William Scott Blair (abt. 1682 - 1724)

Born about 9 Aug 1682 in Aghadowey, Londonderry, Ulster, Ireland

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Gray) Barber — married 1714 in County Londonderry, Ulster, Ireland

Descendants

Died 15 Aug 1724 at about age 42 in Shrewsbury, Middlesex, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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Biography

William Blair was born around the early 1680s to James Blair and Rachel Boyd.^[1][2] It is said that his family operated a bleach green and textile production business called Ballydwitt near Aghadowey, Londonderry, Ireland.^[3] The family were Presbyterian, and may have come to Ulster Plantation from Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland in the 1610s, though see "Are the Blair’s of Aghadowey, formerly of Milgerholme, Ayrshire and Blair of Blair?" for some further research and questions.^[4]

William was married to Mary Gray, presumably around 1714.^[5] Their first two children, Elizabeth around 1714/5 and William around 1717/8,^[6] were born in Ireland.

Although a rich narrative appears of the family in the book The Blair Family of New England, by Emily Wilder Leavitt (where William's father and mother are brought into the story around page 20),^[7] in fact, much of it has not been substantiated.

In 1718, William and family, along with his father and brothers, various Grays and Boyds and others, arrived in Massachusetts, part of the 1718 Migration and probably members of Rev. James McGregor's congregation of Ulster Presbyterians, who were encouraged by Cotton Mather to "settle our frontiers as a barrier against the Indians." Given their point of origin and familial ties to the Boyds and Clarks, for instance, we can be fairly confident that they would have arrived in Boston that year on either the William and Mary, the Robert and/or the McCallum. An account of these 1718 arrival of their contingent appears in "Scotch Irish Pioneers In Ulster and America" by Charles Knowles Bolton.^[8]

In 1719, identified as a trader of the town of Marlborough, William purchased land from Jonathan Loring of Boston in a "new" town between Worcester and Westborough, which would come to be known as Shrewsbury.^[9] There three more sons were born to him and Mary: John, b. 1720,^[10][11] Robert, b. 1722^[1] and Samuel, b. 1724.^[12]

But in August of 1724, about two months before Samuel's birth, William died. He was buried August 29th according to Framingham parish records.^[13] If it is true that he was born 1682, then he was only 42 years old.

Detailed records of the probate of William's considerable estate and the guardianships of his children are extant and are the basis for much of what we can document about his family. After his death, his children appear to have remained with their mother and stepfather, Matthew Barber, until early 1733, when the older ones were assigned to other guardians. Samuel remained with his mother and stepfather until 1738.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Robert Blair of Worcester was referred to as the uncle of one of William's sons in a 1736 change-of-guardianship record: Worcester County Probate File Papers, 1731-1881; letter of guardianship for Robert Blair, aged fourteen years, son of William Blair, to his uncle Robert Blair of Worcester, 15 February 1736/7 (http://www.americanancestors.org/databases/worcester-county-probate-file-papers-1731-1881/image/?pageName=5842:4&volumeId=26967&rId=521920471 : accessed 2 January 2016).
2. ↑ William's birth date can only be approximated from the ages of his relations, notably of his wife and of his oldest known child, Elizabeth, who was born around 1714, according to Worcester County Probate File Papers, 1731-1881; letter of guardianship for Elizabeth Blair, daughter of William Blair, aged about seventeen, to John Clark, 6 February 1732/3 (http://www.americanancestors.org/databases/worcester-county-probate-file-papers-1731-1881/image/?pageName=5847:22&volumeId=26967&rId=521920540 : accessed 2 January 2016).
3. ↑ Emily W. Leavitt, The Blair Family of New England, 19-25 (https://archive.org/stream/blairfamilynewe00unkngoog/#page/n27/mode/2up : accessed 2 January 2016).
4. ↑ Mike Boyd, "Are the Blair’s of Aghadowey, formerly of Milgerholme, Ayrshire and Blair of Blair?" 26 July 2013 (http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/BOYD/2013-07/1374794774 : accessed and archived 2 January 2016).
5. ↑ See various notes in probate associating Mary Gray to other Gray's, for instance her brother William Gray as co-administrator of late husbands estate. http://www.americanancestors.org/databases/middlesex-county-ma-probate-file-papers-1648-1871/image/?pageName=1842:3&volumeId=14459&rId=263777074
6. ↑ Worcester County Probate File Papers, 1731-1881; letter of guardianship for William Blair, aged fifteen years, son of William Blair, to Andrew McFarland, 6 February 1732/3 (http://www.americanancestors.org/databases/worcester-county-probate-file-papers-1731-1881/image/?pageName=5847:16&volumeId=26967&rId=521920540 : accessed 2 January 2016).
7. ↑ Emily W. Leavitt, The Blair Family of New England, (https://archive.org/stream/blairfamilynewe00unkngoog#page/n29/mode/2up : accessed 2 January 2016).
8. ↑ Charles K. and Ethel S. Bolton, Scotch Irish Pioneers in Ulster and America, 177- (https://archive.org/stream/scotchirish00boltrich#page/176/mode/2up : accessed 2 January 2016).
9. ↑ "Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-36161-5270-11?cc=2106411 : accessed 2 January 2016), Middlesex > Deeds 1716-1719 vol 18-19 > image 579 of 605; county courthouses and offices, Massachusetts.
10. ↑ Worcester County Probate File Papers, 1731-1881; letter of guardianship for John Blair, aged above fourteen years, son of William Blair, to Andrew McFarland, 6 February 1732/3 (http://www.americanancestors.org/databases/worcester-county-probate-file-papers-1731-1881/image/?pageName=5847:12&volumeId=26967&rId=521920540 : accessed 2 January 2016).
11. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5NH-SWL : accessed 2 January 2016), John Blair, ; citing , ; FHL microfilm 0844943 IT 2.
12. ↑ Worcester County Probate File Papers, 1731-1881; letter of guardianship for Samuel Blair, aged about fourteen years, son of William Blair, to John Gray Junior, 15 November 1738 (http://www.americanancestors.org/databases/worcester-county-probate-file-papers-1731-1881/image/?pageName=5847:4&volumeId=26967&rId=521920540 : accessed 2 January 2016).
13. ↑ "Early Vital Records of Massachusetts From 1600 to 1850," deaths, Framingham, Middlesex (http://ma-vitalrecords.org/MA/Middlesex/Framingham/Images/Framingham_D413.shtml: accessed 2 January 2016).

Primary Records

• The Massachusetts Vital Records Project. "Early Vital Records of Massachusetts From 1600 to 1850." Deaths, Middlesex, Framingham. Citing Record from diary of Rev. Jonathan Swift, now in the possession of Framingham Historical Society.
• Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Deeds. Accessed as "Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986." Images. FamilySearch
• Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Probate File Papers Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.)
• Worcester County, Massachusetts. Probate File Papers, 1731-1881. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.)

Derivate Works

• Bolton, Charles K, and Ethel S. Bolton. Scotch Irish Pioneers in Ulster and America. Boston: Bacon & Brown, 1910.
• Boyd, Mike. "Are the Blair’s of Aghadowey, formerly of Milgerholme, Ayrshire and Blair of Blair?" surname BOYD. Rootsweb. Ancestry.com.
• Leavitt, Emily W. The Blair Family of New England. Boston: David Clapp & Son, 1900.
• McConnel, James. "The 1718 Migration. The Scots-Irish Journey to the New World." Institute of Ulster-Scots Studies, Londonderry, Northern Ireland.