Blair, John (1732-1800), a Virginia lawyer and judge, was a signer of the Constitution of the United States. He seldom spoke at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. But Blair often cast the deciding vote when the other Virginia delegates were evenly split. On the issue of a strong national government, he sided in its favor. In 1789, President George Washington appointed him an associate justice on the first Supreme Court of the United States. Blair held that position until 1796.
Blair was born in Williamsburg, Virginia. He attended the College of William and Mary and studied law in London. Blair served in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1766 to 1770. In 1776, Blair was on the committee that drafted Virginia’s first constitution. From 1778 to 1789, Blair served as a judge in four different Virginia courts. He died on Aug. 31, 1800.
