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Inventory of the James Blair Papers ca. 1701-1747 Blair, James; 1655 or 6-1743. Archives Acc. 1980.128

Inventory of the James Blair Papers ca. 1701-1747

A Collection in the
University Archives
Collection Number Archives Acc. 1980.128


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Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary

Special Collections
Earl Gregg Swem Library
College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-8794
USA
Phone: (757) 221-3090
Fax: (757) 221-5440
Email: spcoll@wm.edu
URL: http://swem.wm.edu/scrc/

© 2002 By the College of William and Mary

Funding: Web version of the finding aid funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Processed by: Special Collections Staff

Repository
Special Collections, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary
Collection number
Archives Acc. 1980.128
Title
James Blair Papers, ca. 1701-1747.
Extent
182 items.
Creator
James Blair.
Language
English
Abstract
Papers relating to James Blair, first president of the College of William and Mary.

Administrative Information

Restrictions on Access

Collection is open to all researchers.

Publication Rights/Restrictions on Use

Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the University Archivist, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Preferred Citation

James Blair Papers, University Archives, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Biographical Information

James Blair was born in Scotland in 1655 or 1656. He received his master of arts from the University of Edinburgh in 1673. He was ordained in the Church of England. He went to Virginia as a missionary in 1685, serving as rector of Varina Parish (later Henrico). In 1689, he was appointed commissary, the first official representative of the Bishop of London, whose diocese included Virginia, in the colony. He left Henrico to become minister of Jamestown Church in 1694 and, in 1710, became instead rector of Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg. Blair was instrumental in founding the College of William and Mary and served as its first president, from 1693 until his death in 1743. Blair was a member of the Virginia Council from 1694 to 1743 with one brief interruption, and, as president of the council, served as acting governor in 1741.

Scope and Content Information

Papers of and relating to James Blair, first president of the College of William and Mary. The collection contains two original manuscripts: a funeral bill by Blair dated 1701, and a sermon erroneously attributed to Blair dated 1747. The bulk of the collection consists of copies collected for research purposes, mostly in 1940-1941. Includes biographical material; extracts and copies from official records; copies of correspondence; sermons; notes on paintings of Blair and his wife owned by the College of William and Mary; notes on their graves.

Organization

The collection is organized into three series: Biographical materials, Original documents, and Images.

Index Terms

    Persons:

  • Blair, James, 1655 or 6-1743.
  • Blair, Sarah Harrison.

    • Corporate names:

  • Church of England--Virginia-- Clergy.
  • College of William and Mary--History--18th century.

Significant Persons Associated With the Collection

  • Blair, James, 1655 or 6-1743.
  • Blair, Sarah Harrison.
  • James Blair.
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Contents List

Biographical material.
Series 1: Biographical material
  • Box-folder 1:1
    Published biographies.
    10 items.
    • The Church Review, and Ecclesiastical Register 8 (New Haven, Conn.: January 1856).

      Photostat of page 613, discussing James Blair's death as noted in the vestry minutes of 1743.

    • "Blair, James, "in Dictionary of American Biography.

      Photostat of biographical sketch written by Dr. Earl Gregg Swem.

    • Presidents--Blair.

      Typewritten note with bibliographical references to three articles on Blair.

    • Reuben Elmore Stivers, "The Governor, the Commissary, and St. John Shropshire, "Shropshire Journal 3 (no. 4, January 1993).
      3 copies of journal
    • "Blair, James, D.D., "in Virginia Biography.

      Page 62, with continuation of biographical sketch from the next page cut out and glued on.

    • "James Blair, D.D., "in William B. Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit..., vol. 5 (New York: Robert Carter, 1859).

      Pages 7-14, containing biographical sketch of Blair, and also a biographical sketch of Hugh Jones, who was a professor of mathematics at the College of William and Mary as well as a clergyman. Typed transcription of Sprague's sketch of Blair.

    • G. MacLaren Brydon, "James Blair, Commissary, "Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church 14 (June 1945).
      Article and detached cover of journal.
    • Daniel Esten Motley, Life of Commissary James Blair, Founder of William and Mary College (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, October 1901).
      One volume.
    • Parke Rouse, Jr., "James Blair of Virginia, "Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church 43 (June 1974).
      Article and detached cover of journal.
    • Parke Rouse, Jr., "A Scottish Cleric in America, "Country Life 150 (September 30, 1971).
      Article and table of contents page, and photocopies of article.
  • Box-folder 1:2
    Research work, 1929-1969 (bulk 1940-1941).
    7 items.

    Correspondence and notes, primarily of library staff, documenting efforts to research Blair's life and noting errors in published biographies.

  • Box-folder 1:3
    Excerpts from primary sources. 1941.
    107 items.

    Transcriptions or excerpts quoting from official records, private correspondence (neither to nor from Blair), and contemporary published works that mention Blair.

  • Box-folder 1:4
    Correspondence (copies).
    20 items.

    Photocopies and transcriptions of correspondence to and from James Blair.

  • Box-folder 1:5
    Other documents (copies).
    12 items.
    • Photostats relating to James Blair joining the University of Edinburgh Library.

      Photostat of the title page of the book which Blair presented to the Edinburgh Library on becoming a member of it; photostat of Blair's signature on joining the Edinburgh University Library; photostat of the agreement he signed.

    • Copy of Blair's commission as commissary.

      Photocopy of commission, transcription of commission, translation of commission from Latin, bibliographic citations.

    • A Vindication of Sr. Edmond Andros, 1697.

      Photocopy of a document by William Byrd.

    • Papers relating to a dispute between Blair and Governor Nicholson, 1704-1705.

      Photocopies of two documents.

    • Papers relating to a dispute over money owed to Blair by the College, 1719-1721.

      Photocopies of two documents.

  • Box-folder 1:6
    Papers Relating to an Affidavit Made by his Reverence James Blair...against Francis Nicholson.
    2 items.

    Photostat and photocopy of the published pamphlet Papers Relating to an Affidavit... (London: 1727), made in 1942 from the volume owned by the John Carter Brown Library; photocopy of handwritten document entitled A Defence of Mr. Blair; and a Confutation of an Anonimous [sic] Pamphlet, Lately Dispersed by General Nicholson, Entitled Papers Relating to an Affidavit...

  • Box-folder 1:7
    Sermons.
    3 items.

    Brief extracts from two sermons preached in Bruton Church by Blair, taken from W. A. R. Goodwin's Historical Sketch of Bruton Church; photostat of title page of James Blair, Our Saviour's Divine Sermon on the Mount...to which is Prefix'd a Paraphrase on the Whole Sermon of the Mount... (London: second edition, 1740), and photostat of Blair's Paraphrase on Our Saviour's Sermon on the Mount (1729); photocopy of Danish edition of Our Saviour's Divine Sermon on the Mount (Copenhagen, 1761?). Both the English and the Danish editions of Blair's book are in the Rare Book collections of Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

  • Box-folder 1:8
    Miscellaneous materials.
    4 items.

    Bibliographic citation for Blair's death notice in Scot's Magazine 5 (July 1743); page 643 of The Gentleman's Magazine 13 (August 1743) with Blair listed under Deaths; brochure entitled Merely to Survive Is Not Enough , comparing Dr. Woodbridge's building a fallout shelter for his neighborhood in 1961 with Dr. Blair's creation of the College of William and Mary; photographic copy of signature, James Blair President.

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Original documents.
Series 2: Original documents
  • Box-folder 1:9
    An account of Mr. Adams's funerall charges, 6 June 1701.
    1 page. ADS.

    Itemized bill for funeral expenses.

  • Box-folder 1:10
    Sermon, 22 March 1747.
    3 items.

    Handwritten sermon said to be by James Blair, along with correspondence giving reasons why James Blair was probably not the author.

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Images.
Series 3: Images
  • Box-folder 1:11
    James Blair portraits.
    4 items.

    Inventory of portraits of James Blair owned by the college, done in 1968; note of miniature owned by Virginia Historical Society; photostat of silhouette; copy of published reproduction of college-owned portrait.

  • Box-folder 1:12
    Photographs of a portrait of Blair's wife.
    3 items.

    Three photographs of an oil painting by J. Hargreaves, in London, 1705, of Sarah Harrison, wife of James Blair. Portrait owned by the college.

  • Box-folder 1:13
    Graves of Sarah and James Blair.
    6 items.

    Notes on inscriptions on the graves of James Blair and Sarah Harrison Blair; page from "Notable Trees of Virginia, "Bulletin of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute 24 (March 15, 1931) illustrated with a photograph of the sycamore tree that separates the two graves; drawing of the tree and Mrs. Blair's damaged gravestone.

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