W. H. BLAIR

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The spirit of enterprise and determination which has actuated W. H. Blair at all points in his business career made him one of the active and prosperous merchants of Clarence, where for thirty-six years he has been engaged in the drug business. He has resided in Cedar county since 1857, coming to Iowa when a youth of fourteen years, his birth having occurred in Muskingum county, Ohio, April 17, 1843.

His father, William Blair, was born near Greensburg, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1804, and in his childhood days went to Ohio with his father, Gabriel Blair, a representative of an old Pennsylvania family of Irish lineage. William Blair spent his youthful days in the Buckeye state and became a farmer of Muskingum county, where he met and married Miss Permelia Argo, who was born and reared in the Buckeye state. She was a daughter of Jeremiah Argo, who was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, January 21, 1791, and was a grandson of Alexander Argo, a native of Scotland, who emigrated to the United states and settled in Sussex county, Maryland, where he died at the remarkable old age of one hundred years. William Argo, the father of Jeremiah, was born in Sussex county in 1762 and removed thence to Fayette county, Pennsylvania. He was a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church for sixty-three years and died in 1845 at the age of eighty-three years. His son Jeremiah was third in a family of twelve children, all of whom reached adult age. He was a youth of fifteen when his father removed to Jefferson county, Ohio, and from there he afterward went to Colerain township, Belmont county, Ohio. In September, 1811, he attended a camp meeting conducted by Bishop Asbury, under whose teaching he was converted. During that meeting his mother rode twelve miles on horseback to inform him that he had been drafted for six months’ service in the army. He went into camp at Hiram, Ohio, under General William Henry Harrison, and assisted in constructing Fort Meigs. On becoming ill with camp fever he was honorably discharged twenty days before the expiration of his term of enlistment.

He was married August 26, 1813, to Anna Oxley, a daughter of Britton Oxley, and in December, 1825, removed to Muskingum county, Ohio. During the succeeding three months he occupied a log schoolhouse while he erected a dwelling on his own land. His family comfortably installed in their new home, he at once began to clear away the timber and develop the farm, bearing all of the hardships and difficulties of pioneer life. He remained upon the farm for thirty-two years and for seven years filled the office of township clerk, while for twenty years he was a class-leader in the Methodist Episcopal church. His family numbered nine children, three sons and six daughters. In the autumn of 1857 he left the old homestead and with his daughter, the only one of his children who remained at home, came to Cedar county, Iowa, arriving on the 22d of October. Here he continued to reside until his death. He was an active, earnest and diligent worker in whatever he undertook, was a man strictly temperate in his habits and all of his children followed his example, never using intoxicants nor tobacco. His home was always one of the unbounded hospitality and particularly to the ministers of the church did he extend a hearty welcome. He died April 18, 1881, at the age of ninety years, two months and twenty-seven days, while his wife passed away October 17, 1855, at the age of sixty-six years.

Several years after their marriage, which occurred September 10, 1840, Mr. and Mrs. William Blair removed to Iowa in 1857, settling in Cedar county, where they arrived on the night of the 9th of April. About a year later they located on a farm south of Lowden, Mr. Blair purchasing an improved property, on which he spent his last days, his death there occurring October 27, 1859. His wife long survived him and died in Clarence, January 27, 1881. After the loss of her first husband she became the wife of Seth Wilson June 8, 1865, and with him removed to Adair county, where they remained for two or three years and then removed to this county. Mrs. Wilson’s death occurred in Cedar county, after which her second husband went to Davenport, where his last days were spent.

W. H. Blair, whose name introduces this record, came here when a youth of fourteen years. He pursued his education in the schools of his native county and Springfield township, this county, and later was a student for two terms in the high school of Tipton. He continued to assist his mother in the work of the home farm for a few years and later she came to make her home with him, spending her last days as a member of his household. Mr. Blair carried on the home farm until 1874, when he purchased a drug store in Clarence and is still conducting the same. He bought a lot on which is a good business block and here he carries a large line of drugs, fancy goods and miscellaneous merchandise. He has established a gratifying trade and is one of the well known and respected business men of the county. His business policy is one which will bear close investigation and scrutiny and his energy and determination have enabled him to overcome all the difficulties and obstacles in his path and work his way steadily upward to success. His store is neat and attractive in appearance and his stock is such as meets the demands of the purchasing public.

Politically Mr. Blair is a republican and cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. He has served on but one jury during his entire life and that was the first murder trial in Cedar county, on which occasion he and two other young men held out for acquittal for a long time and finally agreed to a verdict of guilty and the prisoner was sent to the penitentiary. His attorney later secured a new trial in Muscatine county and won a verdict of acquittal, for on that occasion his innocence of the crime was thoroughly established. Mr. Blair has never sought nor desired office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his private interests. He has always been a strong temperance man and is a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he has held the offices of steward and trustee, while in the Sunday school he has been an active worker.