Montgomery Blair
Montgomery Blair | |
---|---|
20th United States Postmaster General | |
In office March 5, 1861 – September 24, 1864 | |
President | Abraham Lincoln |
Preceded by | Horatio King |
Succeeded by | William Dennison |
Personal details | |
Born | Franklin County, Kentucky, U.S. | May 10, 1813
Died | July 27, 1883 Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S. | (aged 70)
Resting place | Rock Creek Cemetery Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Political party | Democratic (Before 1854; 1865–1883) Republican (1854–1865) |
Spouse(s) |
Caroline Buckner
(m. 1836; died 1844)Mary Woodbury |
Children | 4 |
Parent |
|
Relatives |
|
Education | United States Military Academy (BS) Transylvania University (LLB) |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Years of service | 1835–1836 |
Rank | Second Lieutenant |
Battles/wars | Seminole Wars |
Montgomery Blair (May 10, 1813 – July 27, 1883) was an American politician and lawyer from
Early life and education
Blair was born in
Blair graduated from the
After serving as
Career
The Blairs, like many other nationalist Democrats, but unusual for politicians from the border states, had abandoned the Democratic Party in the wake of the
In 1860, Blair took an active part in support of
While the Blairs, as a family, were often characterized as conservative on the issue of slavery, Blair notably served as the defense counsel for Dred Scott when the enslaved African-American took his case to the Supreme Court in 1857. Scott was the slave of an U.S. Army doctor who took his enslaved servant along for prolonged stays in free territory.
On Scott's behalf, Blair argued that the time the black man had spent in the free state of Illinois and in Minnesota, free territory since the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, made him a free man. The ruling by Court's majority against Scott's right to freedom is often cited as one of the contributing causes of the American Civil War. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney affirmed that the black man had no rights "that the white man was bound to respect" and that black slaves could not be considered American citizens despite having been born in the U.S. This landmark decision was denounced as a step toward the "nationalization" of slavery by Lincoln and others opposed to the expansion of that institution. Conservative as he may have been on other aspects of the slavery issue, Blair's work in the case of Dred Scott vs. Sandford suggests a willingness to embrace more progressive viewpoints.
Blair began serving as Postmaster-General in 1861. Under Blair's administration, such reforms and improvements as the establishment of free city delivery; the adoption of a money order system; and the use of railway mail cars were instituted, the last of which had been suggested by George B. Armstrong (d. 1871), of Chicago, general superintendent of the United States railway mail service from 1860 to his death.
In September 1864, Lincoln accepted an earlier offer by Blair to resign. Lincoln's action may have been a response to the hostility of the Radical Republican faction, which believed Blair's retirement should follow the withdrawal of John C. Frémont as a candidate in the 1864 presidential election. Blair told his wife that Lincoln acted "from the best motives" and that "it is for the best all around." After he left the cabinet, Blair still campaigned for Lincoln's re-election in 1864, and Lincoln and the Blair family retained close ties.[6]
Differing from the Republican Party on the
In 1876, Blair, along with Matthew H. Carpenter and Jeremiah S. Black, was counsel to Secretary of War William W. Belknap during the House of Representatives investigation into the Trader post scandal.[7] Blair asked the House Investigation Committee chaired by Hiester Clymer to drop the charges against Belknap if the latter resigned office. Clymer, however, declined Blair's offer.
Belknap was impeached by the
In 1882, Blair unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Representative from Maryland's sixth district.[1]
His 600-acre (2.4 km2) manor in present-day Silver Spring, Maryland was named Falkland. It was burned by Confederate troops during their thrust towards the national capital in Washington, D.C. during the American Civil War.
Death
After several years afflicted with "inflammation of the spinal membranes," he died in Silver Spring, Maryland on July 27, 1883.
Funeral services were held at Rock Creek Church, and he was buried at Rock Creek Cemetery.[1] In memory of Blair, the United States Post Office closed on July 30, 1883.[1]
Personal life
Blair's wife was Mary Woodbury, a daughter of Levi Woodbury. They had one daughter, Minnie Blair, and had three sons, Woodbury Blair, Gist Blair, and Montgomery Blair Jr., all of whom were attorneys.[1] Montgomery Blair and Mary Woodbury Blair are the great-grandparents of actor Montgomery Clift.
In popular culture
- Blair is portrayed by actor Lew Temple in the 2012 film Saving Lincoln.
- In the 2012 film Lincoln, Blair is inaccurately portrayed by actor Byron Jennings. In the film, Blair is incorrectly depicted as being opposed to the 13th Amendment, referring to it as "rash and dangerous." In reality, though Blair began the Civil War more concerned with punishing secessionists and restoring the union than abolishing slavery, he accepted the abolition of slavery as necessary despite disliking abolitionists by 1863.[8]
- To commemorate the centennial of the First International Postal Conference, Blair's portrait appeared on a U.S. airmail stamp, Scott catalogue C66, was issued in 1963.
Works
- Speech on the Causes of the Rebellion (1864)
Legacy
Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland is named after Blair.
Gallery
-
Montgomery Blair in his post-war life
-
Lincoln meeting with his Cabinet for the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation draft on July 22, 1862
Notes
- ^ ProQuest 137873011.
- ^ Allan Nevins, The War for the Union, vol. 1: The Improvised War, 1861-1862 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1959), p. 43.
- ^ Moroney, p. 5;https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015016417332 Archived February 8, 2024, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Goodwin, 2005, Chapter 11.
- ^ "Universal Postal Union About history". Archived from the original on May 10, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
- ^ Goodwin, 2005, Chapter 24.
- ^ Poore, Ben. Perley, Perley's Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis, Vol.2, pp.310-311 (1886).
- ^ "The not-quite-Free State: Maryland dragged its feet on emancipation during Civil War - The Washington Post". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
References
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Blair, Francis Preston". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 33–34. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.)
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(help - Goodwin, D. K. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN 1-4165-4983-8(electronic edition).
Further reading
- Davis, Madison. The Public Career of Montgomery Blair: particularly with reference to his services as Postmaster General of the United States. Washington, D.C.: Columbia Historical Society, 1910
- Moroney, Rita Lloyd. Montgomery Blair, Postmaster General. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963 44p.
External links
- Biography
- Mr. Lincoln and Friends: Montgomery Blair Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- Mr. Lincoln and Freedom: Montgomery Blair Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- Mr. Lincoln's White House: Montgomery Blair