Ailene Beeson's book[1] says that he came from Scotland and married Mary Eosentrice Colbert. Unfortunately, we have very little solid documentation about his life.
Elizabeth Harris adopted this orphaned profile on December 6, 2013, and added the following comments:
1) Based on the birthdate of his son Colbert, James Blair was probably born before 1710, but I have no documentation for the 1706 birthdate that appears on this page.
2) Based on my own research, I think the 1776 death date listed on Travis Wagner's original submission belongs to a different James Blair, who is buried at Alamance Presbyterian Church in Guilford Co. NC
3) I think it unlikely that James and Mary married in North Carolina. I think Virginia is more probable, but I have no documentation so I've left both the name and date as they were on the original profile, but marked them as "uncertain. I would be grateful for more exact information.
4) Please see Mary Colbert's profile for why I think she did NOT have the middle name Eosentrice.
Most Blair genealogies state that this James Blair is the one who died in 1776 and is buried at Alamance Presbyterian Church in Guilford County, NC. I think there are good reasons to believe this is NOT true. Does anyone have hard evidence either for or against this assertion?
James "Blear" who died in March 1776 and is buried at Alamance Presbyterian church is almost certainly the James Blair whose will is recorded in Guilford County that year, naming wife Mary, and children John and Agnes. Agnes was under age, probably a young child, since she was still unmarried in 1796 (she is named in her grandmother Mary McConnell's will). Our James Blair, if that is in fact his name, has to be old enough to be the father of a son born before 1730, thus probably born before 1710 himself. While he might still be fathering children after 1760, the mother of those children must be a younger woman, i.e. she would have to be a second wife. I believe that the couple buried at Alamance are James Blair and Mary McConnell, and I am not convinced they have any connection to our family.
original profile by Travis Wagner
additional sources by Elizabeth Harris, December 2013
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edited by M Blair