Biography of William L. Blair, pages 970 / 971.  History of De Kalb County, 
Indiana. Inter-State Publishing Company, Chicago, 1885.

William L. Blair, farmer, section 1, Wilmington Township, was born in Lorain 
County, Ohio, Nov. 27, 1832, a son of John and Margaret (Douglas) Blair.  
His parents moved to De Kalb County in the fall of 1835 and settled in 
Concord Township. At the time were but eight families in the present limits 
of De Kalb County, seven of them in Concord Township.  The Indians were 
frequent visitors at the Blair house, and at one time our subject’s sister 
turned an empty barrel over him while she ran to the field to tell the men 
of their approach.  He was reared to the life of a pioneer, and early began 
assisting to clear the land, having but limited educational privileges.  The 
first school, he attended was taught by Benjamin Alton in a log house on 
land now owned by Chris. Crusa. Mr. Blair was married Oct. 19, 1859, to Amy 
Aldrich.  They have two children ---Corwin, and Lena, wife of George Corcoran, 
now of Dennison, Tex.  Mr. Blair is a member of no religious denomination, 
but is a firm believer in trying to benefit and upbuild humanity.  He has 
several relics of the olden time. One, a cane cut from an apple-tree in 
the first orchard in De Kalb County.  It was set out by his father in the 
spring of 1836 on the old homestead, on the southwest quarter of the 
southeast quarter of section 15. Another is a Mexican dollar bearing date 
1826, which his father obtained while keeping tavern in Ohio; and still a 
third is a red cedar cane cut from Mt. Vernon near the tomb of Washington, 
in 1876.  There are the same number of knots in this cane as there are 
States in the Union.  Mr. Blair has had it mounted with gold.

Submitted by:
Arlene Goodwin
Auburn, Indiana
Agoodwin@ctlnet.com