BLAIRS WHO DIED AT THE ALAMO
Note: The following is a random collection of any information I have found regarding these two men to try to determine if/ how they might connect to our family.
General Information
Samuel C. Blair
1. He came from the DeWitt Colony in Texas.
2. Tom Green (tbgreen.3@prodigy.net) - "I have been attempting to identify Captain Samuel Blair and John Blair who died in the Alamo. Captain Samuel Blair in 1826, borrowed money from James McGloin, the founder of the San Particio Colony, where he later settled..."
3. Faye Chism: (chmtraildixietx@aol.com)
4. Richard Carlson: (richard-j-carlson@viowa.edu)
5. Richard Blair: (rbblair@appleorchard.org)
6. Devona Grobe: (t6grobe@fbg.net)
7. Tom Buchanan: (hesed1@aol.com) ("See note" Blair of Guilford Co. NC/ Roane Co. Tn" on Blair Family GenForum. Follow the thread).
John Blair
1. Bob Blair: (reb911@hotmail.com): "I am the GG Grandnephew of the Alamo defender, John Blair. John was the brother of my GG Grandfather Francis A. (Asbury?) Blair of Pulaski and Crawford counties in Missouri. There are no known direct descendants of John Blair. John was a married man (wife - Mary?) and as a Texas immigrant was a member of Zavala's Colony. He registered for one league of land on February 19, 1835. After he was killed, a grateful Texas granted his family a large amount of land which is now Stephenville, Texas.
2. Shelly Arnold: (5arnold_78613@yahoo.com). "His father's name was Thomas Blair. Do you have any info. on his mother's name? I am a descendant of John's brother, Jesse Walker Blair".
3. Richard Carlson: (richard-j-carlson@viowa.edu). "John Blair appears to be the son of my ancestor Thomas Blair (ca. 1770s - 1839), who settled in Cape Girardeau Co. Missouri between about 1800 - 1810. There's supposed to be a land record of some kind where the heirs of John Blair received 7000 acres in Texas for John's service at the Alamo. I haven't seen this document, but it's supposed to name all of John's heirs, who are the same as the children of Thomas Blair".
------------
Source: TomGreenIII genealogy post on 4-16-2000 on Ancestry.com:
"I am researching John and Samuel Blair who both died in the Alamo. Old Alamo documents indicated that these two men were brothers both born in Tennessee, but there is no indication who their family was. From what I have found, Capt. Samuel Blair was living in the San Patricio Colony, possibly as early as 1828, and came to San Antonio to fight in the Battle of Bexas on December 5, 1835. He was a friend of James McGloin, one of the founders of the San Patricio Colony, and borrowed money from him in 1829, probably in Matamoros, Mexico. Samuel Blair was one of the election judges when the men in the Alamo elected Samuel Maverick as their delegate to the convention held a Washington-on-the-Brazos where the Texas Decleration of Independence was signed on March 2, 1836. The final siege of the Alamo was on the moring of March 6, 1836, where all died. Who was this Samuel Blair?
John Blair, who also died in the Alamo, was living in Nacogdoches, possibly as early as 1828, and probably came to the Alamo with the men of Nacogdoches. He may have been married to Mary, who later married Chester McArthur after the death of John Blair. They may have had a daughter who married a Mr. McClarthy, and died before 1846. According to a Nacodgotches document filed in 1853, the siblings of this John Blair were: Thomas M. Blair, Nancy L. Blair married to Newton Quary, William W. Blair, Francis A. Blair married to Eliza Ann, Margaret Blair married to William Spear, and Jesse W. Blair, deceased, who was married to Emeline. Issac Lee was the executor of this John Blair's estate, and said to have been his first cousin. Who was this John Blair? Was he the brother of Capt. Samuel Blair? Were these heros from Tennessee?
I feel that it is sad that we have not found out who these two Blair heros were. Their names are carved on the monument outside the Alamo, and I standup each year when their names are read during the memorial service, but no knows who their family was. Lets all put our heads together and identify these two heros of the Alamo!"
------------
Source: TomGreenIII genealogy post on 4-16-2000 on Ancestry.com:
"I am researching John and Samuel Blair who both died in the Alamo. Old Alamo documents indicated that these two men were brothers both born in Tennessee, but there is no indication who their family was. From what I have found, Capt. Samuel Blair was living in the San Patricio Colony, possibly as early as 1828, and came to San Antonio to fight in the Battle of Bexas on December 5, 1835. He was a friend of James McGloin, one of the founders of the San Patricio Colony, and borrowed money from him in 1829, probably in Matamoros, Mexico. Samuel Blair was one of the election judges when the men in the Alamo elected Samuel Maverick as their delegate to the convention held a Washington-on-the-Brazos where the Texas Decleration of Independence was signed on March 2, 1836. The final siege of the Alamo was on the moring of March 6, 1836, where all died. Who was this Samuel Blair?
John Blair, who also died in the Alamo, was living in Nacogdoches, possibly as early as 1828, and probably came to the Alamo with the men of Nacogdoches. He may have been married to Mary, who later married Chester McArthur after the death of John Blair. They may have had a daughter who married a Mr. McClarthy, and died before 1846. According to a Nacodgotches document filed in 1853, the siblings of this John Blair were: Thomas M. Blair, Nancy L. Blair married to Newton Quary, William W. Blair, Francis A. Blair married to Eliza Ann, Margaret Blair married to William Spear, and Jesse W. Blair, deceased, who was married to Emeline. Issac Lee was the executor of this John Blair's estate, and said to have been his first cousin. Who was this John Blair? Was he the brother of Capt. Samuel Blair? Were these heros from Tennessee?
I feel that it is sad that we have not found out who these two Blair heros were. Their names are carved on the monument outside the Alamo, and I standup each year when their names are read during the memorial service, but no knows who their family was. Lets all put our heads together and identify these two heros of the Alamo!"
Source: R.L. Steinacker on 6-16-2000 on Ancestry.com in response to TomGreenIII post on 4-16-2000:
"I don't know if this will be of help to you, but I found a Blair website that indicates that Gen. Sam Houston's grandmother was a Blair. I realize that Gen. Houston didn't die in the Alamo, but he did live in the same area at the same time. If his grandmother was a Blair there is a possibility of a connection with the Blalirs you are researching, isn't there? It is at least something you can look at. This is the website:
http://www.clinton.net/~daver/bl_anc.htm
Source: Devona Grobe (t6grobe@fbg.net) post on 3-6-2000 on genealogy.com website:
" Today is a very important day to remember because because 2 Blairs died for the State of TEXAS along with more than 186 other men. Does anyone have any information on either one of them? I know that Samuel C. Blair came from the DeWitt Colony in Texas, but have no other info. on either one of them. The other one that died at the Alamo was John Blair. Can't find any other info. on him".
Source: Richard Carlson (richard-j-carlson@ulowa.edu) post on 3-12-2000 on genealogy.com in response to Devona Grobe post on 3-6-2000:
"John Blair appears to be the son of my ancestor Thomas Blair (ca. 1770s - 1839), who settled in Cape Girardeau county, Missouri, between about 1800 and 1810. There's supposed to be a land record of some kind where the heirs of John Blair received 7, 000 acres in Texas for John's service at the Alamo. I haven't seen this document, but it's supposed to name all of John's heirs, who are the same as the children of Thomas Blair".
Source: Tom Green (tbgreen3@prodigy.net) post on 4-28-2000 on genealogy.com in response to Richard Carlson post on 3-12-2000.
"I have been attempting to identify Capt. Samuel Blair and John Blair who died in the Alamo. Capt. Samuel Blair n 1826, borrowed money from James McGloin, the founder of the San Particio Colony, where he later settled. This Samuel Blair fought at the Battle of Bexar in December of 1835, and apparently stayed in San Antonio to later die March 6, 1836 in the fall of the Alamo. He is said to have been the brother of the John Blair who also died in the Alamo, but I doubt this relationship because document in Nacogdoches name the siblings of John Blair, where he lived before going to the Alamo, and there is no Samuel Blair named as a brother. It is true that Thomas M. Blair is named in this document as a brother, as are Jesse W. Blair, William W. Blair, and Francis A. Blair. The document also names sisters Nancy L. Blair, who married Newton Quary, and sister Margaret Blair, who married William Spear. Others named are Isaac Lee, a first cousin of John Blair, and Mary Blair McArthur, the wife of John Blair. She apparently later married Charles McArthur. John Blair and his wife Mary may have had a daughter married to a Mr. McClarthy, but she died before April 2, 1846 when this document was filed. I would love to learn who the parents of these two heroes of the Alamo were! Best Regards, Tom Green"
Source:Richard Carlson (richard-j-carlson@ufowa.edu) 4-28-2000 post on genealogy.com in response to Tom Green post.
"Tom, do you have a copy of the documents in Nacogdoches that name John Blair's siblings? Or could you tell me what type of documents they are and where I could order my own copies? I'm a descendant of Jesse W. Blair, John Blair's brother, and I'm interested in finding out all I can about his family. John and Jesse were children of Thomas Blair, who was born in the 1770s, possibly in Georgia or South Carolina, and who died in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, in 1839. John Blair did have a brother Samuel, but this Samuel was alive as late as 1850, and so could not have been the one killed at the Alamo. It is curious that this brother was not named in the 1846 record. It is also curious that "Isaac Lee" was named as a first cousin of John Blair in the Texas record, since Isaac L. Blair was named as a son of Thomas Blair in his (Thomas's) will. I also wonder, if John Blair had a widow, why she wasn't his only heir, rather than all his siblings."
Source: Tom Green post on 4-28-2000 on genealogy.com iin response to post by Richard Carlson on 4-28-2000.
"
