The name Blair has its origin in the Gaelic word "blar"which means a meadow or an open area with no trees. The first Blair is believed to have been a Norman that arrived in the British Isles with the army of William the Conqueror and was granted lands in Scotland for his service in battle.

The Blair family in Scotland was a landed gentry family and became powerful over the years. There are two main branches of the family; the Blairs of Blair, Ayrshire and the Blairs of Balthayock.

The Blair of Blair family history reaches back into the latter part of the 11th and early years of the 12th century. After William the Conqueror had captured England in 1066 he marched north establishing his throne as he went. The Scots finally gave in and King Malcolm III paid homage to William in 1072 at Abernethy, Perthshire. Norman warriors remained in Scotland to protect the peace. It is the grandson of one of these Norman warriors who first established the lands of Blair around the end of the 12th century under the reign of Richard I. For it was upon a man named Jean Francois whom Richard I (1165-1214) conferred the Barony of Blare. (photo of the ancestral home of the Blairs of Blair, Ayrshire, Scotland)

  Jean's descendants adopted the surname de Blare (Blair) as was tradition when one inherited a Barony. This knowledge is traceable through various signatures appearing on royal charters around this time containing the surname de Blare.

   There have been many interesting individuals in the Blair family, starting about 1249 with Sir Bryce de Blare, eldest son of William de Blare, who was knighted by Alexander III but spurned the English king and supported William Wallace. Sir Bryce supplied the Wallace forces with food and clothing. He was eventually captured and executed by the king for his treachery at Ayr in 1296 at the age of 70. About 1314 Robert the Bruce, King Robert I of Scotland, knighted Sir Roger de Blare for his services at the Battle of Bannockburn. He became the Kings brother in-law when the King married his wife's sister. 

   William de Blair b. abt 1155 (known to be Blair of Blair in 1205 AD) had at least one son also named William. This William inherited the Blair of Blair title upon his father’s death date not known.

  William de Blair, Blair of Blair b. abt 1180, had two known sons, Sir Bryce b. 1226 and a younger son, David b. after 1226. Sir Bryce inherited the Blair of Blair title.

  Sir Bryce de Blair b. 1226 supported William Wallace and Robert the Bruce during the Scottish rebellion I found some information that Sir Bryce was actively supplying the Wallace army with food and arms. He was captured and executed by English King Edward I (Longshanks) in 1296. Sir Bryce had no sons. (Note: some records show that Sir Bryce was 70 years old at the time of his execution. This would place his birth as about 1226) Title of Blair of Blair was passed to his younger brother, David.

   David de Blair (Blair of Blair) b. abt 1230, had one known son, Roger de Blair who became Blair of Blair upon his father’s death.

  Roger de Blair b. probably abt.  1265 was also a supporter of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. If memory serves me correctly King Robert I of Scotland knighted him for his services during the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.  Roger de Blair had two known sons, Hugh and John. Hugh had at least one son, James who inherited his rights. (Don’t know what happened to Hugh.) (Note: During the Scottish rebellion against English King Edward I, there was a John Blair that was Chaplain for the army of William Wallace. It is not known where this John Blair fits in the family.)

  James Blair, Blair of Blair, b. abt.  1293 had a son named James, his heir.

  James Blair b. probably abt.  1330, son of above mentioned James inherited his father’s rights. Apparently he had no sons. Upon his death, the title went to his nephew John.

   David Blair, b. abt.  1390. Son John????

   John Blair, Blair of Blair, b. ab. t 1440 had an only son named John who became Blair of Blair on the death of his father.

   John Blair, Blair of Blair b. abt.  1502, married Lady Elizabeth Montgomery who was the daughter of Hugh, First Earl of Eglinton and had at least one son named John b. 1547, d. 1609.

   This John Blair b. 1547 married Grizel Sempill, daughter of Lord Robert Sempill. They had five sons; John who married Isobel daughter of Thomas Lord Boyd but only had female progeny, Bryce b. abt 1573 who succeeded to the estate on his father’s death in 1609, Alexander who married Elizabeth Cochrane (then changed his name to Alexander Cochrane in order to inherit the Cochrane estate. His son William was 1^st Earl of Dundonald), James and Robert. The above named John Blair, Blair of Blair, is believed to be the ancestor of participant #4816 in the Blair DNA test.

   Bryce Blair, b. abt 1573 heir of John Blair, married Annabell Wallace and had two sons, Bryce b. abt 1600 and John b abt 1625.

  Sir Bryce Blair b. abt 1600 married Marian Dundas in 1618 and was knighted by King Charles I. Sir Bryce Blair had only one son who died young. The title of Blair of Blair was passed on to his uncle, John.

  John Blair b. abt 1625 married Lady Jean Cunninghame, daughter of William, Earl of Glencairin and had at least one son, William, Lord of Blair.

     This takes the direct lineage of the Blairs of Blair from William de Blair in the late 12^th century to the mid 17^th century.

  A third line of the Blair family began early in the 18^th century with the marriage of Lady Jean Blair, daughter of Sir James Blair of Dunskey to Sir James Hunter of Hunterston. James Blair of Dunskey had no male heir to inherit his properties. On Lady Jean’s marriage her husband adopted the name of Hunter-Blair in order to inherit the estate thereby establishing the Hunter-Blair line of the family.

   Early in the 17^th century many Scots left Scotland, settling in Ireland. One of these Scots was a James Blair in abt 1615. A Brice Blair went from Ayrshire to Ballycarry, Ireland abt 1625, John Blair is shown living in Larne, Ireland in 1654, Major James Blair was living in County Antrim in by 1689 who had three sons, William Henry, James and Colin. William Henry, son of Major James Blair, was married to Jane Agnew abt 1732 and had a son named James. He had no children by his second wife but did have two sons by his third wife Charity Jones named Alexander and William Henry Jr.

   In the mid 1700’s many of the Scot-Irish left Ireland for America for various reason such as search for new land and escape from religious persecution (many were ReformePresbyterians and were unpopular with the Catholic Irish).

   Late in the 17^th century a James Blair, D. D. was appointed commissary of the churches in Virginia. He settled in Henrico County and later moved to Jamestown. He married Sarah Harrison and had no sons. This James founded William and Mary College with funds provided by King William III and Queen Mary II. He left his properties to Dr. Archibald Blair, his nephew who was known to be in York County, Va. His first wife is not known but there was a son named John. Secondly Archibald married Elizabeth (?) and had two daughters.

   John Blair, son of the immigrant Archibald Blair married Mary Monro in 1727 and had then following: Christian, Mary (died young) John, Mary, Sarah (also died young) another Sarah, James, Archibald, Anne and Elizabeth.

   By 1700 a Captain William Blair was living in Boston. He was the father by his wife, Ann Clark of a son named William.

   John Blair, probably an immigrant from Scotland, was the father in the year 1716 of a son named Alexander, who made his home in Cumberland, Pa. This Alexander had a brother named William, whose records are not available. He (Alexander) married Elizabeth Cochrane in 1753 and was the father by her of eight children, John, Thomas, William, Alexander Jr., Mary, Elizabeth, Margaret and Benjamin. Of these, John married Susannah Ewing in 1777 and had issue in Pennsylvania and Kentucky of William, James, John, Samuel, George, Susannah and Michael; Thomas married Elenor Evans and left issue in Pennsylvania; William was married in 1781 to Catherine Evans, of Cumberland County Pa., and removed with her to Iowa; Alexander Jr. married Sarah Ralston and died in Barren County, Ky; and Benjamin died in Indiana.

     A DNA study was begun in mid 2002. This study shows the Blairs of Pike County, Alabama are descendants of the Blairs of Blair, Ayrshire. While we now know that we descend from the original William de Blair we have not yet filled in all the gaps back to the 12^th century.

The first Blair was probably of Norman descent and took his name from the place where he dwelled. Recent research by Jack R. Blair, Sydney, Australia, claims in his book titled "The Blair Surname, Its Scottish Origins and Genealogies of Three Blair Families" that the first Blair appears to be a Jean Francois. A son or grandson (William) of this Jean Francois took the name of Blair as a surname from his territorial possession in Ayrshire. His research indicates that the Blairs of Blair, Ayrshire (Blairs of That Ilk) arose about the same time as the Blairs of Balthyock, Perthshire. There is a grant mentioned in 1214 to Alexander de Blair of the Balthyock Blairs. Relationship of these branches of the family, if any, is unclear.

A third branch came into existences with the marriage of Lady Blair to a man named Hunter who then changed his name to Hunter Blair establishing the Hunter Blair line of the family.

Some time between 1750 and 1800 an Ulster Scot Blair immigrated from Ireland to South Carolina. It is known that his family was living in the Newberry District of South Carolina in the year 1800. My great great grandfather, John Blair, was born there on March 15th, 1800. No verifiable information John's where abouts has been found from 1800 to 1828.

There is a listing in the Henry County, Alabama Record of Marriages of John's marriage to Cedena Stephens on 14 February 1828. Cedena Stephens, born in North Carolina, was the daughter of John and Jane Stephens. One child was born in this marriage; William Solomon Blair. Shortly after the birth of William Solomon Cedena died. Family stories say she was killed by a black bear as she while herding in the cows for milking. No record has been found of her death nor of her place of burial.

It is believed that John then married Kitty Ann Stephens, also a daughter of John and Jane Stephens. However no record of their marriage has been found. From this union there were eleven children: John Blair Jr, born 1832; Leonard Blair, born 1834; Zephaniah Blair, born 1836; Needham Blair, born 1838; Levi Blair, born 1840; Sarah Blair, born 1844; Mary Blair, born 1847; K. Nollie Blair, born 1848; Nancy Blair, born 1850; Thaddeus Blair, born 1852 and Roxey Ann Blair, born 1854. Kitty Ann died in June 1874. John then married Mary Jane Stephens Swanner, another sister of Cedena. There were no children from this marriage.

Six of John's sons served in the Confederate Army one of which was Leonard Blair, my great grandfather. Leonard served with the Partisan Rangers in Company H, 53rd Regiment. He was killed in battle in the Charleston, SC area on 3 Dec 1862.

Leonard M. Blair, born 26 Feb 1834 married Mary C. Walters on 3 December 1857. Two children were born to Leonard and Mary, John Lambertine Blair and Levi N. Blair. John Lambertine is my grandfather. Levi N. died young on 27 September 1863. Leonard is buried in the Beulah Cemetery located on South Three Notch St in Troy, Alabama along with his parents John and Kitty Ann Blair, his son Levi N. Blair and his granddaughter Willie Coleman Blair.

Leonard purchased farm land located in the Eastern Division of Pike County from his father, John Blair Sr for $1.00. In the 1860 census he is listed as a farmer. He and Mary farmed this land until his death in 1862. John Blair Sr was the executor of his estate which was listed as less than $2,000.00.

John Lambertine Blair, born 20 February 1860 married Sally Josephine Massey, born 22 March 1861, on 9 November 1879. The census taken in 1879 shows Mary C. Walters Blair living with her son John Lambertine Blair. John Lambertine and Sally J. Massey Blair had eight children: Wiley Eugene Blair, born 9 August 1880; Ella Frances Blair, born 4 June 1882; John Frank Blair, born 19 June 1884: Willie Coleman Blair, born 1 September 1886; James Wesley Blair, born 22 December 1887; Lizzie Estelle Blair, born 10 October 1896; Major Clifton Blair, born 10 October 1896 and Nollie Bell Blair, born 19 July 1901.

John Lambertine farmed land in the community of Ino, AL near the big Pea River on Highway 134. My sister Lois Blair Martin remembers her childhood days walking near the river and knew exactly where the John Lambertine homestead was located. In March of 1998 she showed me grandpa's old barn which is still standing.

Major Clifton Blair married Annie Phillips about 1915. They had three children; Lois Orene Blair, born 4 March 1916 and twin sons born 27 November 1918 and died 30 November 1918. Annie Phillips Blair died in December of 1918 from birth complications during the birth of the twins.

Major Clifton Blair then married Era Mae Parrish about 1921. They were parents to four children: Clifton Eugene Blair, born 14 February 1924; Louise Oleta Blair, born 14 January 1926; James Comar Blair, born 27 January 1928 and Marion Travis Blair, born 12 November 1936.

During the 1930's Major Blair farmed land about ten miles East of Greenville, Alabama on the Old Stage road that went through the Spring Hill community. I can attest to this fact. In the fields at sunrise and home at sundown. We raised cotton and peanuts as cash crops until the boll weevils got so bad that raising cotton was not profitable. We then raised peanuts for cash and corn and other stock feed crops as we farmed with mules. This is the time in my life that I enjoyed more than you can imagine. There were wild plums, persimmons, berries of all kinds and plenty of pecans from the approximately 200 pecan trees. Hunting and fishing along Indian and Pigeon Creeks during my early years are some of my fondest memories. Major Blair was a quiet man but could be very stern and was a self disciplined individual who was respectful of the rights of others. After my brother Eugene and I left home to seek our fortunes, Major Blair gave up farming and became an iceman, selling ice to the farms and in the city of Greenville. He later worked for the Ritz Theatre chain as ticket taker and concessions sales. He also worked as a night watchman at a saw mill.

Major Clifton Blair and Era Mae Parrish Blair are buried in the Springhill Methodist Cemetery east of Greenville, Alabama as is their son Marion Travis Blair.

James Comar Blair married Marjorie Taylor and was the father of Richard Wayne Blair, Deborah  Blair, Cheryl  Blair, Wendy Blair, Cindy  Blair, Tracy Blair, James Cormar Jr and Mark  Blair. Richard Wayne Blair was born in Houston, TX, Debra Blair was born in Rapid City, SD, Cheryl and Wendy Blair were born in Albuquerque, NM, Cindy and Tracy Blair were born in Salina,KS, James Comar Jr was born in Kittery Maine and Mark Blair was born in Medford, WI.