Blair, Joseph P.

Submitted by Mike Miller

Joseph Paxton Blair, one of New Orleans' distinguished attorneys, is a native of Mississippi, born at Columbus, December 5, 1859. His father, David Paxton Blair, was a native of Virginia, but moved to Mississippi in his youth and became one of the first settlers at Columbus. The Blair family came to America from the north of Ireland prior to the Revolutionary war and settled in Rockbridge county, Va. The mother of our subject, Elizabeth Armstead Pope, was born in Alabama, the daughter of Col. Willis Pope, a native of the same state. The Pope family were originally from Amsterdam, Holland, and after the Revolution settled on Pope's creek, Virginia, where Col. Pope became an extensive and successful planter. Joseph P. Blair received his educational training at the University of Virginia, graduating from that institution, with the degree of A. M., in 1881. During two years of his college course he acted as editor of the "College Magazine," which position he filled with credit. Prior to his graduation he had been instructor of Latin and Greek in the Shenandoah Valley academy, Winchester, Va. Following the completion of his course at the University of Virginia he was tendered and accepted the chair of mathematics in the University of Louisiana, which position he held for two years. During this time he had begun the reading of the law, and attended the summer class under the instruction of John B. Minor at the University of Virginia, In the summer of 1883 he passed a successful and highly commendable examination before the supreme court of Louisiana and was admitted to the bar of that state. In 1883 he began his practice in New Orleans, where he soon distinguished himself. In 1884 he associated himself with Henry J. Levoy, and in 1887 became a member of the firm of Levoy & Blair, which partnership still continues. This firm have won distinction as commercial attorneys and are counsel for a number of large corporations, including the Southern Pacific system of railways. Politically Mr. Blair is a democrat, taking an active interest in political matters. He is a member of the Municipal Reform association, and, during its existence, of the Young Men's Democratic association. Socially he is a member of the Pickwick club. April 16, 1890, he married Miss Eugenie V. Kruttschnitt, of New Orleans. His honorable straightforward manner and genial hospitality have won for him hosts of friends and admirers.

From Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana, volume 2, p. 295.