Blair County PA Archives Biographies.....Blair, George Dike April 29, 1851 - ????
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Source: Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Blair Co, PA: Philadelphia, 1892.
Author: Samuel T. Wiley

GEORGE DIKE BLAIR,
vice-president of the First National bank at Tyrone, and prominently
identified with the iron industry of Pennsylvania, is the eldest living son
of Thomas S. and Virginia Higbee (Dike) Blair, and was born April 29, 1851,
in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His great-great-grandfather was
Captain Thomas Blair, a native of Scotland, who came to America at a very
early day in company with several brothers. Of these brothers, Thomas and
William settled in Huntingdon (now Blair) county, while the others settled
elsewhere in Pennsylvania. Prior to the revolutionary war Captain Blair was a
resident of Path valley, and during that struggle he rendered great service in
clearing the upper Juniata valley of Indians and tories, who were a source of
much annoyance and danger to the inhabitants of those parts. After the close
of the revolution he removed to what is now Blair county, settling at a point
which soon became known as Blair's Gap, and which is in the present township
of Frankstown. There Captain Blair, the patriot and soldier, passed the
remainder of this life, dying September 10, 1808. He was a man of wonderful
energy and good business sense, and as early as 1787 was numbered among the
most prominent citizens of that section. He owned four hundred acres of land
at Blair's Gap, and in 1794 was the proprietor of two saw mills, one grist
mill, and two distilleries, besides owning slaves, horses, cattle, and other
property. He early succeeded in having a pack-horse road cut through the gap
that bears his name, and being a man of influence and action, was accepted as
a leader in every enterprise undertaken in his neighborhood. He married and
had a family of children, one of whom was Hon. John Blair
(great-grandfather), who was born at Blair's Gap, this county. He also was
prominent and influential, his standing and popularity being such that Blair
township was named for him in 1839, and when Huntingdon county was divided,
in 1846, the new county then formed was called Blair in his honor. For him
also was named the town of Blairsville, in Indiana county. He early saw the
need of his section for better facilities of transportation, and became a
leading spirit in the movement which culminated in the construction of the
Pennsylvania canal and Portage railroad. He was foremost in the agitation of
that improvement, which did more for this section than all other agencies
combined, and was equally active in furnishing capital to aid in its
completion. All his active and useful life was passed among the people of
this county, and in public-spirited efforts to build up and develop the
various industrial and commercial interests of this section. He died at the
old homestead, near Blair's Gap, January 1, 1832.
   Thomas Blair (grandfather) was born at Blair's Gap in 1793, and after
obtaining a good English education, studied law, was admitted to the bar in
Huntingdon county, where he practiced for a time, and then removed to
Kittanning, Armstrong county. There he continued the practice of his
profession until his death, in 1837, at the early age of thirty-nine years.
He married Florinda Cust, and to their union were born two sons: John Cust
and Thomas S. (father). After the death of her husband Mrs. Blair, with her
two children, removed to Pittsburg. Thomas S. Blair (father) was born at
Kittanning, Armstrong county, this State, November 20, 1825, but was reared
principally in the city of Pittsburg. He entered Harvard college, and was
graduated from that institution in the class of 1844. He subsequently engaged
in the iron business at Pittsburg, and is still prominently identified with
the iron and steel industry of that city. He was a member of the firm of
Shoenberger, Blair & Co., and is a man who possesses considerable inventive
genius. He has invented a number of improvement s in the various processes
for the manufacture of iron, the most important perhaps being what is known
as "Blair's direct process" for making iron. In 1847 Mr. Blair united in
marriage with Virginia Dike, and the fruit of their union was a family of
four children: John, deceased; George Dike, the subject of this sketch; Anna,
who married Ross Johnston, now deceased, of the city of Pittsburg; and Thomas
S., jr., who is a member of the Steel & Iron Improvement Company, of
Pittsburg.
   George Dike Blair was principally reared in the city of Pittsburg, and was
prepared for college at St. Paul's school, Concord, New Hampshire. He
subsequently attended the University of Heidelberg, Germany, for three years.
In the spring of 1872 he went to the city of Chicago as secretary and
treasurer of the Excelsior Press Brick Manufacturing Company, but in 1874
resigned and came back to Pittsburg as manager of the Glenwood works of the
Blair Iron & Steel Company. In 1876 he went to Huntingdon furnace as manager
of that property, and remained in charge there until April 1, 1891, when he
removed to Tyrone, this county, where he still resides.
   On August 21, 1880, Mr. Blair was united in marriage to Catherine Almeda
Henderson, a daughter of Robert L. Henderson, of Huntington county. This
union has proved a very happy one, and has been blessed by the birth of three
children: Virginia, John Cust, and George, jr.
   Politically, Mr. Blair is a republican, but the many demands made upon him
by large business interests leave neither time nor inclination to engage in
practical politics. In all his business relations he has been very
successful, and is now serving as vice-president of the First National bank
of Tyrone, president of the Adams Iron Company, of Pittsburg, in which city
he is largely interested in real estate, and rather as a matter of recreation
than otherwise, owns, exercises, and breeds some fine trotting horses.

Additional Comments:
Originally submitted 2001. Transcribed by Ruth Curfman  rcurfman@home.com   

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