Jacob Beeson Blair was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 and from West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

.

Born in Parkersburg, West Virginia

Parkersburg, West Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 33,099 people, 14,467 households, and 8,767 families residing in the city. In 2006 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that Parkersburg's population had decreased 4.4% to 31,755. The population density was 2,800.5 people per square mile . There were 16,100 housing...

 (then Virginia), Blair studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1844. He was a lawyer in private practice and served as prosecuting attorney, Ritchie County, West Virginia

Ritchie County, West Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 10,343 people, 4,184 households, and 2,999 families residing in the county. The population density was 23 people per square mile . There were 5,513 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...

 (then Virginia as well).

Blair was elected as a Unionist from Virginia to the Thirty-seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of United States Representative John S. Carlile

John S. Carlile

John Snyder Carlile was an American merchant, lawyer, and politician, including a United States Senator. A strong supporter of the Union cause during the American Civil War, he represented the loyalist faction of Virginia, which was eventually separated into two distinct states over his...

. Blair served in this capacity from December 2, 1861 to March 3, 1863. He was then elected as an Unconditional Unionist

Unconditional Union Party

The Unconditional Union Party was a loosely organized political entity during the American Civil War and the early days of Reconstruction. First established in 1861 in Missouri, where secession talk was strong, the party fully supported the preservation of the Union at all costs...

 from West Virginia to the Thirty-eighth Congress (December 7, 1863-March 3, 1865).

He was United States Minister to Costa Rica

United States Ambassador to Costa Rica

The following is a list of United States Ambassadors, or other Chiefs of Mission, to Costa Rica. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.-See also:...

 from 1868 to 1873. He later served as associate justice of the Supreme Court of Wyoming from 1876 to 1888. He was a probate judge for Salt Lake County, Utah

Salt Lake County, Utah

Salt Lake County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. It had a population of 1,029,655 at the 2010 census. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. It occupies Salt Lake Valley, as well as parts of the surrounding mountains, the Oquirrh Mountains to the west...

 from 1892 to 1895, and surveyor general of Utah from 1897 to 1901. He died in Salt Lake City and was interred in Mount Olive Cemetery there.

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