John Blair Jr.

John Blair Jr. lived from April 17, 1732 to August 31, 1800 and was an American Founding Father who signed the United States Constitution as a delegate from Virginia and was appointed an Associate Justice on the first United States Supreme Court by George Washington. A Virginia lawyer from 1757, Blair represented the College of William and Mary in the House of Burgesses and served in various colonial offices, and in the prelude to the American Revolutionary War he served as a commissioner of admiralty enforcing regulations of the Virginia Revolutionary Conventions, then on the committee that prepared the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Constitution of 1776. He served over a year on the Council of State before becoming one of the judges of the General Court, the new Commonwealths first appellate court, and also served on the High Court of Chancery, a predecessor of the Virginia Court of Appeals. One of the best trained jurists of his day, Blair avoided the tumult of state politics, preferring to work behind the scenes, and was a loyal supporter of fellow Virginian James Madison at the Constitutional Convention. While serving on the Supreme Court he influenced the interpretation of the Constitution in a number of important decisions, and contemporaries praised him for his ability to penetrate to the heart of legal questions as well as for his gentleness and benevolence.