ROBERT (2) BLAIR, son of
Robert (1) and Isabella (Rankin) Blair, was born in Rutland, Massachusetts, June 10, 1720, and died at Blandford, Massachusetts, June 22, 1801. He purchased, January 30, 1773 or 1774, of Zachariah Harding, a house, barn and eight acres of land, and made subsequent purchases in 1746 from Joshua Childs of Worcester, and in 1750 from his brother William of Leicester, Massachusetts, he bought sixty lots in Blandford, Massachusetts. On November 14, 1753, Robert Blair sold his house and grounds in Worcester to Joseph Smith, and on the same day he sold three parcels of land to John Chandler. On sale of sixty acres of land to his cousin, Jacob Blair, of Blandford, Massachusetts, he is given as of Western Massachusetts, in 1756. He made further purchase of land in Blandford, November 22, 1753, buying the farm, formerly known as the Gore, and here he built his log house. Robert Blair's name appears in Blandford at a town meeting held in 1762, when he was appointed the "first assessor". He also subsequently served as selectman, and member of a committee to the General Court in regard to building highways. He likewise served as moderator of the town meetings, being many times reelected to that office. Prominent during the time of the Revolution, he was in 1775 and 1779 one of the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and Safety. Elected representative to the General Court in 1787, he was the same year appointed deacon in the Congregational Church. His will drawn, March 25, 1799, was probated July 7, 1801.
Robert Blair married, April 2, 1746, Hannah Thompson, born in Ireland. She died in Blandford, July 15, 1803.
(Leavitt: "Blair Family of New England," pp. 44-45.)
