OBIT:   BLAIR, John A.; 1908; Ebensburg, Cambria Cnty., PA

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Cambria Freeman
Ebensburg, Pa.
Friday, 16 Oct 1908
Volume 42, Number 40


Light Fails for Sheriff Blair; Veteran is Gone 
After Illness of Several Months, Ebensburg Pioneer Crosses 
Dark River
Funeral was Largely Attended

After an illness of several months, John A. Blair, the 
oldest native citizen of Ebensburg, died last Saturday 
morning at his home in this place.

The funeral of the dead pioneer was held Monday morning 
from the church of the Holy Name when a requiem high mass 
was celebrated by the pastor, Father H. M. O'Neill, after 
which interment was made in the old cemetery adjoining the 
church.

The following officiated as pallbearers:  H. A. Englehart; 
J. B. Denny; F. C. Lloyd; Dr. F. C. Jones; D. A. McGough; 
James M. Thompson; Carl Rivinius; A. E. Bender; M. D. 
Kittell; E. J. Luther; Webster Griffith and A. W. Buck.

The funeral was attended by the following people from out 
of town:  The Hon. F. J. O'Connor, J. C. Darby, P. S. 
Fisher, Percy Allen Rose, W. Horace Rose, and Frank Cook of 
Johnstown; John A. Schwab and wife of Loretto; Julius Eger 
of the Summit; John V. Leonard and wife of Gallitzin; T. M. 
Sheehan of Patton and Misses Eleanor Shields, Grace Burgoon 
and Blanche Burgoon, all of Cresson.

John A. Blair was born on Dec. 14, 1825, in an old log 
house located on what is now known as the Belmont property 
on Horner Street, West Ward.  The house was formerly used 
as a summer hotel and the property is now owned by J. B. 
Denny. Although born in Ebensburg, Mr. Blair was reared by 
Simon Weakland, a prominent farmer of Allegheny Township, 
many years deceased.  He worked for some years on the farm 
of Mr. Weakland and later came to Ebensburg.  He learned 
the carpenter trade and worked with Ex-Sheriff James Meyer.  
At the age of twenty-one years he enlisted in the Cambria 
Guards, which left Ebensburg eighty-five strong in 1846 and 
served in the Mexican War. He served under Capt. Murray and 
returned to Ebensburg July 18, 1848.  Squire J. D. Parrish 
of Ebensburg and Dennis Litzinger of Virginia are now the 
only survivors of the Guards.  

Soon after coming home from the Mexican War, Mr. Blair was 
married to Miss Jane Ann Evans, daughter of Mary Ann Evans.  
To this union eleven children were born, the following 
surviving at the present time:  Worth W., of this place; 
Margaret, wife of Thomas McDermott of Johnstown; Jennie, 
wife of M. D. Bearer, Casher of the Grange National Bank at 
Patton; John T. of this place; Cordelia, wife of W. A. 
Horan of Johnstown; and Annie, wife of O. E. Wilkinson, the 
Ebensburg marble cutter.  Celestine A. Blair, another son 
who has been dead for a number of years, was a former 
Recorder of Cambria County.  Mrs. J. A. Blair died in 1904.

Mr. Blair had 45 grandchildren, of whom, 35 are living.  
Mary Ann Evans, mother-in-law of John A. Blair, built the 
Blair House, the famous hostelry destroyed by the fire 
several days ago. The house was erected in 1847 and Mrs. 
Evans conducted a hotel there for many years.  John A. 
Blair assumed charge of the hotel and called it the Blair 
House.  This hotel came to be known as the headquarters of 
the Democrats of Ebensburg and vicinity, the proprietor 
being acknowledged as the greatest Democratic political 
leader in the county twenty years ago. He was Sheriff of 
Cambria County in 1867 and was County Treasurer in 1859.  
The hotel was sold in 1887 to John S. Miller of Huntingdon.

In his early days Mr. Blair ran a hack between Ebensburg 
and Wilmore, making two trips each day.  He took care of 
the Ebensburg end of the business and John G. Given was 
located at the Wilmore end.  The hauling of people between 
these towns was carried on by these two men until the 
railroad branch was built to Ebensburg in 1861.