis Preston Blair, Sr. (born April 12, 1791 in Abingdon , Washington County , Virginia , † November 5, 1876 in Silver Spring , Maryland ) was an American journalist and politician .
Career
Originally from Virginia, Francis Blair moved to Kentucky , studied journalism, and graduated from Transylvania University in 1811 . He then worked for Amos Kendall's Argus of Western America newspaper in Frankfort . In 1830 he became an avid supporter of Andrew Jackson . He became editor of the Washington Globe , the recognized organ of the Jackson Party . In this position and as a member of Jackson's Kitchen Cabinet , he has long had a strong influence. The Globe was the administrative organ until 1841 and the Chief Democratic organ until 1845 . Blair gave up his work as an editor in 1849. While in Washington, he worked for Jackson. Blair also bought what later became known as Blair House in 1836 .
In 1848 he actively supported Martin Van Buren , the Free Soil candidate, in the presidency and in 1852 Franklin Pierce . Then in February 1856 he helped the new Republican Party organize its convention in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . He was instrumental in securing the nomination of John Charles Frémont to the convent in June 1856 and Abraham Lincoln in 1860 .
After Lincoln's re-election in 1864, Blair thought that his earlier closer personal ties with the Confederate leaders might help bring an end to hostilities and, with Lincoln's approval, went unofficially to Richmond , where he encouraged President Jefferson Davis to appoint commissioners to replace the MPs the United States (although this may well have been a result of domestic political pressures). This resulted in the pointless " Hampton Roads Conference " on February 3, 1865. After the Civil War , Blair became an opponent of President Andrew Johnson's policy of reconstruction , so that he eventually joined the Democratic Party .
Founder of Silver Spring
In 1840, Blair (and possibly his daughter Elizabeth ) found a " mica speckled " layer emerging near Seventh Street Pike (now Georgia Avenue ). He liked the location so much that he bought the surrounding land and built a summer home for his family called Silver Spring. The town of the same name was named after Blair's estate.
Appreciation
At the head of the state of Georgia is Union County , named after the Union Party that strongly supported President Andrew Jackson for his Indian procession policy. On December 26, 1835, Georgia's General Assembly designated the Unions County seat in a law called “lot No. 273 of the 9th Ward and first slice of the original Cherokee Territory, now Union County, in what is now known as Blairsville ”(Ga. Laws 1835, p. 113). The city ( Blairsville , Georgia) is believed to be named after Francis P. Blair, who was not only a celebrity and influential man of his time, but also a strong supporter of the Union Party, after which the county itself was named. Adjacent cities and counties in the area have similar ties to the Union Party, so they supported that relationship.
family
Blair had two sons, Montgomery Blair (1813-1883) and Francis Preston Blair, Jr. (1821-1875), and a nephew, Benjamin Gratz Brown (1826-1885), who was also an important American politician. He also had a daughter, Elizabeth Blair (1818-1906), who married Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee . He is also the great-great-grandfather of the actor Montgomery Clift (1920–1966).
Bibliography
- ↑ Jerry A. McCoy: Historic Silver Spring . Arcadia Publishing, Silver Spring, Md. 2005, ISBN 0738541885 , pp. 26-32.
- ↑ Info Site Princeton
Web links
- Francis Preston Blair in the database of Find a Grave (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Blair, Francis Preston |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Blair, Francis Preston Sr. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American journalist and politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 12, 1791 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Abingdon , Virginia |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 5, 1876 |
| Place of death | Silver Spring , Maryland |