John Pringle Blair was born on March 28, 1833, in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, to David Blair and Margaret Steele. His father was a Presbyterian minister, and the family owned $9,000 of real estate and $500 of personal property in 1860. By 1850, Blair was attending school in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and living in a board house there. He enlisted in the Union army on April 25, 1861, and mustered in as a 2^nd lieutenant in Company F of the 12^th Pennsylvania Infantry. The army promoted him to 1^st lieutenant and transferred him to Company I of the 100^th Pennsylvania Infantry on August 31, 1861. The regiment took part in the Battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg in late 1862. The army transferred the 100^th Pennsylvania to the Western Theater soon afterward, and they helped lay siege to Vicksburg and Jackson. They returned to the Eastern Theater by 1864 and took part in the Battle of the Wilderness, the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and the Siege of Petersburg. Blair eventually earned a promotion to captain, and he mustered out on October 4, 1864.

 

He returned to Indiana County after the war, and he married Elizabeth Sutton there on February 14, 1866. They had at least three children: Margaret, born around 1868; James, born around 1870; and David, born around 1872. Blair worked as a lawyer, and by 1870, he owned $3,500 of real estate and $3,500 of personal property. He eventually became a prominent judge in Indiana County. Elizabeth died on April 11, 1884. Blair never remarried, but he hired a series of white servants and housekeepers to tend to his home. He died in Indiana County on January 19, 1913.

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